Falun Gong is not a religion but a cult, not a setup for keeping fit but a plot-hatching political organization, said Chinese Ambassador to the United States Li Zhaoxing.

Li was speaking on November 4 at a seminar on the Chinese business strategy sponsored by the North Carolina University.

Li said that Falun Gong has killed over 1400 people in China, ruined many people's health, undermined happiness of quite a few families and gravely infringed on the human rights of people.

The Chinese and American people all uphold science and treasure lives of their own, they need to be on the alert and should not let Li Hongzhi's cult harm people in the United States, the Ambassador admonished.

Li point out that the American government and people also are averse to cults in the US. But when the Chinese government and people ban the Falun Gong cult according to law, a few American politicians come out to the open making indiscreet criticisms. This is a dual criterion manifestation, an interference with Chinese internal affairs and will damage the normal development of the China-US relations.

Present at the seminar were representatives from the Chinese and American Chambers of Commerce, trade officials from North Carolina, executives of companies, leaders of the university and Chinese scholars and students.

Participants at the seminar from the American trade and economic communities shared the view that Falun Gong should not be allowed to make trouble for the US-China relations. An American professor said that everyone is equal under the law in the US, cult followers will be subject to legal sanction as long as they run against the law. The Chinese students vowed not to spare a glance at the Falun Gong. They traveled tens of thousands of miles to the US to advance their knowledge and talent and make a little effort for improving the China-US friendly ties, they said.