Word: falun
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...bottom line. The harder Jiang tries to impress, the less China's population wants to listen. He understands the need for economic development, but political openness is still out of the question. Even as the ink was drying on the trade deal, police were detaining members of Falun Gong, the banned meditation cult...
...FALUN GONG Beijing intensifies crackdown on followers of spiritual exercise group. Hey, we tolerate Oprah
China's crackdown on the Falun Gong sect may be inflating the size of the dragon it is trying to slay. Beijing ratcheted up its campaign against the religious group Thursday, branding it a "devil-cult" and vowing to show it no mercy. But despite the heavy prison sentences that Chinese law prescribes for members of cults, hundreds of Falun Gong members continued their almost daily protests in Tiananmen Square and elsewhere in China. Although the authorities fear the consequences of allowing a millions-strong religious sect whose leader is based in the U.S. to flourish beyond official control...
Beijing fears that the uncertainties brought on by China's dramatic economic reforms, which have left millions suddenly unemployed, will prompt a retreat into unpredictable cults that could spark cataclysmic social unrest. But the nature of Falun Gong - which blends traditional Qi Gong exercise practices with elements of Buddhism and Taoism - makes it harder for the authorities to win the battle for public opinion. "If all the Falun Gong members appear to be doing is exercise and meditation, it may be hard to convince the broader public that they represent a threat," says Dowell. "A harsh government crackdown could make...
...while getting rich is marvelous, it can also be numbing. Communism and its concordant atheism remain the state religion. Indeed, Hu Jintao, a contender to succeed President Jiang, built his career partly on suppressing Tibetan Buddhist followers of the Dalai Lama and, it is believed, supported the crackdown on Falun Gong, the mystic sect that claims millions of members in China. As a sign of his ascendancy, Hu, a civilian, was elevated last week to the vice chairmanship of the critical Central Military Commission...