campus: Falun Gong not a priority for student union
Stephen Thomson, Staff Writer

With many pressing issues on their agenda, the Simon Fraser Student Society says they haven't had enough time to respond to a request from Falun Gong practitioners.

Recently, the student union received a request from Falun Gong practitioners asking them to put forth a motion at the Canadian Federation of Students' national conference in November, condemning the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China and calling on other governments to do likewise.

Sue Zhang, a Falun Gong practitioner who works at SFU, explained that the support of student unions is important because "the extent of the persecution is very brutal and very wide. It involves so many people from all over [Chinese] society, including the students."

She said that it is important for SFU students to be aware of how terrible the persecution has been for many students in China.

"Some lost their rights to education. They're not allowed to go to school if [they] don't give up their beliefs," Zhang said.

Due to the student union's full agenda before the national CFS conference, however, they say there has not been enough time to even address the request since it was made. "We've got numerous issues on this campus," Jagdeep Singh Mangat, external relations officer for the student union, said.

But, "we're not discounting it," he added.

The request is still waiting to be discussed by the Advocacy Committee, of which Mangat is a member. But with so many other issues to deal with it is not a priority.

Falun Gong was introduced to the Chinese public in 1992 but was banned by the government of Jiang Zemin in 1999. Over 100 million people in 40 countries study the spiritual practice, which involves meditation and exercise.

Like other groups such as Tibetan Buddhists and Roman Catholics, Falun Gong practitioners in China have been victims of brutal persecution carried out by Beijing. Besides widespread discrimination, sources in the Chinese government estimate that around 1,600 people have been murdered because of their belief in the principles of Falun Gong.

However, Falun Gong practitioners have also been receiving much support from the international community. In July, the United States House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution that condemned the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

"In the past three years there has been a systematic escalation of horrific attacks launched by Chinese authorities against Falun Gong practitioners. The deplorable action by the Chinese authorities has included the brutal torture of followers, particularly women, who have been arrested, gang-raped and brutally beaten," Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Florida congressional representative who initiated the resolution, said.

Zhang is happy about the level of support, as it shows that people understand that the persecution of Falun Gong is unjustified. "[Falun Gong is] no threat to any society," Zhang said.

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