Snoqualmie’s international incident

Published 9:40 am Thursday, October 2, 2008

Snoqualmie seems to be getting a lot of international attention lately.

A week ago, 26 people from South Korea toured the city to learn more about urban planning, and Snoqualmie was the focus of similar attention from Russia last fall.

However, Snoqual-mie Mayor Matt Larson got some unexpected attention from the Chinese government after he signed a proclamation in support of the Chinese meditation and exercise practice, Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa.

In 2005, a Falun Gong group, of which Snoqualmie resident Allison Pan is a member, entered a float in the Snoqualmie Railroad Days’ parade. Falun Gong’s float won first place. Beside Pan, participants on the Falun Gong float came from as far away as Tacoma, Olympia and Seattle.

In April, Larson received a letter from Pan seeking official support for a Falun Gong celebration on May 13.

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