By Matthew Allen
Brigham Young NewsNet

13 Oct 2006

Most people write a letter in just a few minutes or maybe a few hours, if it is really important. Sheng Mei worked for two years on one of his.

Mei, who is Chinese but has lived in Salt Lake City since 1997, practices Falun Gong, a peace-promoting Chinese practice that revolves around a series of meditations.

"Falun Gong is very beneficial for the body and the mind," Mei said. "I practice it because it is a tremendous health improvement and very good for the soul."

Falun Gong, which literally means "The Great Law of the Wheel of the Law," is not actually a religion, but is simply a series of meditation practices that are meant to bring peace and stability into one's life.

Since 1999, Falun Gong practitioners have been the recipients of heavy persecution, both in China and here in the United States. Mei experienced the harsh nature of this persecution first-hand when, two years ago, the Chinese government abducted his Falun Gong-practicing fianc� and stole her passport.

Although Mei's fianc� has since been released, her passport was never returned to her, making it impossible for her to come to America.

Mei's two-years-in-the-works letter, which he sent to Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and Utah Rep. Rob Bishop, is a plea for receiving assistance in getting his fianc�'s passport back from the Chinese government.

"I have sent out many letters and contacted the American consulate in Shanghai, but the government has not responded," Mei said. "They have no explanation and no reason for keeping her passport because she is not a criminal."

Brought to the public in 1992 by Master Li Hong Zhi, Falun Gong practitioners enjoyed freedom to worship as they pleased for nearly seven years, until, as Mei describes it, dictator Jiang Zemin became jealous of the fast-growing phenomenon.

"The Chinese National Security Bureau found out that the number of Falun Gong practitioners exceeded the number of Communist Party members," Mei said. "This made former president Jiang jealous, and made him fear a loss of power."

As the atrocities against Falun Gong practitioners worsen, Mei and other local practitioners are growing more and more concerned for the welfare of their comrades in China.

Recent allegations made by practitioners and those sympathetic to Falun Gong include beatings, murders and "organ harvesting," where practitioners are taken prisoner and killed for their organs, which are then sold on the black market.

Although inconclusive, recent news stories have shown evidence that these atrocities are indeed happening.

Articles include those run by The Washington Post and The Ottawa Citizen, as well as a detailed report concerning the organ harvesting investigated and written by human rights lawyer David Matas and former member of Canadian parliament David Kilgour.

"There have been many times like this in history where good people have been persecuted," said Beverly Clark, a Sandy native who has been practicing Falun Gong for seven years. "But I just think it's awful what's happening to these people."

Clark said she believes the alleged atrocities, including organ harvesting, are true because of the stories she has heard from her Chinese friends who practice Falun Gong.

"I was so distraught when I first heard stories about the organ harvesting that I fell and broke my foot," Clark said. "It was the first time in my life that I had actually collapsed."

Robin Kemker, a Utah native who has practiced Falun Gong for four years, has also heard first-hand accounts about organ harvesting.

"The government uses the organs of Falun Gong practitioners because they are healthy," Kemker said. "They are healthy for one reason: the [meditation] practices."

Kemker said more people don't know about the organ harvesting and other atrocities because the Chinese government is so adept at keeping things under wraps.

"It is hard to prove what is going on simply because the Chinese government is so good at keeping secrets," Kemker said. "But we know the truth because we have pictures and we have first-hand accounts of what is happening over there."

For more information on Falun Gong, visit falundafa.org, or for local information, contact Beverly Clark at [email protected].