Falun Gong or Falun Dafa is a new religious movement. Falun Gong was founded by its leader Li Hongzhi in China in the early 1990s. Falun Gong has its global headquarters in Dragon Springs,a 427-acre (1.73 km2) compound in Deerpark,New York,United States,near the residence of Li Hongzhi.
A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty,with criteria covering judging of personality,intelligence,talent,character,and charitable involvement,through private interviews with judges and answers to public on-stage questions. The term beauty pageant refers originally to the Big Four international beauty pageants.
Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000,Morley's widow,Julia Morley,has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe,Miss International,and Miss Earth,it is one of the Big Four beauty pageants.
Gloria Maria Aspillera Diaz is a Filipina actress,model and beauty queen who won Miss Universe 1969,becoming the first Filipino to hold the Miss Universe title.
Chen Yonglin is a former Chinese diplomat who sparked fears of a diplomatic incident through his defection to Australia in the summer of 2005. The episode highlighted the tensions faced by China's trade partners when concerns arise from that nation's human rights record. The episode was compared to the Petrov Affair by such observers as Shadow Minister for Immigration Laurie Ferguson and trade unionist Bill Shorten.
Falun Gong,a new religious movement that combines meditation with the moral philosophy articulated by founder Li Hongzhi,first began spreading widely in China in 1992. Li's first lectures outside mainland China took place in Paris in 1995. At the invitation of the Chinese ambassador to France,he lectured on his teachings and practice methods to the embassy staff and others. From that time on,Li gave lectures in other major cities in Europe,Asia,Oceania,and North America. He has resided permanently in the United States since 1998. Falun Gong is now practiced in some 70 countries worldwide,and the teachings have been translated to over 40 languages. The international Falun Gong community is estimated to number in the hundreds of thousands,though participation estimates are imprecise on account of a lack of formal membership.
The Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident took place in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing,on the eve of Chinese New Year on 23 January 2001. There is controversy over the incident;Chinese government sources say that five members of Falun Gong,a new religious movement that is banned in mainland China,set themselves on fire in the square. Falun Gong sources disputed the accuracy of these portrayals,and claimed that their teachings explicitly forbid violence or suicide. Some journalists have claimed that the self-immolations were staged.
The Kilgour–Matas report is a 2006/2007 investigative report into allegations of live organ harvesting in China conducted by Canadian MP David Kilgour and human rights lawyer David Matas. The report was requested by the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) after allegations emerged that Falun Gong practitioners were secretly having their organs removed against their will at Sujiatun Thrombosis Hospital. The report,based on circumstantial evidence,concluded that "there has been,and continues today to be,large-scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners." China has consistently denied the allegations.
Soo Wincci is a Malaysian singer,recording artist,actress,composer,celebrity chef,host,model and beauty pageant titleholder. She crowned Miss World Malaysia in 2008 and represented Malaysia in the Miss World 2008 beauty pageant. In 2013,she was selected by Hollywood's Independent Critics as one of the 100 most beautiful women in the world. In 2016 she was awarded the "Top 10 Most Outstanding Young Malaysian Award". In 2018 the Chinese media nicknamed her "The Most Beautiful Dr". She has four entries in the Malaysia Book of Records.
Shen Yun Performing Arts is a United States-based non-profit performing arts and entertainment company that tours internationally,producing performances including dance and symphonic music. It is operated by the Falun Gong new religious movement. Shen Yun is composed of eight large performing ensembles,with a total of approximately 480 performers. Shen Yun has performed in front of millions and has toured more than 200 cities across Europe,North America,Oceania,and Asia.
The persecution of Falun Gong is the campaign initiated in 1999 by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to eliminate the spiritual practice of Falun Gong in China,maintaining a doctrine of state atheism. It is characterized by a multifaceted propaganda campaign,a program of enforced ideological conversion and re-education and reportedly a variety of extralegal coercive measures such as arbitrary arrests,forced labor and physical torture,sometimes resulting in death.
Falun Gong is a spiritual practice taught by Li Hongzhi. Practicing Falun Gong or protesting on its behalf is forbidden in Mainland China,yet the practice remains legal in Hong Kong,which has greater protections of civil and political liberties under “One country,Two systems.”Since 1999 practitioners in Hong Kong have staged demonstrations and protests against the Chinese government,and assisted those fleeing persecution in China. Nonetheless,Falun Gong practitioners have encountered some restrictions in Hong Kong as a result of political pressure from Beijing. The treatment of Falun Gong by Hong Kong authorities has often been used as a bellwether to gauge the integrity of the one country two systems model.
Miss Asia Pacific World is an annual beauty pageant held in South Korea. It has been subject to a number of controversies over rankings,bribes,and breast augmentation surgeries. In the 2014 Miss Asia Pacific World competition,May Myat Noe of Burma was crowned on 31 May 2014,but dethroned three months later. This prompted the organization to conduct a new pageant in the following months. The title was won by Swetha Raj from India.
Miss International Queen is the world's biggest beauty pageant for transgender women. The pageant was conceived in 2004 and named the largest and most prestigious by CNN original American documentary television series This Is Life with Lisa Ling aired on 26 November 2017.
Miss World 2015,the 65th edition of the Miss World pageant,was held on 19 December 2015 at the outdoor arena of the Crown of Beauty Theatre in Sanya,China. 114 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown. Rolene Strauss of South Africa crowned her successor Mireia Lalaguna of Spain at the end of the event. It was the first time in the history of Miss World that Spain won the pageant.
Miss Earth 2015,the 15th edition of the Miss Earth pageant,was held on 5 December 2015 at Marx Halle in Vienna,Austria. Jamie Herrell of the Philippines crowned her compatriot Angelia Ong as successor at the end of the event. It was the first time the pageant was held in Europe outside of Asia. It was also the first ever back-to-back victory in Miss Earth history.
Allegations of forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners and other political prisoners in China have raised concern within the international community. According to a report by former lawmaker David Kilgour,human rights lawyer David Matas and journalist Ethan Gutmann of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation,political prisoners,mainly Falun Gong practitioners,are being executed "on demand" in order to provide organs for transplant to recipients. Reports have said that organ harvesting has been used to advance the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of Falun Gong and because of the financial incentives available to the institutions and individuals involved in the trade. A report by The Washington Post has disputed some of the allegations,saying that China does not import sufficient quantities of immunosuppressant drugs,used by transplant recipients,to carry out such quantities of organ harvesting.
Miss Sahhara is a British Nigerian beauty queen and human rights advocate.
Anu Namshir,is a Mongolian model and beauty pageant titleholder who represented Mongolia at the Miss International 2013,Miss Manzhouli 2014,World Bikini Model 2015,Asian Star Model 2015 Supermodel International 2015,Miss World 2015,Miss Tourism Queen International 2016 pageant. She won the Miss Mongolia 2013 title and was later crowned as World Bikini Model International 2014 and Miss Manzhouli 2014 (winner) in China,Asian Star Model 2015 Supermodel International 2015 (winner) in Korea and Miss World Mongolia 2015. And then she represented Mongolia in the Miss World 2015. On September 26,2016,she was crowned Miss Tourism Queen International 2016 and awarded Miss Charity. And then December 1,2016,she has participated first in Goyol 2017 which was organized by Mongolian Designers Association annually was awarded "Photo Model". She worked at Mongolia's Next Top Model show 14th number representing Z24 online ticket reservation through Z24 face.
Miss Earth 2018,the 18th edition of the Miss Earth pageant,with the theme "Goddesses of the Earth",was held on November 3,2018,at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay,Metro Manila,Philippines. Karen Ibasco of the Philippines crowned her successor Nguyễn Phương Khánh of Vietnam at the end of the event. This is the first time Vietnam won the Miss Earth pageant,one of the Big Four international beauty pageants. On October 20,2018,Miss Earth announced in their Facebook page that the winners of Eco-Video and Eco-Media Award winners automatically fast-tracked to the Top 18;the two delegates who earned two spots through the preliminary panel of judges and by the votes of social media.
