Idaho Statesman

IDAHOSTATESMAN:AMcClatchy Newspaper, 1200N. Curtis Road, Boise, ID • P.O. Box 40, Boise, ID 83707 • (208) 377-6200 •© 2015 Idaho Statesman, Vol. 151, No. 11, 3 sections, 28 pages

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WhenBoiseresidentWangZhuhong ,above, lived inhernativeChina, shewas imprisoned

andtorturedforpracticinganoutlawedexerciseandmeditationregimenknownasFalun

Gong.Fivesetsofexercisesaimtomakepractitionershealthierandteachings focusontruth-

fulness,compassionandforbearance.Statesmanreporter JohnSowell tellsWang’sstoryand

explains theprinciplesofFalunGong—andwhat ledChina’sCommunistPartytopersecute

itspractitioners.Above,WangperformstheFalunstandingstanceexercise,meant toboost

energy levelsandawakenwisdom,duringagatheringSaturdayat JuliaDavisPark.DEPTH,D1

ASYLUM IN BOISE

Persecuted in China,woman finds freedom here

She and her late husband refused to renounce Falun Gong,a spiritual and physical practice they say has been demonized

KATHERINE JONES / kjones@idahostatesman.com

DEBATE EMERGES OVER KEY TERROR THREAT TO U.S. A6

ANEWS&SPORTSCatchingUpA2-3 | LocalnewsA4-5-6 | BusinessA4, 7 |Nation/WorldA6-7 | SportsA8-11 |WeatherA12 | StocksA12

DDEPTH StatesmanEditorialsD1, 2 |OpinionsD2 | Letters to theEditorD2 |GuestopinionD2 | EditorialCartoonD2 | LegalAdsD5-6EEXPLORE Recipes E1 |CarolynHax E1 |Comics E2-3 |Horoscopes E3 | Puzzles E3 |TVE2 |Obituaries E5 |Classifieds E6-8

BOISE STATE FOOTBALL

BSU, fans coordinateon color schemes

SPORTS, A9

BOULDER-WHITE CLOUDS

WILDERNESS BILLPASSES SENATE NEWS, A4

EDITORIAL: PRESIDENT’S PEN NEXT, D1

THE ARTS

NEA leadershown Boise’sthriving scene

NEWS, A5

It shouldcomeasnoshockthata judgedeclaredasun-constitutional Idaho’scon-troversial lawontheunder-cover filmingofagribusi-nesses—thoughitmightsurprisesomebullheadedlegislators.Let’shopethestatedoesn’twaste timeandmoneyappealing.D2

EDITORIAL

AG-GAG LAWMISGUIDEDFROM GET-GO

Idahoansmightbeskeptical—wehavethenation’ssev-enth-highestprices—butgasmightdroptoabout$2agallon inmuchof thenation,AAAsays.Thenationalaver-agenowis$2.64.NEWS,A6

GAS PRICES

FILLING TANKMIGHT SOONPUMP YOU UP

After threeprettysuccessfulseasons inBoise,BradRalphhas left theIdahoSteelheadstotakea jobwiththeKelow-na(B.C.)Rocketsof themoreprestigiousWesternHockeyLeague.SPORTS,A8

ECHL HOCKEY

Steelheads in needof a new coach

Thewomanwhohasbeenchargedwithendangeringhertwochildrenhasbeenfailedbythesystemandisa“goodperson”whohasbeentaintedbydruguse,sayshermom,Caldwell’sRosieDilworth.NEWS,A4

JUSTICE SYSTEM

NAMPAMOM‘NEEDS HELP’

BeenmissingtheMajorLeagueBaseballboxscores?Findallofthepreviousnight’sactioneachdayat IdahoStatesman.com/Sports.Clickthebaseball iconandyou’llbe linkingtostatsheaven.

ON THE WEB

MartinMeltzerdoesn’thaveafunjob.Whenthere isan

outbreakofdisease, suchas lastyear’sEbolacrisis inWest

Africa, thetop“modeler” for theCenters forDiseaseCon-

trolandPreventionhastoprovideanestimateofhowbad

thingscouldget.Worst-casescenariostuff.Thenwhen

hisestimatesarewaytoohigh,ashappenedwithEbola,

thesecond-guessingandaccusationsofpoliticaldecision-

makingbegin.Somepeoplewant tochangehowthemod-

elsaredone.Meltzerdoesn’twant tohear it. “Iamnotsor-

ry,”hesaid.DEPTH,D1

HEALTH SCARES

CDC UNDER MICROSCOPE

EDUCATION

Study: Annual teacher training ismostly a waste, at great cost NEWS, A7

IDAHO HUNTER

Woman killingbig-game animalsin Africa comesunder fire NEWS, A6

D LETTERS TO THE EDITOR D2 • LEGALS D5-6 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2015

Depth Are you happy about the Boulder-White Cloudsbill or did you prefer a national monument?

JOIN THE CONVERSATION AT FACEBOOK.COM/IDAHOSTATESMAN

A64-year-oldwoman heading to a supermarket in the southernChi-

nese city of Shenzhen in December 2005 was suddenly surrounded by

eightpoliceofficersonmotorcycles.

Afewminutesearlier,WangZhuhong,aretiredcollegeprofessor,had

declinedastreetvendor’sofferofabottleofwater.Whenaskedwhyshe

was sohealthy,Wangmade themistakeof telling theman that she attri-

butedhergoodhealthtoFalunGong,apracticethat incorporatesgentle

exercise movement, meditation and regulated breathing to promote

goodhealthbystimulating thebody’s energy flow.

Thepracticehadbeenoutlawedsixyears earlier.Wangwas taken for

questioning.

“Ididn’t expect that,” saidWang,now74andaBoise resident.

She spoke in her native Mandarin lan-guage,herwordstranslatedbyherdaughter,He Hui, who also lives in Boise. “I was notafraid, and I refused to answer their ques-tions,”shesaid.

FalunGong, (fah-luhn gong), also knownasFalunDafa(fah-luhndah-fah),grewoutoftheqigong (cheegong)movement—litera-lly “energywork”—that exploded inChinainthe1980s.

Its practice was introduced publicly in1992. Its founder, LiHongzhi,whomoved totheU.S. in 1998, estimates that by 1999 therewere 100 million Falun Gong practitionersthroughout the world. Li, a qigong practi-tioner fromnortheasternChina, studiedun-

derBuddhistandDaoistmasters.FalunGong differs from tai chi and other

formsofqigongbyincludingmoralandspir-itual teachings. Truthfulness, compassionandforbearanceare itsguidingprinciples.

In1997,upsetbyaperceivedthreattogov-ernmentauthority, theChinesegovernmentremoved Falun Gong from a list of officialmartial arts organizations. Two years later,10,000 followers staged a silent protest out-sidetheCommunistParty’s leadershipcom-poundinBeijing.Thegovernmentrespond-ed by banning the practice and denouncingFalunGonginstate-runmedia.

ASYLUM IN BOISE

A story of persecution and escapeIn her 60s, Wang Zhuhong found help for soul and body in Falun Gong. Chinese authorities were not pleased.

PHOTOS BY KATHERINE JONES / kjones@idahostatesman.com

Members of Falun Gong hold a weekly qigong exercise session near the Rose Garden in Boise’s Julia Davis Park.

Wang Zhuhong,74, a retired

professor fromthe ElectronicScience and

Technology Uni-versity in Cheng-du, China, sur-

vived five monthsin 2008 at a

“brainwashingcenter.” She latercame to Boise to

live with herdaughter and

obtained asylum.“I really appre-ciate what theAmerican gov-

ernment did so Icould practice

Falun Gong here,”Wang said.

BY JOHN SOWELL

jsowell@idahostatesman.com© 2015 Idaho Statesman

See FALUN GONG, D4

REFUGEES COMETO IDAHOFROMMANYCOUNTRIESBesidesWang and her husband, therewere 7,500 refugeeswho settled in Idaho be-

tween 2001 and 2012, according to the IdahoOffice for Refugees.The greatest percentage of refugees over the past decade came from theNear East and

SouthAsia. The largest number, 926, came fromBhutan, a small country in the easternHimalayas. Bhutanwas followed by Iraq (780) andUzbekistan (658).

ATLANTA—Last fall,whenMartin Meltzer calculated that1.4 million people might con-tract Ebola in West Africa, theworldpaidattention.

This was, he said, a worst-casescenario.ButMeltzer is themost famous disease modelerfortheCentersforDiseaseCon-trol and Prevention. His esti-matewaspromotedathigh-lev-el internationalmeetings. It ral-lied nations to step up their ef-forts to fight thedisease.

But theestimateproved tobeoff.

Way,wayoff.Like, 65 times worse than

whatendeduphappening.Some were not surprised.

Meltzer has a lot of critics whosay he and his CDC colleagueshaveahabitofwillfullyignoringthe complexities of disease out-breaks, resulting in estimatesthat overdramatize how bad an

outbreak could get—estimatesthat may be skewed by politics.They sayMeltzer andcompanyalso overestimate how muchvaccine isneededandhowben-eficial ithasbeen.

Overblown estimates can re-sultinunnecessarygovernmentspending, they say, and mayfurther erode trust in an agencythatrecentlyhasseenitssterling

reputationdecline.“Once we cry wolf, and our

dire predictions turn out not tobe the case, people lose confi-denceinpublichealth,”saidAa-ronKing, aUniversityofMichi-gan researcher who in a recentjournal article tookMeltzer andothers to task for making what

EBOLA SCARE

CDC’s top modeler makesestimates, courts conflict

Critics say his predictionswere overdramatizedand skewed by politics.

DAVID GOLDMAN / The Associated Press

Martin Meltzer, a disease modeler for the nation’s pre-eminentpublic health agency, is wary of proposals for greater collaborationor reliance on nonagency modelers.

BY MIKE STOBBE

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

See MODELER, D5

ThetimeishereforPresidentBarackObamatosignontotheSawtoothNationalRecreation

AreaandJerryPeakWildernessAdditionsAct,whichpassedtheSenatebyunanimousconsentTues-dayandpavesthewaytoassignwildernessprotectionto275,000-plusacres intheBoulder-WhiteCloudsregion.

IfanotherwisecontentiousCon-gresscanfindawaytoassignoneofthehighest levelsofpreservationtoCentral Idaho’s iconicnatural jewel,certainly thepresidentcanfindreasontodrawhispenandsignintolawaninitiativebegunfourdecadesagothatwillbestowdividendsforgenerationstocome.

TheeffortsofRep.MikeSimpson,R-Idaho,over thepast 13yearswork-ingwithadiversesetofstakeholdersfromtheenvironmental,outdoor,wildernessandgovernmentcom-munitiesdeservetheappreciationandfinalapprovalof theexecutivebranch.

Sincehisvisit toIdahoinFebru-ary,wehopethatObamahasappre-ciatedtheexampleof thebipartisaneffortsofSimpson,Sen. JimRischandtheircolleagues—whichwouldhavegonenowherewithout thepragmaticworkofsuchstewardsas

theIdahoConservationLeagueandgroupsrepresentinghunters,an-glersandrecreationists.

The“IdahoSolution”withinH.R.1138 isonethat thestakeholdershavewantedandis theoutcomethat theStatesmaneditorialboardhascham-pionedthroughavarietyof initia-tiveswithsundrynamesbutonegoal: theprotectionof theregionwheretheWhiteCloudMountainsandCastleandMerriampeaksrise toremindusthat theyprecededusandareworthyofourbestefforts topreservethemforposterity.

Thoughthereareothereffortsandapproachestoreachasimilarend—thepresidenthasnodoubtbeenpitchedoverandoveronanationalmonument—theevidenceofcollaboration,cooperationandcompromisehere inIdahoshouldbeallObamaneedstobelievethis iswhat thepeoplewant.

Weawait thepresident’sactionandhissignal thathe is joiningus indoingwhatIdahoknowsisbest fortheBoulder-WhiteClouds.

Statesmaneditorialsare theunsigned

opinionexpressing theconsensusof the

Statesman’seditorialboard.Tocomment

on an editorial or suggest a topic, email

editorial@idahostatesman.com.

STATESMAN EDITORIAL BOULDER-WHITE CLOUDS

For Idaho wilderness act,Obama’s pen is last hurdle

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1870831-01

Former President JiangZemin ordered the persecu-tionandarrestofFalunGongfollowers. Jiang and othergovernment officials brand-ed practitioners as subver-sive and a threat to state se-curity. The governmentblocked websites that pro-vided information on FalunGong.

Today, the Chinese em-bassy in Washington, D.C.,denounces Li on its websiteand claims he has “cheatedandhoodwinked”hisfollow-ers. “Some people commit-ted suicide or became psy-chopathic after practicingFalunGong, andotherseventurned into cold-blood kill-ers,” theembassy says,with-outprovidingexamples.

Wang was soon released.But she persisted in practic-ingFalunGongandadvocat-ing it. Less than three yearslater, she and her husband,He Zhengquan, were arrest-ed by police in Chengdu, acity of 4.3 million people inSichuan Province in south-centralChina.

Wang and He had retiredas professors at ElectronicScience and TechnologyUniversity there and wereforced to return toChengduafter Wang’s first detention.Officials from the govern-ment’s“610”office,establish-ed to conduct surveillanceand punish Falun Gong ad-herents, pressured a land-lord to evict the couple fromtheirapartment inShenzhenand arranged for He to befiredfromaconsultingjobhehad held for three years.“610” refers to the date, June10, 1999,when the officewasestablished.

WhenWangwas arrestedwith her husband, in June2008, authorities accusedher of providing several Fa-lun Gong pamphlets to an-other practitioner. Policesearched the couple’s homeand seized several books onFalun Gong, along with thecouple’s computer, CDs anda book containing Wang’scontacts.

While her husband wasreleased the next day,Wangwas held for 13 days at a de-tention center. Familymem-

berswerenot allowed to seeher or bring necessities.Twiceaday,shesaid,shewasfed a bun made with moldyflour, alongwith a few slicesofturnipandabowlofturnipsoup. She and other prison-ers were forced to drink tapwater, which in mainlandChina isnotconsideredsafe.

Two weeks later, Wangwas transferred to what hu-manrightsorganizationscalla “brainwashing center” op-erated by the 610 office. Shewas never charged with acrime or brought before ajudge.Wangwasimprisonedforfivemonthsandforcedtowatch videos denouncingFalunGong and Li for hoursonend.

Amnesty International,which tracks human rightsviolations, filed reports thatthebrainwashingcenters,of-ficially known as “legal edu-cation classes,” were de-signed primarily to coerceFalunGongpractitioners.

“Brainwashing is one ofthe primary tools used to‘transform’ practitioners, or,inotherwords,toforcethemto renounce their faith in theteachings of Falun Gong,”Wang said. “They employedall kinds of lies and dirtywordstodefameFalunGongandourteacher.”

Two guards took turnswatching Wang inside hercell24hoursaday.Asurveil-lancecamerawas trainedonherroom.Thetelevisionthatplayed the propaganda vid-eoswason14hoursaday,andWang was forced to sit andwatch the entire time.Mealswere brought into her cell.Shewasnotallowedtospeakwithotherprisoners.

Wang and the other prac-titioners held at the brain-washingcenter—Wangesti-mates 40 percent of themwere elderly—were forbid-den from doing Falun Gongexercises. One day, Wangsaid she was sitting on thebed and bent one of her legsslightly. Immediately, aguard entered the room andyelled at her, accusingWangof conducting a sittingmed-itationexercise.

Wang said she sufferedfrom shortness of breath atonepointandcouldn’t sleep.Another time, she felt dizzy,could not stand still and hadtightness in her chest. Shesaid she was unable to eatmuchandlost30pounds inashort period before hersymptoms gradually wentaway.

She did not realize untilthree years after shewas re-leased that she had been

drugged. In 2011, she readabout the death of anotherinmate who suffered thesame symptoms when hewas released. She later readsimilar reports from otherimprisoned Falun Gongmembers describing thesamesymptoms.

“I couldn’t believe theywould do those kinds ofthings tome,”Wangsaid.

Wangwas told shewouldnotbereleasedunlessshere-nounced Falun Gong. Shewas told that her husbandcould be taken into custodyandsenttothebrainwashingcenter.

“That was the darkesttimeofmywholelife,”Wangsaid.

After her release withoutexplanation onDec. 9, 2008,Wang began practicing Fa-lunGong again. But first sheclosedtheblindsatherhomeandkeptthevolumeofmusicused during the exerciseslow so that it would not at-tractattention.

“I started to recover littleby little,”Wangsaid.

Wang and her husband,who died last November,came to theUnited States inJune 2009 to visit theirdaughter,whoworks forMi-cron.Thecouplealreadyhadpassports, so they did not

have to seek governmentpermission to leave thecountry, which Wang be-lieves would have been de-niedotherwise.

Once here, they soughtasylum, based upon the fearofcontinuedpersecutionforpracticingFalunGongiftheyreturned to China. It wasgrantedonAug.3,2010.

LOCALTEACHER

ATTRACTED

In2010,BoiseresidentMi-chaelFitzgeraldcameacrossa Falun Gong pamphlet thatprovided information onfive sets of exercises practi-tioners say help revitalizethebody.

“Formanyyears, Iwasve-ryinterestedinspiritualmat-ters. IwasreadingtheBiblealot. I was also reading someBuddhist texts. I was learn-ing how to meditate, and Iwasdoingalittlebitofyoga,”saidFitzgerald,31,anEnglishteacher at Eagle Academy.“... I was very concernedaboutmyhealth.”

Hebeganpracticingregu-larly with a small group thatmeets Saturdaymornings inJuliaDavisPark.

“The moment I startedlearning, then I just felt veryunique things happening inmy body,” Fitzgerald said. “Ijust feltmyselfbecomingve-rystrong.”

The exercises are de-signed to open up energychannels, much like acu-puncture,butacupunctureisdesignedtofocusonspecificenergy channels, not thewholebody.

“According to Chinesemedicine, when an energychannel is opened, it allowsenergy to flow through,”Fitzgeraldsaid.“InFalunDa-fa,itaimstoopenalloftheen-ergychannelsatonetime.So,from the first exercise, theyall become open. In my un-derstanding, that’s why a lotof people experience veryprofound health benefitsrightaway.”

Wang said she and her

husband had suffered fromhealthproblemsthattheyre-covered from after begin-ning to practice Falun GonginMay1996.

Fitzgerald said he was in-trigued by the fact FalunGong does not maintain anorganizational structure.There are no membershiprolls,andpeoplecancometoexercise sessions as little oras often as they like. Thegroup does not solicit mon-ey. “Even donations are notallowed, and I was im-pressedbythat,”hesaid.

Betweensix and 15peopletypically takepart in theSat-urdayexercises,whichbeginat10a.m.andlastforaboutanhour,Fitzgeraldsaid.Mostofthem are non-Chinese. Fitz-geraldsaideveryoneis invit-ed.

Two women who camefrom China took part in theBoiseexerciseprogramforawhile. They quit coming be-cause they feared their par-ticipation could lead to re-percussions for relativesback inChina,HeHuisaid.

Since practicing FalunGong, Fitzgerald said he hasbecomeabetterperson.

“It reallymademe realizeto really consider other peo-ple before myself, and thatwhen problems come up tolookatmyselfbeforeIblameothers,”hesaid.“Soit’sreallyjusthelpedmymindbecomemuch more strengthened,and I feelmuchmore in tunewiththepeople inmylife.”

Recently, Wang filed alawsuit against Jiang, theformer Chinese president.She accuses himof violatingcitizens’ freedoms of reli-gion and speech through hispersecution of Falun Gongfollowers.

ThesuitwasfiledwiththeSupreme People’s Procurat-orate,oneofChina’stoplegalbodies. More than 100,000other Falun Gong followershave filed similar com-plaints.

“Practitioners weretortured and killed for theirbeliefs,” Wang said. “Manyfamilies were torn apart. Ihaveahome that I cannotgobackto.Jiangisthemainper-sontobeheldresponsibleforthis crime. I felt I should suehim.”

JohnSowell: 377-6423;

Twitter:@IDS_Sowell

FALUNGONG

CONTINUED FROM D1

KATHERINE JONES / kjones@idahostatesman.com

He Hui did not practice Falun Gong until 2010. Her bestfriend believed Chinese propaganda that characterizedpractitioners as “crazy people who set themselves on fire,”He said. “I told her that’s just a lie. She was so shocked.”

LEARNMORE

Formore informationon FalunGong in Boise,contactMichael Fitz-gerald at 490-0309.

WHATASYLUM

MEANS

TheUnited Statesconsiders granting asylumto peoplewho have suf-fered persecution ormightin the future because ofrace, religion, nationality,membership in a particularsocial group or politicalopinion. Spouses andchildren younger than 21may be considered at thesame time.

A personmay applyonly if he or she is alreadyin theUnited States or isarriving.

Once granted asylum, apersonmay live andworkimmediately in theUnitedStates and apply for bene-fits such as food stampsandMedicaid. Theymayapply for permanent resi-dency (a green card) afterone year and citizenshipafter four years as a per-manent resident.