'They thought they could buy us . . . they thought wrong.'

Falun Gong followers offered to pay the Vancouver-based Asian Pacific Post newspaper to publish a "false" story on the Divine Performing Arts show that is slated to be held in Vancouver next month, a lawsuit alleges.

That fake article was to replace one written by Asian Pacific Post staff and be authored by Falun Gong adherents, but to be falsely attributed to the newspaper’s publisher, the lawsuit filed at BC Supreme Court in Vancouver this week claims.

When publisher Harbinder Singh Sewak refused, his newspapers were held hostage by the printer Epoch Press Inc. of Burnaby, which is run by Falun Gong followers, states the lawsuit.

The allegations are contained in a lawsuit filed by the The Post Group Multimedia Inc. against Epoch Press Inc.

Epoch Press Inc. had for over two years until January been printing the award-winning Asian Pacific Post and its sister publications the South Asian Post, which won a Jack Webster award for excellence in journalism last year, and The Filipino Post.

The case has already attracted international attention and is being touted as a showpiece to highlight the clandestine connections of the 100-million strong Falun Gong movement, which reportedly uses front components to wage a proxy information war against China.

"This case concerns all Canadians who value the freedom of the Press. They thought they could buy us. . . they thought wrong," said Sewak, who founded the newspaper group in 1992 after emigrating from Malaysia.

Post Group lawyer Kent Wiebe of Davison Wiebe Douvelos LLP said: "The facts of this case are so bizarre and outrageous that there may not be another case similar to this in the history of Canadian or English jurisprudence."

Epoch Press also publishes The Epoch Times, a Falun Gong friendly newspaper which is heavily involved in promoting the Divine Performance Arts (DPA) show.

The Falun Gong or Falun Dafa movement is a meditative practise outlawed by China, which describes it as a cult whose leaders have caused the deaths of many of its followers and collected tens of millions of dollars worldwide.

While the movement claims it has no structural hierarchy, Falun Gong websites state it has gathered over 100 million followers since its inception in 1992 by Li Hongzhi — a former trumpet-player from northeast China who is known as "Living Buddha" to his devotees and an evil charlatan to his critics.

The reclusive Li — who has been variously described as an anti-Chinese doomsday cult leader, head of a sinister organization and a spiritual master - apparently also can fly, believes that Africa has a two billion-year-old nuclear reactor, and that aliens who look human but have "a nose made of bone" invaded Earth to introduce modern technology.

Falun Gong adherents in China claim police harassment, summary arrest, imprisonment without charge and that they have no freedom to practise their beliefs.

The case in B.C. revolves around an article about a theatre-and-dance production that claims to showcase Chinese culture. The story — entitled "Dancing to their own tune" —  said the show by the DPA company has been targeted by the Chinese government because it is founded by and affiliated with Falun Gong practitioners.

It was to be published in the Asian Pacific Post edition of January 8, 2009.

The lawsuit alleges that around 8:00 am on January 7, 2009, the printer Frank Cui of Epoch Press requested a meeting with Sewak where "he expressly advised Sewak he would not print the newspapers without the publisher agreeing to edit an article in the Asian Pacific Post regarding the Falun Gong."

Cui advised Sewak at this meeting that he was a practitioner of Falun Gong and he did not like the article as he believed it portrayed the Falun Gong in a disparaging way, states the lawsuit.

At that point Cui demanded that Sewak change the headline and remove a quote from the Chinese Government in the article or he would not allow the print job to be run, the suit says.

The lawsuit alleges that later that same day Cui had conversations with Sewak and various employees of the publisher where he demanded further changes to the article, including the removal of any quotes from the Chinese Government.

"At some point later that same day the demands made by Cui escalated to the point where Cui demanded that the entire article be substituted with an article written and authored by representatives of the Falun Gong but falsely published as an independent news article written by the Publisher," states the lawsuit.

Sewak refused to comply with the demands.

It is alleged that Cui later printed some of the newspapers, but then ordered Sewak’s distribution agents who had picked them up to return all of them.

The lawsuit further alleges that Michael Roberts, managing editor of the Asian Pacific Post was then contacted by a Dr. Dianna Wang who advised him that Cui was being put under immense pressure by his own employees and the Divine Performing Arts group, ostensibly a Falun Gong run organization, and an offer was again made to substitute the article.

The new article was to be authored by Falun Gong adherents but be falsely attributed to Sewak, the lawsuit claims.

Cui in a statement to the media after the incident said he did not like the balanced approach to the story.

"Unfortunately, news reporters feel that they must ‘balance’ stories about Falun Gong or events they are involved in by adding the bad words or opinions from the CCP [Chinese Communist Party], but in my feeling, between victim and perpetrator there can never be any neutrality or balance.

"Articles like this one that gives voice to the communist regime make people think that maybe the CCP is justified in their attack and that maybe Falun Gong somehow deserve to be killed or tortured," wrote Cui in an e-mail to the media.

Publisher Sewak said his right to free speech has been suppressed by Cui and the Falun Gong followers involved in the incident.

"You can’t complain about not having freedom of the press in China and then turn around and suppress the same freedoms in Canada," said Sewak.

Sewak said he has received legal letters from lawyers for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, the Falun Dafa Association of Vancouver, pro-Falun Gong broadcaster New Tang Dynasty Television Canada, and the Divine Performing Arts Company. The entities say they are not in any way responsible for the actions of the Burnaby-based printer and his staff at Epoch Press.

The legal letters stated the Falun Dafa Association of Canada and Vancouver, which represent the Falun Gong community, are distressed at being portrayed in the media as decision makers and perpetrators with respect to this incident.

Some prominent Canadians who champion the cause of the Falun Gong also felt that the actions were unwarranted and have given the movement a black eye. One of them, David Kilgour, a former MP, has posted the original story on his website.

Organisers of the Divine Performing Arts show have been quoted around the world saying the show is not about the Falun Gong movement.

A scathing New York Times review said dozens of people walked out of the show because of the heavy Falun Gong propaganda underscoring the performances by the lacklustre dancers, singers, drummers and flying angels.

The show has also received its share of positive reviews as well – most of them collected by volunteers from audience members to be published in The Epoch Times – a Falun Gong-friendly newspaper chain.

Political Science professor Maria Chang of the University of Nevada, who wrote a book about the Falun Gong, said the Falun Gong movement treats organizations it has created as front components to influence public opinion through propaganda campaigns.

Describing such strategies as counterproductive in democratic societies, Chang in a published interview said: "Being secretive and deceptive will just play into the image they’re a kooky group with something to hide."