Birmingham Post-Herald: UAB student arrested in China for Falun Gong

BIRMINGHAM POST-HERALD September 12, 2000

A University of Alabama at Birmingham student and his wife were arrested upon arriving in China on Friday for carrying materials related to Falun Gong, a spiritual movement outlawed by the Chinese government.

Shean Lin, 30, is a doctoral student in microbiology and his wife, Xiaohua Du, 28, who is an engineer working for Siemens Corporation in Atlanta, are both Chinese students legally working and studying in the US, said Wu Wei, a friend of Shean Lin's and UAB graduate student. They left for China to visit Xiaohua Du's dying father Wednesday, but he died that day.

The couple was released on bail by Lin's uncle in China Sunday morning to attend the funeral for Lin's father. The couple is under probation, but Wei said today he did not know if they were in the custody of the Chinese government.

Wei plans to contact a member of Alabama's congressional delegation to make sure the couple can return to the United States. Efforts also are being made to contact the U.S. Embassy in China. Falun Gong is not a religion, although its teachings incorporate beliefs, such as reincarnation and belief in a universal source of energy, that are derived from the eastern religions Buddhism and Taoism. The goal of the practices is to improve the mind and body through a blend of meditative exercises and teachings. The Chinese government outlawed Falun Gong in July 1999, declaring it both a cult and threat to the Communist ruling power.

Lin and Wei are members of a Birmingham group of Falun Gong practitioners that meet every day. "He's my good friend. He taught me how to practice," Wei said.

"The Chinese people can accept (Falun Gong), but it makes the government nervous. They are telling the truth about the government and how they beat innocent people to death. The government doesn't want the people to know the truth."