The Penn State Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) Club has collected 2,250 signatures in five days in order to spread the "truth" about Falun Dafa, which has recently gained worldwide attention due to China's repressive measures against the group.

Kuan-Yuan Hsieh, part of the Intensive English Communication Program, founded the Penn State chapter of Falun Dafa in March. Hsieh said the club's main goals are to spread its stress relieving exercises and dispel any student misinterpretation of Falun Dafa that may have formed from negative propaganda distributed by the Chinese government.

Li Hongzhi founded Falun Dafa as a practice designed to improve the mind, body and spirit by acting according to truthfulness, compassion and forbearance.

"It relieves stress in me, allows me to concentrate on my research and improves my inner peace," Hsieh said.

The Chinese government began to crack down on Falun Dafa in 1999, calling it an "evil cult." According to the Falun Dafa Information Center (www.faluninfo.net), there are more Falun Dafa practitioners than members of the communist party in China.

"The Chinese government does not want their people loving things other than the party because they see it as a threat," Hsieh said. "Falun Dafa is not a religion, only a spiritual movement based upon five basic forms of meditation. The repression in China would be comparable to the United States government cracking down on people who practice yoga," Hsieh added.

To date 193 Falun Dafa practitioners have been tortured to death, 50,000 have been arbitrarily detained and 10,000 have been sent to labor camps without trial by the Chinese government, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.

The Penn State Falun Dafa Club has collected the signatures as part of a worldwide petition to be handed to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland. The petition asks the UN to pass a resolution to censure China because of human rights violations. In addition to gathering signatures, which will continue through next year, the Falun Dafa Club plans to begin free instruction of Falun Dafa exercises on campus this summer and will continue leading them next fall, said Erika Dusen (senior-English/History) president of Penn State Falun Dafa.

"We also are in the process of organizing a photography exhibit to be shown in the HUB that will display contrasting images; Falun Dafa practitioners peacefully meditating in public parks next to photos of tortured practitioners revealing the human abuses committed by the Chinese government," Dusen said.

To learn more about Falun Dafa and/or to sign the petition, visit the Penn State Falun Dafa Club's table on the ground floor of the HUB today.