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They came from Taiwan and Japan, San Francisco and Mililani. And they all have the same message for Chinese President Hu Jintao: Stop oppressing us.

About 130 members of Falun Gong protested in Ala Moana Park on Thursday morning, hoping to catch a glimpse of Hu, who arrived in Honolulu early Thursday morning.

“We want to tell him to stop the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners,” said Sunny Chao, 38, from Taiwan. “It’s a peaceful practice and we believe in truthfulness, compassion and forbearance.”

The activists paid their own way from across the globe to be here. All eyes are on Honolulu this week as roughly 20,000 delegates from APEC‘s 21 member economies gather for the international economic summit.

Jasmine Okamura, 33, from Mililani, said she expected Hu’s motorcade to drive past the park. Although Hu did not pass by, she said the group wanted everyone to hear Falun Gong’s message.

“We’re here to stop the persecution and tell the whole world so they can help us,” she said.

Wearing identical bright yellow shirts, the activist meditated, held signs and spoke with passers-by at the edge of the park, between Piikoi Street and Atkinson Drive.

Falun Gong, which claims 100 million practitioners worldwide, is a spiritual practice drawing on Buddhism. Begun in 1992, it has been banned in China.

Ben Maloney, a 24-year-old practitioner who organized the protest, said the group planned to rally outside the Hawaii Convention Center on Friday.

“That’s really where the world’s eyes will be,” he said. “We’ll be there all day tomorrow.”

Group members did not chant slogans, instead passing out brochures and holding signs. One placard read, “SOS: Rescue Falun Gong Practitioners Persecuted in China.”

Members said they were protesting unjust arrests by Chinese police. Members held booklets of photos depicting people who they said were victims of government brutality.

There were no police surrounding Falun Gong protester at Ala Moana, bar an officer guarding the park’s main entrance a block away.

J. Zelaya, a 35-year-old local Falun Gong practitioner, said police had stopped by earlier in the morning to check on the protest. They left business cards with Zelaya and asked him to call if the group had any problems.

“They did get the feeling that there’s no violence to be expected here,” Zelaya said.

Group members arriving from Taiwan rented buses to travel from the airport to their hotel, and the local Falun Gong ordered lunch for the group.

Zelaya said overseas members of the group were mainly staying in hotels in the Waikiki area. But he declined to name the hotels, saying members were afraid of harassment by Chinese government agents.

Group members said they received no help for airfare on the 18-hour flight from Taiwan to Honolulu.

“We just paid ourselves,” said Nico Chen, 27, of Taiwan.

Cynthia Hui, who is in her 40s, said she arrived the night before from the San Francisco Bay area and is staying with a local practitioner.

“Everything is on a volunteer basis,” Hui said. “If you want to come join, pay your own plane ticket, expenses and whatnot. Everything you’re doing is from your heart.”

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