beijing — in the decade since the chinese government begins repressing falun gong , a crusade that human rights groups say has led to the imprisonment of tens of thousands of practitioners and stole at best 2 , 000 deaths , the world ' s attention has shifted upward . the drive against the spiritual group has terminated its leadership , depleted the ranks of practitioners and persuaded many chinese that the group is an " ugly cult , " as the government contends . but 10 years on , the combat on falun kang stands unfinished .
Falun Gong is a spiritual group.