In Falun Gong Flap, San Francisco Plays Safe With China

SAN FRANCISCO--In arguably the most liberal city in the United States, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors has passed resolutions denouncing everything from World Bank bonds, Afghanistan's Taliban, to the declawing of pet cats. But on Feb. 1, the usually righteous supervisors were muffled by the city's tremendous interest in doing business with China. They passed a resolution condemning the persecution of the meditation group Falun Gong but removed any reference to the persecutor, the Chinese government.

Falun Gong, a meditation group that Beijing called an "evil cult," was outlawed in China in 1999. The group came to the attention of the city's Board of Supervisors when it was banned by the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce from participating in this year's Chinese New Year Parade.

The annual parade in San Francisco is one of the biggest celebrations of Chinese New Year in the United States. Falun Gong has joined in the parade in past years. But this year, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce banned the group on the grounds that it is a political organization (the parade historically banned political groups from participating).

Falun Gong supporters said parade organizers are "doing the Chinese government's bidding" and filed a Superior Court lawsuit to stop the city from funding the event because of religious discrimination. The city underwrites $77,000 of the $800,000 parade budget.

They appealed for help from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and ultimately won a resolution that condemns the religious persecution of Falun Gong. But the resolution had no teeth: it stopped short of naming China as the persecutor and did not discuss the parade issue at all.

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