Liu Wen Ko, a Taiwanese telecommunications worker and practitioner of Falun Gong, last came to New York three months ago, when she spent her vacation protesting behind a wooden display with brutal images of torture.

She was back on the streets this week. But this time, donning a pink gown and an empress-style hair twist, the 32-year-old Ms. Ko joined a half-dozen other Taiwanese volunteers greeting New Yorkers with broad smiles, “Happy New Years,” and colorful fliers.

Most of them were fellow practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice of meditation and calisthenics that the Chinese government has banned and branded an “evil cult.” Instead of trying to raise awareness of abuses, however, the women, along with scores of other volunteers from around the world, have been blanketing the city to promote a musical and theatrical gala that will take place tonight at Madison Square Garden. The sponsor of the event is New Tang Dynasty Television, a New York-based satellite broadcaster that has been linked to Falun Gong.

Founded in 2002, NTDTV broadcasts a continuous stream of news and entertainment in Mandarin and Cantonese to four continents. It can be found at Time Warner Cable Channel 30 in Manhattan. Station officials, who say they strive to be the “Chinese CNN,” pride themselves on covering topics that the communist run press rarely or never does: SARS, AIDS in China, human-rights abuses, and Falun Gong’s struggle for religious freedom.

According to the Chinese government, NTDTV is part of a legion of Falun Gong broadcast and print publications used to spread the group’s message abroad. The station denies the association.

“Anyone who watches can see we are not a mouthpiece of any group,” a spokeswoman for New Tang Dynasty Television’s gala, Jenny Fang, said.

Ms. Fang said she, like most of the network’s volunteers and employees, practices Falun Gong, but she maintained they work for the station because “it speaks the truth,” and said no religious affiliation exists.

“To me, the activity of Falun Gong practitioners is different than the TV station or the gala,” Ms. Fang said.

She said tonight’s celebration – featuring, among others, American Ballet Theater principal dancers, the Juilliard String Quartet, and various Chinese artists – is about “promoting Chinese culture and also bridging the understanding between East and West.”

More than 4,000 tickets have been sold, according to Ms. Fang, and it will be broadcast in four continents.

“It is probably the biggest event I know of in the Chinese-American community in terms of scale, in terms of publicity,” a professor at Hunter College and the author of “Chinese America: A History in the Making,” Peter Kwon, said.

Some of the volunteers said they have spent thousands of dollars to come to New York. Asked why, they said they support the network’s balanced reporting and wanted to celebrate China’s cultural traditions.

“NTDTV is there to speak out about the truth against China’s persecution,” Ms. Ko, the Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioner, said, denying the station was biased. “I hope NTDTV can get even bigger and enjoy more freedom.”

Lin Shu Chuan said she and her husband spent roughly $10,000 to bring their family to New York for the event. A teacher in Taiwan, Mrs. Chuan, 36, credits Falun Gong with helping to restore her health. “We wanted to tell everyone the truth,” she said, watching her 10-year-old daughter distribute fliers at City Hall. “Practicing Falun Gong is very good for my health. And I feel happy because I practice Falun Gong.”

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not return a telephone call about the event.