Source reliability: This is his study for "A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Anthropology College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida"
Quote:
On the introduction of Falun Gong: "Unlike many other qigong practices around at the time, Li Hongzhi was not secretive in sharing Falun Gong; he held mass lectures with low fees. He founded the Falun Xiulian Dafa Research Society (Falun gong yanjiuhui) in 1993, along with Li Chang, Wang Zhiwen, and Yu Changxin (Tong 2002a: 640), “which would coordinate the organizational infrastructure of Falun gong and translate his works into different languages” (Bruseker 2000: 60). The Falun Xiulian Dafa Research Society was accredited and established as direct branch affiliate (zhishu gongpai) of the Chinese Qigong Research Society that same year with the title of Falun Gong Research Branch Society (Falun gong yanjiu fenhui) (Bruseker 2000: 61; Tong 2002a: 640)."
lots more, build up as they come up ...
China's transformations: the stories beyond the headlines
"Falun Gong practitioners succeeded in creating a considerable sympathy for the plight of their fellow practitioners in China playing on the anti-Communist sentiment that continues to resonate in some parts of the continent, as well as on the claim that freedom of speech and freedom of religion are universal values that should be respected universally."
"Nor is it surprising that jails, detention centers and labor camps came to be filled to overflowing with Falun Gong practitioners. In the fall of 1999, practitioners in North America began to track the anti-Falun Gong campaign in China and set up websites to disseminate the results of their findings worldwide."
"Such flames became all too deadly in 2001, when a number of Falun gong practitioners apparently set themselves on fire in Tienanmen Square on January 23, resulting in five deaths. This incident remains highly disputed, Falun Gong practitioners and spokesman insisting that the event was staged by Chinese officials (who long refused, for example, to allow Western journalists to interview those who had survived their own attempted self-immolation, although it would seem that such interviews would have been a golder opportunity for China to illustrate that Falun Gong 'drives people crazy')".
please feel free to add to it, it would be good to copy pages 104, 105, 106
Reference used in article for: "Jensen and Weston (2006) noticed a marked change in the tone of Li Hongzhi's messages following the ban: practitioners who remained steadfast against the oppression would survive the apocalypse while those who succumbed to pressure would not. Those who died or had suffered were promised 'consummation', or 'enlightenment.'", "Jensen and Weston remarked it was clear from Li Hongzhi's messages that he advocated martyrdom over prudence, and that 'if the Chinese authorities lit the fire, Li just as clearly fanned the flames.'"