NEW YORK, Apr 22, 2001 -- (Reuters) About 500 Falun Gong follower marched through New York's Chinatown for two hours on Saturday to commemorate their fellow supporters of the spiritual doctrine whom they say have died at the hands of the Chinese government.
The march also drew a number of counter-marchers who shouted slogans against Falun Gong, which China has banned as an "evil cult".
Tuesday will mark the second anniversary of the gathering of about 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners in front of Zhongnanhai, Beijing's equivalent of the White House, that led to the practice being banned in China in October 1999.
Spokesmen said Falun Gong was marching for human rights in China at an important time, just days after a United Nations commission voted not to debate China's human rights record further this year.
Falun Gong marchers, whose practice combines meditation and exercise with a doctrine loosely rooted in Buddhist and Taoist teachings, said Falun Gong was reaching out in Chinatown to counter Chinese government propaganda against their leader Li Hongzhi, now in exile in New York.
"We're here to help raise awareness in Chinatown so that people see the truth about Falun Gong. Many people here are threatened with loss of their jobs by their employers and the Chinese consulate for practicing," said Xingqi Qin, 31, of New York.
Men, women, and children -- most of Chinese origin -- wore yellow t-shirts emblazoned in red with the Chinese characters for Falun Gong and Falun Dafa, as it is also known. Many also carried banners reading "China: Stop the Persecution," in English and Chinese. Some banners listed the alleged death toll of Falun Gong followers in China -- 193.
As the parade wound slowly through Chinatown's narrow streets to Chinese music and amplified exercise instructions, it was met at each street corner by about 100 Chinese counter-marchers shouting "Save yourselves!" in Mandarin and Cantonese.
Some counter-marchers tried to drown out the Falun Gong music using megaphones to shout slogans against Li Hongzhi.
Others waved fire extinguishers in a taunt designed to remind onlookers of the five people who set fire to themselves in Beijing's Tiananmen square earlier this year who are alleged to have been Falun Gong followers.
"We can't stop them from marching, but we're here to tell them they're crazy for joining," said Steven Wong, 45, a freelance interpreter and member of the United Chinese Association of New York, the group that paid for the anti-Falun Gong literature being handed out.
Falun Gong plans to hold a conference at New York's Sheraton Hotel on Sunday, and an all-night vigil on Tuesday in front of the Chinese Consulate.
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