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Falun Gong practitioners in Vancouver Saturday said they are feeling hopeful after U.S. President Donald Trump met with a practitioner of the spiritual discipline last week.

The practitioner was among 27 survivors of religious persecution who met with the president Wednesday, a day before several thousand Falun Gong practitioners gathered in Washington, D.C., to protest Chinese repression.

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B.C. practitioners gathered at the Vancouver Art Gallery Saturday for speeches and a short march.

Photo by Jason Payne / PNG

It has been 20 years since the Chinese government branded Falun Gong as a cult, but practitioner Amy Chen said she felt hopeful things might change as the U.S. is engaged in a trade war with China.

“You can see right now with the U.S. and Trump. There is hope that it will change,” she said.

The Vancouver woman said she came to Canada from China in 1998 and has not returned.

“I miss my family,” she said. “I hope one day to be able to go back to China.”