1 / 12

Falun Gong Hong Kong Blue: Alex Gochenour Clemence Lo Doris Law

Falun Gong Hong Kong Blue: Alex Gochenour Clemence Lo Doris Law. 法轮功 香港 一月二零零五年. Presentation Approach. Falun Gong in a nutshell Then & Now: Two timelines Research Methods Findings Speculations. Origins of discontent in the mainland. 1980s : Privatization of health care.

zuwena
Download Presentation

Falun Gong Hong Kong Blue: Alex Gochenour Clemence Lo Doris Law

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Falun GongHong KongBlue:Alex GochenourClemence LoDoris Law 法轮功 香港 一月二零零五年

  2. Presentation Approach • Falun Gong in a nutshell • Then & Now: Two timelines • Research Methods • Findings • Speculations

  3. Origins of discontentin the mainland • 1980s: Privatization of health care. • Millions seek alternative medicine, practice qigong. • Governmentdialogues on ‘scientific qigong,’ embraces modernist attitudes. • Communist ideals give way to • entrepreneurs, capitalist markets. • Bottom line: No faith in communism • or state-subsidized health care.

  4. Li Hongzhi & Co • 1992: Former government-official-turned-cereals-expert-turned-quasi-religious-leader Li Hongzhi invents Falun Gong. • 1990s: Membership explodes. • 1997: Protests begin and increase in size & number. • 1999: Zhongnanhai, crackdown. • Since then: Atrocities, media attention, international sympathy, popularity abroad.

  5. Falun Gong Hong Kong • 1994: FLG arrives in HK. • 1996: Registered as a non-profit association, but still not popular. • 1999: Protests in HK against the post-Zhongnanhai crackdown make the group well known in HK. • 2001 February: Mainland orders LegCo to hold a symposium on ‘evil cults.’ • 2002 March: The ‘obstruction’ case; convictions. • 2004 November: The ‘obstruction’ case; charges dropped. • 2005 January: The group has shrunk substantially in numbers. Between 300-500 practitioners remain in HK.

  6. Research Methods • Readings by Danny Schechter, John Wong, Daniel Overmeyer, scores of newspaper articles. • Comparison of government, organization, and third-party websites. • Interviews: FLG practitioner (2x); Buddhist Monk Sik Hin Hung; Emily Lau; FLG Spokeswoman Yee-han Hui; 40 student survey/interviews. • Final Comparison.

  7. Findings • FLG HK today: News articles indicate a decline in numbers. • Participant estimates per event last year: Between 50-200 per event. • Spokeswoman estimates 300 members publicly active, speculates why. • Four years ago: Estimated 1000 members. • Problem with estimation: Group keeps no formal statistics. Disparities wide. Where did they go?

  8. Spiritual Movement Wanes in HK • Why is FLG disappearing here? • FLG HK says: • The government has instilled a sense of fear in people. • Apprehension to associate with the group. • I say: • Sense of defeat: Members continue to use self-victimization in a society which meaningfully doubts it. • Threat of suppression: No longer the case after 2001 symposium. Valuable self-victimization tool suddenly means little. • Many people still do not know what FLG is. Some think it is explicitly anti-communist! Public outreach has failed. • Health care system in HK is more than satisfactory. • Members themselves feel they are pursuing an empty cause; no impetus to rally with the fervor of mainlanders, New Yorkers.

  9. The survey • Clemence surveyed 40 individuals on the campus of HKU, asking them about freedom of religion, FLG, and Article 23. Some of the results varied widely. Some of our results: • Question 1: Are you religious? • 29 non-religious, 10 Christians, 1 Daoist. • Question 3: Do you have any well-defined opinions on FLG? Any opinions otherwise? • Most opined that it was important to have the freedom of religion, implying that FLG is religious. They also spoke of the right to demonstrate publicly. • Explicitly anti-communist? • Question 6: According to the people you know, the media coverage you’ve seen and heard, is FLG popular? • Most said the group is not popular. • Those who said otherwise live near one of the group’s 30 practice sites. • Question 8: Has the mainland succeeded in suppressing FLG in HK? • Most informants implied that there have been no efforts to suppress FLG in HK, disagreeing with the FLG HK official statements.

  10. FLG HK’s Obstacles to Success • Two main factors impede the growth of FLG in HK: • 1. The group refuses to take information from its members. • This allows for members to come and go as they please. • No binding agreement can make the group seem flimsy. • It demands essentially nothing from its members. • For these reasons, it is difficult to mobilize a large following to participate in an event. • It is difficult to gauge effectiveness of activities or even plan them! • 2. The group refuses monetary donation and does not charge fees. • Publishing costs are paid for out of individuals’ pockets. This restricts publication severely, as HK is not cheap and members may feel discouraged. • Complaints from neighborhoods discourages publication anyway. • Large-scale events are out of the question.

  11. The future of FLG in HK • The popularity of FLG remains incumbent upon three key variables: • 1. The state of HK health care. • 2. The direction of government suppression. • 3. The success of public outreach efforts. • My prediction?

  12. All good things must come to an end. • Thank you for your time.

More Related