Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2006, Page 77
Chinese native and Falun Gong member Bill Xia‘s Raleigh, NC-based Dynamic Internet
Technology has developed a software tool that helps Chinese Internet users get around the
Chinese government‘s censorship of such topics as human rights, religion, and peasant
uprisings. U.S. government agencies have supported Xia‘s efforts with some $2 million. ..
The annual Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco saw a dispute between factions for
and against the inclusion of Falun Gong practitioners. Some think the organizer‘s ban
indicates a wish to placate China, an important trading partner, by rejecting the alleged
politically motivated marchers.
The UN‘s torture investigator is looking into allegations by Falun Gong that China is holding
thousands of practitioners in a ―concentration camp‖ and that some have been killed and
their organs sold. China is reportedly doing big business in low-cost organ transplants for
people from around the world who can‘t find donors at home. Authorities admit that some
organs come from executed prisoners. Austrian Manfred Nowak, UN special rapporteur on
torture and other cruel and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, recently called
on China to abolish its ―re-education through labor‖ system. ...Australian Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer says he‘ll no longer ban Falun Gong demonstrators outside the Chinese
embassy in Canberra from displaying fixed banners and making excessive noise, which he
said impaired the dignity of the embassy. Falun Gong says Downer has gone farther than
officials in any other Western country in acceding to Chinese demands to move against
Falun Gong. ..U.S. officials say that Chinese President Hu Jintao urged President Bush
during their recent meeting to declare Falun Gong an ―evil cult‖ that should be banned. U.S.
resident Dr. Wan Wenyi, who stood in the press pool and shouted at the Chinese President
when he visited the White House, faces up to six months in jail and possible deportation.
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
The FBI has raised its reward from $10,000 to $60,000 for information leading to the arrest
and conviction of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints leader Warren Jeffs, wanted on charges of arranging the marriage of a 16-year-old
girl to a 28-year-old man who was already married. ..A Utah Superior Court judge has
denied three separate motions from a defendant challenging the state constitution‘s ban on
polygamy. The defendant‘s lawyer argued that, given a modern analysis of FLDS religious
practices, the ban was no longer valid. He also said that the ban would harm the defense.
The Victoria, Canada, government is concerned about the higher-than-expected numbers of
teen births in the polygamous Bountiful commune of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints [FLDS], but investigation of the settlement has yet to find
health or crime problems. State agencies are trying to monitor the health of children in
Bountiful, but say it‘s difficult to get information from residents.
The court-appointed overseer of the FLDS towns of Hildale, UT, and Colorado City, AZ, has
threatened to evict residents who don‘t cooperate in paying taxes and with his efforts to
manage the community‘s property. He blames FLDS leaders for a ―wholesale lack of
cooperation and hostility‖ from followers and even local police officers. ..About 1,500
homeowners in the Colorado City School District have refused to pay property taxes, afraid
that still-powerful absent leaders will banish them from the community if they pay. ..
Federal agents seized a global positioning device from Seth Jeffs, presumably to help them
find his brother, fugitive FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. ..A severe birth defect called
Fumarase Deficiency, now affecting FLDS towns, stems from intermarriage among close
relatives. According to experts, the defect explains severe mental retardation.
Fugitive FLDS leader Warren Jeffs has now been charged with first-degree felonies for his
alleged role in arranging a marriage between a teen-age girl and an older man. A
prosecutor says the case does not concern either religion or polygamy but is rather about
the violation of the law by a person in authority over a vulnerable young girl who,
Chinese native and Falun Gong member Bill Xia‘s Raleigh, NC-based Dynamic Internet
Technology has developed a software tool that helps Chinese Internet users get around the
Chinese government‘s censorship of such topics as human rights, religion, and peasant
uprisings. U.S. government agencies have supported Xia‘s efforts with some $2 million. ..
The annual Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco saw a dispute between factions for
and against the inclusion of Falun Gong practitioners. Some think the organizer‘s ban
indicates a wish to placate China, an important trading partner, by rejecting the alleged
politically motivated marchers.
The UN‘s torture investigator is looking into allegations by Falun Gong that China is holding
thousands of practitioners in a ―concentration camp‖ and that some have been killed and
their organs sold. China is reportedly doing big business in low-cost organ transplants for
people from around the world who can‘t find donors at home. Authorities admit that some
organs come from executed prisoners. Austrian Manfred Nowak, UN special rapporteur on
torture and other cruel and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, recently called
on China to abolish its ―re-education through labor‖ system. ...Australian Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer says he‘ll no longer ban Falun Gong demonstrators outside the Chinese
embassy in Canberra from displaying fixed banners and making excessive noise, which he
said impaired the dignity of the embassy. Falun Gong says Downer has gone farther than
officials in any other Western country in acceding to Chinese demands to move against
Falun Gong. ..U.S. officials say that Chinese President Hu Jintao urged President Bush
during their recent meeting to declare Falun Gong an ―evil cult‖ that should be banned. U.S.
resident Dr. Wan Wenyi, who stood in the press pool and shouted at the Chinese President
when he visited the White House, faces up to six months in jail and possible deportation.
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
The FBI has raised its reward from $10,000 to $60,000 for information leading to the arrest
and conviction of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints leader Warren Jeffs, wanted on charges of arranging the marriage of a 16-year-old
girl to a 28-year-old man who was already married. ..A Utah Superior Court judge has
denied three separate motions from a defendant challenging the state constitution‘s ban on
polygamy. The defendant‘s lawyer argued that, given a modern analysis of FLDS religious
practices, the ban was no longer valid. He also said that the ban would harm the defense.
The Victoria, Canada, government is concerned about the higher-than-expected numbers of
teen births in the polygamous Bountiful commune of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints [FLDS], but investigation of the settlement has yet to find
health or crime problems. State agencies are trying to monitor the health of children in
Bountiful, but say it‘s difficult to get information from residents.
The court-appointed overseer of the FLDS towns of Hildale, UT, and Colorado City, AZ, has
threatened to evict residents who don‘t cooperate in paying taxes and with his efforts to
manage the community‘s property. He blames FLDS leaders for a ―wholesale lack of
cooperation and hostility‖ from followers and even local police officers. ..About 1,500
homeowners in the Colorado City School District have refused to pay property taxes, afraid
that still-powerful absent leaders will banish them from the community if they pay. ..
Federal agents seized a global positioning device from Seth Jeffs, presumably to help them
find his brother, fugitive FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. ..A severe birth defect called
Fumarase Deficiency, now affecting FLDS towns, stems from intermarriage among close
relatives. According to experts, the defect explains severe mental retardation.
Fugitive FLDS leader Warren Jeffs has now been charged with first-degree felonies for his
alleged role in arranging a marriage between a teen-age girl and an older man. A
prosecutor says the case does not concern either religion or polygamy but is rather about
the violation of the law by a person in authority over a vulnerable young girl who,
