UPSC Prelims 2001 Q70: Current Affairs – International Conflicts & Security
Falun Gong is
- (a) an ethnic minority in Eastern China
- (b) an insurgency outfit in Western China
- (c) a pro - democracy movement in China
- (d) a spiritual movement in China
Answer: (d) a spiritual movement in China
Explanation
What Falun Gong is
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Nature | Spiritual practice — meditation and qigong exercises with moral teachings |
| Founder | Li Hongzhi, 1992 |
| Ban | Banned by China in July 1999 after a large silent protest in Beijing |
| Not | An ethnic group, an armed insurgency or a democracy movement |
Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) is a spiritual movement that began in China in 1992. Its rapid growth led the Chinese government to ban it in 1999, which kept it in the news when the 2001 paper was set.
Answer: (d) a spiritual movement in China.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Incorrect. Falun Gong is not an ethnic minority.
- (b) Incorrect. Falun Gong is not an insurgent group.
- (c) Incorrect. It is not a pro-democracy movement, though it is opposed by the state.
- (d) CORRECT. Falun Gong is a spiritual movement in China.
Key point
Western China's unrest relates to Xinjiang (Uyghurs) and Tibet; Falun Gong is a separate, spiritual issue.
Remember
Falun Gong: spiritual movement, founded 1992, banned 1999.
Common mistakes
- Choosing pro-democracy movement because it is banned.
- Mixing it with Uyghur or Tibetan issues in western China.
- Taking 'Gong' as the name of an ethnic group.
Exam tip
Being banned does not make a group political; check what it practises.
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Falun Gong
- US Commission on International Religious Freedom — China country report (Falun Gong section)