Staff Writer

September 6, 2000

Silence can be the loudest statement.

By far, the most prominent group of protestors outside the United Nations today was the hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners who marched quietly to the international summit and meditated across the street from where the world leaders gathered.

The Falun Gong demonstration was one of a number occurring during the day in Manhattan during the UN Millennium summit. Police said scores of such protests are expected throughout the week.

Dressed mainly in bright yellow T-shirts bearing the message, "China: Stop persecuting Falun Gong," more than 1,000 participants walked solemnly from the Chinese mission on 35th Street to the United Nations on 47th Street. Their sheer numbers were enough to stop passers-by who remarked at the peacefulness and discipline the demonstrators showed in silently walking along the street in rows of three.

The demonstrators said little, but the message was clear: The support for Falun Gong followers in China and around the world is a force the Chinese government must contend with.

"We practitioners of Falun Gong gather today from across the globe to express our indignation over China's continued persecution of Falun Gong in China," said Gail Rachlin, a practitioner in Manhattan as she read a statement from the group. As Chinese President "meets this week with world leaders, we remind China that it too must be held to the same human rights standards as all U.N. member states."

Zhang Yuanyuan, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington D.C., said that the government's position of Falun Gong remains consistent.

"We believe the cult is a very bad thing in China," Zhang said. "The Chinese government was urged by the religious communities to do something about this."

While pegged as a cult by the Chinese government, Falun Gong practitioners insist that they are instead a spiritual discipline that draws from Buddhism and Taoism and incorporates meditation and martial arts movements.

By the Chinese government's own estimates there are as many as 70 million Falun Gong followers in China alone. The group has been banned in China since last summer. Many who publicly practice Falun Gong have been jailed.