Reuters: Falun Gong followers in visit plea

TAIPEI: About 2,000 followers of the Falun Gong spiritual [group] banned in China marched through Taipei yesterday, mourning their mainland brethren and urging Taiwan to invite the group's leader to visit. They carried flowers, banners and pictures of what they said were 103 members of the sect tortured to death in police custody. ''Stop persecuting Falun Gong,'' read a huge banner. Chang Ching-hsi, an economics professor and president of Falun Gong's Taiwan branch, asked the government to invite the [group]'s reclusive leader Li Hongzhi to visit. ''Many Taiwan practitioners have never seen Master Li. We hope he can come,'' Professor Chang said. Political analysts said a visit to Taiwan by Mr Li, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States, was certain to infuriate China and exacerbate relations with Taiwan. Mr Li, who has rarely been seen in public since Beijing launched a harsh crackdown on the group, has been accused of masterminding a siege of the Zhongnanhai leadership compound by 10,000 members of the [group] last year and plotting to overthrow the government. Sect members dismissed the accusations. ''It's not a [],'' said Sven Olausson, 41, a technician from Sweden. ''Li Hongzhi is very kind and very great,'' added Poul Anderson, 72, a retired aviation official from Denmark. About 500 adherents from 17 countries and territories flew in for the silent protest march, which ended peacefully. Zhang Cuiying, a 38-year-old artist from Shanghai who is now an Australian citizen, said authorities jailed her for eight months and tortured her when she visited China last year. 26 December 2000 / 12:07 AM http://www.hk-imail.com/inews/public/