Chinese officials in the United States have reacted with bluster and thuggery. "Chinese diplomats spend a lot of time writing letters and making visits to governments, local newspapers and television outlets, politicians and others, warning them about the movement," according to The Wall Street Journal. Chinese officials have attempted to shut down Falun Gong-related conferences, art exhibits and movies here in the United States. Falun Gong sympathizers tell darker tales of cars being burned and apartments being broken into.
A recently passed congressional resolution deplores the harassment of Falun Gong in the United States. It mentions a beating of practitioners outside a Chinese restaurant in New York by men allegedly connected to the Chinese government; an assault against protesters outside the Chinese consulate in Chicago, which led to the conviction of two individuals with ties to the consulate; and the physical abuse of Falun Gong practitioners in San Francisco by men later seen at the San Francisco consulate. "People don't realize what is going on here in America," says Rachlin.
"Chinese officials are completely not used to protests," says Schechter. "When they see a bunch of people outside their consulate, consular officials get freaked out."
Falun Gong is not a political movement. All its practitioners want to do is live peaceably in accord with their beliefs. For anyone near a Falun Gong protest in the United States, the imperative is clear: Annoy the Chinese government -- take a brochure or exchange a kind word.