Sect Stages Largest Protest in Beijing Since 1989

In the largest demonstration in the Chinese capital since the pro-democracy protests of 1989, thousands of followers of a religious sect massed near Tiananmen Square on Sunday to demand official recognition of their beliefs, testing government tolerance of public assembly during a politically sensitive year.

Devotees of the Buddhist offshoot group Falun Gong began descending on the central government compound here well before dawn. Their number eventually increased to more than 10,000 as the protest dragged on into the evening.

The demonstrators, drawn from across northeastern China, sat, stood or meditated quietly for hours on the sidewalks, watched by uniformed police officers stationed every 20 feet.

At least two ambulances ordered by the government stood ready. But there were no reports of arrests or violence.

The protesters began dispersing peacefully about 8:30 p.m. after word spread that government leaders inside the Zhongnanhai compound had met with some of the group’s representatives. The demonstrators, many of them elderly, had requested a meeting with Premier Zhu Rongji, freshly returned from his visit to the U.S. and Canada.

The adherents of Falun Gong (literally, “Wheel of Law” in Chinese) are seeking legal protection to practice their faith, which involves achieving enlightenment through yoga-like exercises and performing good deeds in what they see as an increasingly wicked age. The sect is under scrutiny by the government and has yet to be sanctioned as an official school of qigong--a general spiritual and physical discipline entailing special breathing exercises.

The group’s charismatic leader, Li Hongzhi, a native Chinese who now lives in the U.S., claims to wield healing powers and reportedly rails against homosexuals, rock music and television as manifestations of the end of the world. Adherents spread their gospel partly through the Internet on a number of Falun Gong-related Web sites.

Along with more traditional religions such as Christianity and mainstream Buddhism, Falun Gong has skyrocketed in popularity in China over the last few years as Communist ideology has weakened. The sect’s growth--its estimated 100 million followers outstrip the Chinese Communist Party--has come even as authorities have stepped up a campaign against religious activity deemed threatening to public order.

The campaign is part of Beijing’s overall emphasis on social stability during this year of politically sensitive anniversaries, including the 10th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre and the 50th anniversary of the founding of Communist China. The Falun Gong sect poses a particular challenge to leaders, since they welcome the group’s emphasis on peace and forbearance in a turbulent time but are also wary of its rapid spread.

“We must suppress cults and the use of religion to engage in illegal activities, [in order] to maintain social stability,” President Jiang Zemin said in January.

The protesters in Beijing said they were spurred to action by an article published earlier this month in a youth-oriented science magazine in Tianjin, a port city not far from Beijing. The article, written by a well-known critic of the group named He Zuoxiu, lambasted the sect and its brand of qigong and warned young people to stay away from it, demonstrators said.

“The article distorts Falun Gong,” said one follower from Tianjin, a woman with the last name Yang. “In reality, we followers, from old men to little children, have benefited from the practice.”

Many of the protesters appeared jittery and declined to talk to reporters. The police stopped some foreign journalists but appeared to leave the crowds unmolested.

The demonstrators spread out on cushions and mats in ranks several people deep outside the high red walls enclosing the central government compound; some sat in the lotus position with their eyes closed. Many came prepared with food and vowed to spend the night if necessary.

But unlike the massive pro-democracy demonstrations of 1989, which attracted hundreds of thousands of banner-waving and chanting protesters before army tanks rolled in, Sunday’s sit-in was quiet, at times nearly silent.

“You can see how peaceful we are,” said one 50-year-old Beijing woman, who gave her last name as Wan. “There are so many people, but there’s been no unruliness, no one shouting slogans.”

Their aim, several protesters said, was to speak directly with the Chinese premier and clear up misunderstandings about their religion. “He’s the people’s prime minister, isn’t he?” asked one participant.

Some demonstrators said Zhu himself emerged from Zhongnanhai in the morning to address the crowd for a few minutes, but the government gave no confirmation of this.

In spite of the relative calm of Sunday’s 17-hour demonstration, one Chinese religion scholar warned that Falun Gong’s apocalyptic beliefs have the potential for major unrest if the sect is left unchecked.

“It could turn into something similar to the Branch Davidians or Jim Jones,” said Luo Shao, a professor with the prestigious Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Luo said he has warned the central government of Falun Gong’s tendency to lash back at its critics through mass gatherings like Sunday’s. Last year, Falun Gong disciples protested outside a Beijing television station after He, the Tianjin magazine article writer, criticized the group on the air, and just a few months ago, some demonstrators protested outside the Liaoning provincial government headquarters, Luo said.

The group’s adherents tend to be people in their 50s and 60s in search of some meaning to replace fervent communism.

“They feel spiritually empty and pained--they feel duped [by communism],” said Luo, who is a visiting scholar at a German university. “Most of the believers are earnest, well-behaved people, and in today’s society, it is good people who get duped . . . by people like Li Hongzhi.”