| Letter to Chinese Leaders Regarding the Crackdown of Falun Gong
From China Human Rights Group, Toronto, Ontario |
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July 25, 1999
His Excellency Jiang Zemin
Dear Mr. President, We are writing about the crackdown on the spiritual organization called Falun Gong (or Falun Dafa) because we are extremely concerned that some officials of your government have made an unfortunate error which may have terrible repercussions. First, of course, we are concerned that the human rights of practitioners of Falun Gong have been trampled, as up to 30,000 have been arrested in recent days. (The fact that most have been released, after their identities have been recorded, does not excuse this breach of their human rights.) We are appalled at reports that some of the elderly, female practitioners were beaten with electric batons while police were herding them towards stadiums for "education" sessions. From the standpoint of international human rights, this would not be acceptable even if this organization, dedicated to physical, spiritual and moral health, was overtly political. In free countries, the free expression of political views, through organizations and the media, is a basic right. But the sad reality is that Falun Gong is not, from any reports which we have read, a political organization. Based on the ancient Chinese practice of qi gong, Falun Gong promotes physical health and a moral lifestyle. This practice, led by Li Hongzhi, who does not seek or accept money for anything other than his books, cannot be called a religion, a sect, or a political organization. |
In fact, until your officials, led by your Ministry of Civil Affairs, decreed that Falun Gong was an "illegal organization", we do not think these people, many of them middle-aged or older, including thousands of members of the Communist Party, had any political inclinations whatsoever. We are not convinced that your government has any evidence to substantiate claims that Falun Gong is "engaging in illegal activities, advocating superstition and spreading fallacies" or "jeopardizing social stability".
Now, faced with witless government repression, thousands of practitioners of Falun Gong are bravely taking to the streets to protest. Suddenly you do have a major political problem on your hands--but it is your government which created it. It appears to us that your Ministry of Civil Affairs is guilty of "jeopardizing social stability". Mr. Jiang, we know you to be an intelligent, capable administrator and politician, so we hope you will solve the problem of Falun Gong. We ask you to end the crackdown immediately, release all prisoners, and assure Falun Gong practitioners in China that they are welcome to practice their exercises and beliefs without interference. This, we feel, is in the best interests of both the government of the People's Republic of China and its social stability. Yours sincerely,
Michael Craig Bensen Lin
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