At one point, more than 2, different groups existed. Falun Gong differed from most qigong groups in that it combined exercises with moral and spiritual teachings.
Virtue is generated through doing good deeds and suffering, while karma accumulates by doing bad deeds. Li Hongzhi founded the movement and penned its key texts. According to Li, who has lived in the US since , he came up with the central Falun Gong tenets after studying with Buddhist and Taoist masters from the age of eight.
According to Chinese state media, however, Li only began practicing qigong a year before he started his movement. After a series of embarrassing interviews, including one with Time in which he talked of apocalyptic visions and warned of ghostly aliens infiltrating humankind, Li pulled back from public exposure.
Falun Gong is unusual among spiritual movements in that it has little to no hierarchal structure. The movement has no administrators or officials, no system of membership, and no churches or physical places of worship. Spiritual and ideological authority is completely centralized in Li Hongzhi, but most practitioners have no contact with Li other than through his writings.
And why, when a government report estimated there were more Falun Gong practitioners 70 million plus than Party members, security agents began interrupting exercise sessions.
For decades the Party has persecuted different groups — intellectuals, artists, clergy, conservatives, reformists — through political movements. Some are targeted because they are outside Party control or have their own ideology. Falun Gong, with its spiritual teachings, sense of community, and independent network falls into that category.
Others are targeted when Party leaders manoeuvre to align power to themselves. Falun Gong appears to be a victim of that, too, as the persecution provided an excuse for strengthening state security apparatuses. It gave the Party an opportunity to oil its machinery — from Cultural Revolution-style purges to Internet surveillance systems.
Coming to you daily during COP The NS team Sign up here. But under the opaque Chinese information laws, "there is no way they can improve their credibility … unless the Chinese Government one day in the future makes all of the archives available," Dr Penny added.
However, Wendy Roger, a professor in clinical ethics at Macquarie University, disagrees and maintains that there is in fact credible evidence that Chinese prisoners of conscience are murdered on demand for their organs.
Ms Li told the ABC that she is grateful that she now lives in Australia and no longer has to fear having her organs taken, but she says that even in Australia she can still feel the Chinese Communist Party's far-reaching power.
We found Ms Li via her fellow practitioners who were campaigning in the Melbourne CBD earlier this week, who at first suspected us to be spies sent by the Chinese government.
Chen Yonglin, a former Chinese diplomat in Sydney who defected in , said one of his duties back at the Sydney Chinese consulate was to monitor the activities of Falun Gong adherents in Australia. Mr Chen says he was asked to spy on Falun Gong practitioners and put their names on a list, which would later be used by Chinese authorities to track down and put pressure on the practitioners' families in China.
Mr Chen said his job also included conversing with high profile practitioners and persuading them to abandon their Falun Gong beliefs. They didn't deserve to be blacklisted or punished for their beliefs, nor did their families.
But many also use Australia's protection of Falun Gong practitioners as an opportunity to immigrate. Patricia Cruise, who worked as an immigration officer, previously told the ABC that she had processed many cases where individuals posed as persecuted Falun Gong practitioners with the help of dubious migration agents. To help their bogus claims, many of the Chinese nationals reportedly turn up at Falun Gong meetings or demonstrations. The Department of Home Affairs told the ABC that they do not have relevant data available, and the Chinese embassy in Australia did not respond to interview requests.
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. Key points: Falun Gong said the ongoing suppression has claimed lives. Former Chinese diplomat said he used to spy on Falun Gong practitioners. Former immigration officer said many pose as practitioners to seek asylum.
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