On April 25, 1999, over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners showed up in neat order at Zhongnanhai, the Chinese Government leadership compound in Beijing. In a very peaceful manner, they pleaded with the government to provide a free and legitimate cultivation environment. Since it happened at Zhongnanhai, people refer to it as the Zhongnanhai incident or Zhongnanhai event. This incident became an instant focus for the whole world because it happened at the most sensitive place in China, and because of the unusually calm and peaceful manner the Falun Gong practitioners maintained throughout this incident. As Falun Gong practitioners, we feel it is important to present the truth of the entire incident, so that people will not be misled by the biased propaganda campaign launched by the Chinese government.

Based on gathered information, we are grouping all events as follows:

• April 25 is the beginning of the events
• April 25 to July 20 is the period of fabricating evidence
• the time after July 20 is the period of nationwide persecution

The Falun Gong practitioners showed up at Zhongnanhai because the Public Security Bureau in Tianjin had recently and unlawfully detained 45 practitioners. Since Falun Gong has indeed helped people to improve their physical and mental health, the number of its practitioners has increased rapidly in Mainland China, approaching tens of millions in number. This has caused the Chinese government to consider it a potential political threat. Some government officials took advantage of this situation to gain political credit by creating problems. Thus, news agencies controlled by the government have been constantly publishing untrue stories and articles that attack Falun Gong.

The Zhongnanhai incident was triggered by the Tianjin incident, where He Zuoxiu, who was elected to the Chinese Academy of Science mainly through his political activities and connections instead of scholarly accomplishments, published an article titled I do not agree with adolescents practicing Qigong, in Science Magazine (published by Tianjin Education College). In the article, He fabricated stories about Falun Gong leading to mental illness, and implied that Falun Gong could become an organization similar to the Boxers', who led a rebellion in the 19th century that destroyed the nation. His false accusations hurt the feelings of many Falun Gong practitioners. Given his political background and the fact that denouncements in the state-controlled media often led to political suppressions, some practitioners used the government-approved approach of appealing to related organizations to correct the false accusations. They went to Tianjin Education College and other related offices, on April 18, 1999 to report the true situation of Falun Gong. We will explain later in this article why there was no other way to report such false accusations.

It was totally unexpected when the Tianjin Public Security Bureau showed up. They refused to communicate with practitioners appropriately. Instead, they sent people to beat some of the practitioners. On April 23, 1999, they started to disperse and detain people, which eventually blocked the only channel Falun Gong practitioners had for reporting the truth to the government. Practitioners turned to Beijing on April 25, 1999 to plead to a higher authority. They asked for the release of innocent people, for a legitimate and free exercising environment, and to ease the pressure that had been put on Falun Gong practitioners for a long time.

Initially, practitioners gathered around Zhongnanhai. Later, several policemen told them that one place was not safe, or that another place was out of bounds. Following these rules, the practitioners divided into two groups that circled Zhongnanhai. Later, He Zuoxiu showed up during the day trying to disturb the practitioners; but no one responded to him.

According to a witness, on the evening of April 24, 1999, some practitioners working in the Ministry of Public Security had already submitted their name cards to Zhongnanhai, asking for a chance to report the situation. There was no response. At 9 p.m., practitioners started to gather on Fuyou Street near Zhongnanhai, some with luggage, some with meditation pads. Most of them were from cities outside of Beijing.

At 6 am on April 25, 1999, a witness went to the north entrance of Fuyou Street, and discovered that policemen were blocking the way to Zhongnanhai. None of the practitioners attempted to force their way through. But they witnessed an astonishing scene. Police first led the practitioners from the east side of the street to the west side, and then directed them to march south towards Zhongnanhai. Meanwhile, another group came from the opposite direction, and both groups met right outside the main entrance of Zhongnanhai. According to the media, there were over 10,000 practitioners gathered outside Zhongnanhai.

Soon there were practitioners approaching from all directions. They filled all the sidewalks outside of Zhongnanhai. But the traffic was not blocked at all, even the route for the handicapped people remained clear. There were 70- and 80-year-old elderly people, pregnant women who were close to delivering, and mothers holding their newborn babies. Many of them hardly ate any food or drank any water to reduce the time needed to use the toilet. No one knew where others came from. They "came from nowhere, disappear to nowhere".

Practitioners did not wander on the streets, did not have any slogans, and did not start any fights. In China, pleading to the government does not require a permit from the Public Security Bureau. Every practitioner only represented him or herself. They came to report the mistreatment that they and their friends had been experiencing. They did not violate any laws or regulations. Since practitioners thought that they had achieved the goal of expressing their concerns and seeking understanding and support from the government, they quietly dispersed at 11:30 p.m. [04/26/1999, Central Daily].

Although it appeared that the incident had ended quietly, the catastrophe facing Falun Gong practitioners was about to begin. Within the Central Committee of the Chinese government, the group that had always favored prosecuting Falun Gong found their justification from the Zhongnanhai incident. They started to deploy tactics designed to destroy Falun Gong; and innocent practitioners stepped into the trap without being aware of it.

After the April 25 incident, the government decided to arrest practitioners and repress Falun Gong. They delivered a message through Xinhua News Agency on April 27, 1999, stating "Government has never forbidden any kind of Qigong exercise. It is allowed to have different opinions, and to report them through normal channels. It was not allowed to gather outside Zhongnanhai. This kind of gathering will disturb the public order around the offices of the Central Committee and the normal life of common people. It was completely wrong. Those who harm social stability with the excuse of doing exercises will face legal prosecution". After the announcement, many news reporters interpreted this as "ease the mass while prosecute the leaders", and predicted that some of practitioners would be arrested and persecuted. On April 28, 1999, it was reported that four key people were detained [04/28/1999, United Press]. A few days later, the government collected the list of practitioners' names through residential committees, work units, and the communist party organizations [05/04, United Press].

Early in June, the media reported that the Central Committee held an emergency meeting which denounced Falun Gong as a cult and made plans to arrest cultivators soon afterwards. There were also rumors of an attempt to extradite Mr. Li Hongzhi (the founder of Falun Dafa) back to China by offering to reduce the US trade surplus by $500 million US [06/02/1999, Central Daily]. Practitioners who coordinated various practice sites were followed, and their phone calls were monitored. Their daily life was under tight scrutiny. They were threatened by officials that if they continued to practice, they would lose their jobs. Soldiers were threatened with expulsion from the Party and the Army. For people who work for the government, this means the end of their careers. Students were threatened with expulsion from school [06/02/1999, Central Daily]. Police cars parked near the apartments of practitioners in some cities. It was also reported that policemen were trying to create conflicts and escalate the tension [06/03/1999, China Daily].

Also, the first official document regarding Falun Gong was delivered to all levels of government, work units, and universities in Beijing. It banned all activities of spreading Falun Gong in public. It ordered that all universities, colleges, and schools should no longer provide any rooms or space for Falun Gong activities. Meanwhile, practitioners from different cities claimed that they were harassed in parks while doing their morning exercises [06/03/1999, China Daily].

In response to the rumor of attempts to extradite Mr. Li back to China and the denouncing of Falun Gong as a cult, Mr. Li published the article "Some Thoughts of Mine" on June 2, 1999. In the article, he explained to the Chinese government that he only teaches people to be kind, he is not interested in politics, Falun Gong cultivators do not promote superstition, and that Falun Gong is not a cult. Subsequently, Falun Gong practitioners went to Beijing again, hoping to get an explanation from the government. When the representatives from the government met with practitioners, they assured them that the government would not repress Falun Gong [06/06/1999, Ming News]. To protect their teacher and Falun Gong, many practitioners from other cities gathered in Beijing on June 3, 1999 to talk with the Central Committee. On the evening of June 4, 1999, the government sent out policemen to search all the hotels and motels, and to force practitioners out of Beijing. They also guarded all street intersections around Zhongnanhai, and dispelled practitioners who gathered outside of the main entrance of Zhongnanhai [06/06/1999, Ming News].

In response to various rumors about the repression of Falun Gong, the Office of Appeals in both the Central Committee and the State Council jointly announced on June 14, 1999 that the government had never repressed nor forbidden Falun Gong. They asked practitioners not to believe the rumors. They also claimed that the Central Committee had never requested the extradition of Mr. Li Hongzhi, and the government would not take away party membership or youth league membership, nor would they fire people because they practiced Falun Gong [06/14/1999, Central Press].

Although the government authorities seemed to try hard to clarify rumors about a full-scale crackdown on Falun Gong, they also published editorials in the People's Daily (06/21/1999), calling for the communist party cadres to hold high the banner of materialism and atheism. This action signaled an investigation and prosecution of party cadres who practiced Falun Gong. After the Zhongnanhai incident, related government bureaus conducted a comprehensive investigation on the status of Falun Gong. They found that the majority of key contact people in many local Falun Gong groups were communist party members and government officials. Many of them were retired or off-duty officials who had served the Party for many years. This discovery shocked the central authorities. Hindered by the freedom of religious belief stated in the constitution, they cannot directly forbid people outside the Party from practicing Falun Gong. However, they decided to restrict party members by using the disciplines of the communist party, and to severely punish those who did not obey. The article in People's Daily made their plans known [06/21/1999, Central Press].

In early July, all local governments transmitted official documents from the Central Committee, categorizing Falun Gong as a cult, asking all units not to provide space for Falun gong practice, ordering party members and officials to stop practicing Falun Gong, and threatening severe punishments for non-compliance.

In mid-June, more than 13,000 practitioners submitted a joint letter to President Jiang Zeming and Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, requesting that the authorities allow public Falun Gong practice and legal publishing of Falun Gong books. They also emphasized that Falun Gong is neither a religion nor a cult and that Falun Gong is science and not superstition [06/24/1999, Central Press].

To eradicate Falun Gong more effectively, the central authority chose Shandong and Jianxi Provinces as trial sites to repress Falun Gong. Just 3 days after the June 14 announcement of Never Banned Falun Gong, Shandong province issued documents to ban party members and government clerks from practicing Falun Gong. When some practitioners confronted this issue with the announcement from the two Offices of Appeals, the local officers claimed that the announcement was meant for foreigners and was just a stalling tactic. It was reported that the strategy of the central authority was to totally eradicate Falun Gong in Shandong and Jiangxi Provinces, and to use surveillance as the primary tactic in other regions, in order to ease the fears of practitioners [07/21/1999, China Times].

In fact, after June 26, 2000, the Beijing local authorities mobilized public security officers to forcefully clear up practice sites along Chang'an Street. Right after that, a large scale clear-up in all of Beijing was launched to ban the public practice of Falun Gong [06/28/1999, Central Press]. In early July, the central authority sent telegrams to all provinces and cities, asking every party member to report if he believed in Falun Gong [07/05/1999, Central Press].

The central authority also utilized all propaganda machines to fabricate charges against Falun Gong and Mr. Li Hongzhi. Initially, there were just a few media reports on the Zhongnanhai incident in Mainland China. However, in late June, there was a lot of criticism of Falun Gong. On June 13, 1999, a website named "the World Ally Against Falun Gong" was created (it started running on June 20) to publish articles with fabricated evidence, that slandered and defamed Mr. Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong [06/22/1999, Central Press]. After that, they recruited ex-Falun Gong practitioners who had been criticized by Mr. Li for making money from Falun Gong. They made up what they called "Materials for Exposure" and broadcast them on TV. In addition, they blamed Falun Gong for fabricated cases of deviation, deformity, and suicide. This creation of charges is still going on.

The preceding documentation clearly shows how the central authority is playing two-faced tricks. On one side, they are framing Falun Gong with fabricated evidence to prepare for further crackdown; while on the other side, they announce that there is no banning of Falun Gong (to relax the vigilance of practitioners). This frame-up work ended in early July.

When conditions for a crack down matured, President Jiang Zeming made a decision at a high-level meeting on July 19, to completely ban Falun Gong. On July 20, 1999, the arresting of practitioners started nation wide. All types of methods were used, attempting to force Mr. Li to return to China, and trying to eradicate Falun Gong – to reach the goal set right after the Zhongnanhai incident.

Early on the morning of July 20, 1999, armed police began to arrest key Falun Gong assistants nation-wide. Several days before that, Beijing police headquarters had already issued orders to deploy more than ten thousand armed police in first-degree combat readiness. Even the types of weapons to be used were specified for the arrests. The armed police not only arrested practitioners, but also rummaged through their homes, and confiscated all Falun Dafa books, cassette players, and VCRs [07/21/1999, http://www.minghui.ca]. According to descriptions from practitioners, even before July 20, police were watching the people who were to be arrested, to prevent any attempts to escape. Based on a Union Press report (07/27/1999), more than 10,000 practitioners were arrested, and tens of thousands of practitioners from different areas were dispelled when they went to appeal in Beijing.

Some witnesses described the brutal arrests by police. They beat people in all kinds of cruel ways, grabbed female practitioners' hair and dragged them until their hair came out, choked male practitioners while dragging them into police cars, dragged, pushed, beat, and choked senior citizens. Some policemen shouted loudly "take off his pants" while beating people; some practitioner was beaten by four or five policemen at the same time, then thrown into police cars with their feet left hanging outside the vehicle. Many practitioners had bruises and bloody scars on their faces, necks, and arms. One old man in his eighties said with tears "it is the first time in my life that I have seen police beating innocent people like this!"

On July 21, 1999, the Central Committee of the Communist Party officially declared that Falun Gong was an illegal organization and forbade any party members from participating in Falun Gong activities – otherwise they would be expelled from the party [07/22/1999, China Time Evening News]. Jiang Zemin thought that Falun Gong had "foreign power behind the scene" involved. He said that Falun Gong "was not a political party, neither is it a religious group. It is an illegal organization." The Public Security Bureau also prepared a ten-thousand-word announcement, released through Xinhua News Agency on July 22, 1999, vilifying and slandering Mr. Li, claiming that Mr. Li was in Beijing on April 25, 1999 and indicating that he had masterminded the "siege" of Zhongnanhai [07/23/1999, China Times].

After calling Falun Gong an illegal organization, China National Civic Bureau declared that public clerks were banned from practicing Falun Gong. In addition, they stated that anyone who publishes, promotes, prints, or sells Falun Gong materials would be legally investigated and punished [07/24/1999, Taiwan Daily]. China News and Publishing Office also issued a circular on July 23, banning the reprinting, distribution, or sale of all Falun Gong-related materials. Any violation would be investigated and punished by law. To sever connections between China and overseas, Internet access was cut on July 21, 1999, even E-mails were blocked later on.

To avoid further deterioration of the situation, Mr. Li released an open letter, "A Brief Statement of Mine", on July 22, 1999, in which he clarified the series of slanders from the Chinese government and emphasized that Falun Gong is not against the government both now and in the future. In addition, he called for the termination of treating Falun Gong practitioners as enemies by the Chinese government, and asked international communities to provide their help and support to Falun Gong practitioners. In another open "To Central Party and Government Leaders", Mr. Li stated that if we made some mistakes, please tell us and we will amend them. He also clearly illustrated that Falun Gong had no foreign background or political objectives.

Master Li indicated the following:

• He does not seek money. If he wanted money, he only needs to ask for one dollar from every practitioner and he would be a multi-millionaire instantly.
• He does not seek power. In history, there have been many emperors and princes who have given up power for cultivation.
• He does not have any resentment towards the government. Previous generations in his family had nothing against the communist party, and he himself has no conflict with the government.

Falun Gong practitioners in China have been appealing continuously to the government, hoping that the government will have a correct understanding of the Zhongnanhai incident. They keep telling the government that Falun Gong teaches practitioners to be good people, and that it is not a cult – Falun Gong practitioners are law-abiding good citizens. They asked for the immediate release of arrested practitioners, and expressed their firm determination to protect the Falun Dafa and teacher Li. In early May, some practitioners in Beijing wrote a ten-thousand-word letter to the Central Committee of the Communist Party. On July 27, 1999, another group of practitioners submitted a similar letter. In both letters, the practitioners repeatedly told the authorities that: Falun Gong is not a cult, practitioners aren't involved in politics, the appeal to Zhongnanhai was the only alternative due to blockage of ordinary channels to report the truth, the so-called "Materials for Exposure" was a plot cooked-up by a few people, and that the alleged suicide incidents caused by practicing Falun Gong were not true. In addition, they showed, through many scientific studies, that Falun Gong is a science and not superstition. They also stated the benefits Falun Gong had already brought to society by uplifting moral standards and promoting social stability.

As for the issue of causing deviations during practice, Mr. Li repeatedly emphasizes in his lectures that patients with critical illnesses and mental diseases would not be admitted to his classes. It is very hard for a patient with a critical condition to stop thinking about his disease and cultivate whole-heartedly. Mentally disordered patients do not have a sober main consciousness, which is required for Falun Gong cultivation. Moreover, Falun Gong does not advocate killing, and of course suicide is not allowed. Mr. Li has specifically pointed out that suicide is sinful. He never forbids practitioners from taking medication. He advised that any students who could not give up thoughts about their diseases should see a doctor immediately. In fact, due to the miraculous healing effects, many Falun Gong practitioners naturally stopped taking medication when their disease symptoms vanished. In the ten-thousand-word letter, a health survey conducted by medical professionals illustrated that out of 12,731 Falun Gong practitioners surveyed in Beijing City, 11,892 people had illness before practicing, and 11,785 of them experienced health improvements, including 6,962 people who were completely cured of serious illnesses while practicing Falun Gong. Song Bingchen and Zou Jieming who cooked-up "Materials for Exposure", were previous Falun Gong practitioners. However, they used what they learned from Falun Gong to heal patients and make money. Since these behaviors are not permitted in Falun Gong, Mr. Li stopped them from using Falun Gong to heal patients, which triggered resentful reactions from these people.

Mr. Li has made a kind explanation in response to the Chinese government through many media channels, and advised students not to become involved in conflicts with the government under any circumstances. For example, during a special interview with Newsweek and The Electronic Telegraph, he explained that the crackdown on Falun Gong would result in a loss of confidence in the Chinese government by common folks. The government can imprison people's bodies, but not their minds. When interviewed by CBS, Mr. Li emphasized that Falun Gong would not become a threat to the central authority since practitioners aim at improving their physical conditions and becoming good people with noble morality.

Despite all these kind efforts, the central authority began to take extreme measures against Falun Gong and Mr. Li. Vice president Hu Jingtao asked all local leaders to "arrest anyone who is supposed to be arrested without any mercy" [07/28/1999, United Press]. At the same time, the media propaganda escalated, attempting to force Mr. Li back to China. On July 29, 1999, the Public Security Bureau issued a public arrest warrant for Mr. Li, then Mr Li's passport was revoked to stop him from traveling outside the USA. All these clearly show the stubborn mindset of the communist central authority in its drive to eradicate Falun Gong.

On the surface, the Zhongnanhai incident seemed to be triggered by the Tianjin incident and an anti-Falun Gong article from He Zuoxiu. In fact, the real reason was that the unprecedented popularity of Falun Gong has caused anxiety in the central authority. Seven years after Mr. Li's first public lecture in 1992, there are about 70 to 80 million practitioners in Mainland China. In other words, the incident is very complex with both long-term and short-term causes, and it is also related to political struggles inside the Communist Party.

The long-term cause of the Zhongnanhai incident was the continuous suppression of Falun Gong. With the rapid spreading of Falun Gong, the central authority was afraid of losing its control. Therefore, they kept undermining Falun Gong through the media, banning books, conducting underground investigations, and disrupting practice sites in recent years. They destroyed the practitioners' cultivation environment. Other than pleading to central authorities, there's no way to express the facts about the incidents or the true feelings of the practitioners. The April 25 gathering in Zhongnanhai was to plead for a release of arrested practitioners in Tianjin, to request a legitimate status for Falun Gong, and to obtain a less restrained cultivation environment for practitioners.

The central authority started its criticism of Falun Gong on June 17, 1996. On that day, Guangming Daily (the official voice of the State Council, articles reflect only the opinions of government officials) published an article criticizing Falun Gong as an anti-science and superstitious practice, and labeled its practitioners as stupid people.

July 24, 1996, the Chinese News Publishing Office issued a "Notice about immediately confiscating five books including China Falun Gong" nationwide. Following that, tens of newspapers and magazines started to join the campaign against Falun Gong. Some politically motivated scholars such as He Zuoxiu were also active in the campaign. They used their titles of "scientist" to fabricate research reports that slandered Falun Gong. The Central Office of National Publication and Central Propaganda Ministry also ordered all publishing companies not to publish books related to Falun Gong.

Some official departments started investigating Falun Gong at the beginning of 1997. The Public Security Ministry deployed a nationwide investigation against Falun Gong using the excuse of illegal religious activities. Since no such activities were involved in Falun Gong, this investigation found nothing to prosecute. Related official departments then formed a team to monitor Falun Gong. Meanwhile they ordered all Physical Education departments to investigate Falun Gong activities. Although all responses from Physical Education departments were positive, and indicated that Falun Gong is an activity that improves health and cures diseases, and has no illegal religious elements, the Public Security Ministry insisted that a close monitoring of Falun Gong activities was necessary.

July 21, 1998, some official departments again issued a "Notice for conducting investigation against Falun Gong", insisting that Mr. Li was spreading an unorthodox cult and that Falun Gong key members were conducting criminal activities. However, the notice also ordered all local public security and political protection departments to investigate the internal activities of these people and to look for evidence of any crimes within Falun Gong. Obviously, the public security departments had labeled Falun Gong with criminal conduct without any evidence. In other words, conviction before investigation.

After this document was issued, many local Public Security Bureaus announced that Falun Gong activities were considered illegal assemblies. They dispelled group practices, confiscated the private property of practitioners, and detained, arrested, beat, and verbally abused Falun Gong practitioners. In some areas, practitioners were fined, and related books were banned. Practitioners tried many times to appeal through normal channels, but were not successful.

In Mainland China there is only one official voice. Many articles have been published that criticized, cursed, and slandered Falun Gong in the past three years. No articles defending Falun Gong were allowed to be published. Under this circumstance, where no other options were available, Falun Gong practitioners went to Zhongnanhai, asking the government to give them a free and legal cultivation environment. In short, the Zhongnanhai appeal was caused by the long-term slandering that Falun Gong had suffered. In addition, practitioners had no place to report the facts in Mainland China – there is no freedom of speech.

The other reason for appealing to Zhongnanhai was to ask for the release of the practitioners arrested in the Tianjin incident. He Zuoxiu's article slandered Falun Gong by saying that it caused mental illness and could potentially lead to the end of a nation, just as the Boxers' rebellion had done. To inform the media of the truth, some practitioners appealed to the Education College and other related departments on April 18, 1999, which was an approach that the nation guarantees its citizens to legally use. The attempt backfired and the Tianjin Public Security Bureau detained 45 practitioners. In Mainland China, an appeal is not only a legally protected right, but also the only channel that practitioners can use to report the facts. The practitioners' gathering in Beijing was a legal appeal, the only anomaly was that the number of people that attended was so large. But practitioners were extremely orderly and peaceful, so the appeal should in no way be classified as "making trouble with a large number of people" or " siege". Thus the Tianjin Public Security Bureau detention of Falun Gong practitioners was only a short-term cause of the Zhongnanhai incident.

The government's suppression, which led to the Zhongnanhai incident, was probably related to political struggles among high -level officials. In the central government, several groups held different views on Falun Gong. Among them, a few people tried to capitalize on destroying Falun Gong for their political promotions. According to a report from the Central News Agency (05/04/1999 from Taipei), the political scheme behind the April 25 incident could be described as "release before capturing" and a "ruse of suffering before charging". The purpose was to make Zhongnanhai feel the pressure, and then to outlaw Falun Gong.

As early as 1996, the rapid development of Falun Gong was noticed by some departments in the central authority. Luo Gan, secretary-general of the State Council at the time, ordered the Public Security Ministry to conduct a secret investigation. Personnel in the public security system took part in various Falun Gong activities, but no evidence of criminal conduct was seen.

Even with the lack of evidence, there were still two opinions inside the government about how to deal with Falun Gong. One side thought that Falun Gong was a public security issue and not a political problem. Therefore, it should not be banned. The other side worried about the increasing popularity and influence of Falun Gong, which could potentially lead to a force against the Communist Party regime. They insisted on banning it. Luo Gan, Secretary of the Central Committee of Political and Legal Affairs in early 1998, actively advocated the banning of Falun Gong. Prime Minister Zhu Rongji rejected the idea, and President Jiang Zeming did not express an opinion.

Luo Gan is a relative of He Zuoxiu of the Chinese Science Academy. He Zuoxiu had used the media to openly slander Falun Gong, and tried to create conflict between Falun Gong and the central government. His purpose was to create incidents that would lead all groups in the Communist Party to agree that outlawing Falun Gong was the way to go. After the April 25 incident, Luo Gan reported that Falun Gong had tens of millions of followers, possessed a religious and superstitious nature, and that Li Hongzhi, who currently lives in New York, was suspected of having a complex international background. Therefore, Falun Gong was a potential threat to social stability. These opinions were even widely distributed to Hong Kong and the international media, intending to exaggerate the potential "threat" of Falun Gong. Three days before the Zhongnanhai appeal, the public security departments had already received the information and started to monitor the situation closely. They did not report this information, they preferred to take the blame afterwards. Wasn't this a ruse of suffering before charging?

Other evidence showed that the April 25 incident was a trap set up by the public security personnel, and innocent Falun Gong practitioners stepped into the trap before they knew it.

Based on the explanations in the preceding sections, this section will further clarify the following issues:

1. Falun Gong practitioners went to Beijing just to appeal. There was never any intention to surround Zhongnanhai.

2. The Zhongnanhai incident was not planned or coordinated by Mr. Li Hongzhi.

3. The true reasons behind the central authority's suppression of Falun Gong.

As stated in section II, practitioners went to Beijing and Tianjin because there was no other way to report the truth. The approach they took is called "appealing", which is a right protected by Chinese law. According to article 41 in "People's Republic of China Constitution", citizens have the right to submit criticism and suggestions on any national institutions and staff. Citizens have the right to appeal to, file suit, or speak up to national institutions regarding any conduct of institutions or staff that violates the law or fails to fulfill their responsibilities. It is stated in the 10th code of the Chinese "Appealing Codes" that issues in the appealing process should be submitted to related executive departments, or one level higher, who have the legal right to make decisions.

The gathering of Falun Gong practitioners in Tianjin and Zhongnanhai should not be considered demonstrations. After the Tianjin Public Security Bureau arrested people on April 23, 1999, some practitioners gathered at the Office of Appeals in Tianjin City government just to appeal and present the facts. However, the appeal was not well received. On the contrary, about 40 more people were arrested. As a result, Falun Gong practitioners had to appeal to the level above the Tianjin City government, which is Beijing. Practitioners didn't wander around the streets, so it can't be called a parade. They didn't have banners or signs, so it can't be called a demonstration. In China, appealing does not require application to the Public Security Bureau. Each practitioner just represents him or herself to report the unjust treatment he or his fellow practitioners have experienced. The appeals did not violate any regulations.

Mr. Li has always taught Falun Gong practitioners that they must not violate the law. Any genuine practitioner would abide by Mr. Li and the principles of Falun Gong, and would not violate the law. Therefore, throughout the incidents, practitioners have always kept a peaceful and benevolent heart. They were orderly and cooperated with the arrangements and directions of the police. They stood where the personnel from the Office of Appeals and the traffic police told them to, waiting to be received by officials. The whole process did not involve any signs or slogans, nor did it block the traffic. Practitioners even picked up all the trash on the ground. Such details were reported by international media.

In the ten-thousand-word report prepared by the Chinese Public Security Bureau, Mr. Li was accused of being in Beijing the day before April 25, 1999, to manipulate the whole incident behind the scenes. In fact, Mr. Li was on his way to Australia to attend a Falun Gong conference. To reduce the cost of his airline ticket, he had layovers at Beijing and Hong Kong. He stayed for 48 hours in Beijing during the transfer and left Beijing on April 24, 1999 for Hong Kong. The Chinese government thinks that this was not an accident and that Mr. Li was planning things while using the excuse of transferring airplanes.

However, as stated in Section II, there are also people wondering whether the Zhongnanhai incident was planned by a few people from the Public Security Departments. We do not know and we do not want to speculate about who had planned the Zhongnanhai incident. We just want to question the false accusation that "is there anyone on earth who would personally appear at the site if he indeed is the criminal that schemed everything? Wouldn't all criminals try to prove that he was not at the site?"

The Chinese government wondered how, without any organization, so many people showed up at the same time. In fact, it was largely due to practitioners' personal networking and exercise environment. The spread of Falun Gong is mostly done by individual practitioners who, after personally benefiting from it, tell their friends and families. Many people practice in parks with groups. Without any tangible organization, without anyone to plan it, any activities would be known by many people in a short period of time through this type of personal network.

According to the statement in the People's Daily [07/27/1999] and quotes from many officials, the conflict between Falun Gong and Communism is actually a struggle between theism and atheism, superstition and science, and idealism and materialism. In fact, these ideological issues are not the actual reasons for banning Falun Gong. Falun Gong does not talk about superstitions or idealism, and is not against Communism. This topic was explained thoroughly in the ten-thousand-word letter to the Central Government.

Classifying Falun Gong as cult was just an excuse to try to eliminate it. Many relatives of senior officials in the Communist Party are Falun Gong practitioners. Mr. Li conducted public teaching for several years. The public has seen that Falun Gong has brought a positive impact to society in general. The Public Security Ministry has investigated Falun Gong for years. How could they not know that Falun Gong is good? How could they not know that Mr. Li has always taught people to be good citizens with higher morals and has repeatedly told practitioners not to interfere with national politics and not to violate the law?

The fundamental reason for the suppression is that the Communist Party does not trust Falun Gong practitioners because they are such a large group. In Mainland China, the number of Falun Gong practitioners exceeds the number of Communist Party members. It was estimated that the number of Falun Gong practitioners is 70-80 million, while the Communist Party has only 60 million members. The Public Security Department found, during their numerous investigations, that many practitioners are party members and government officials. As a result, the Chinese Communist party believes that Falun Gong has been taking people away from them.

Although the population studying Falun Gong is large, most practitioners are good citizens with high moral standards. They form a strong force that upholds the stability of society. In recent years, China's economic growth has slowed down, the number of people laid-off from their jobs has dramatically increased; so there are many potentially unstable elements. The spread of Falun Gong has indeed stabilized the society. This has been observed by the public and is also known by the government. Isn't society better with more people practicing it? Why should the Communist Party be against it? It is because they do not believe that there are people in the world who would not interfere with politics. As much as Mr. Li repeatedly explained to the government that Falun Gong would not interfere with politics now or in the future, they still believe that that if it were allowed to continue, it would form a strong force against the government.

The preceding information has also been mentioned by official media and by government officials. For example, an editorial in the People's Daily stated that the government believes Falun Gong is fighting with them for winning people's hearts, and Falun Gong has penetrated into the Party and political institutions including key departments, attempting to develop a force against the Chinese government. Wang Zhaoguo, Minister of the Chinese United Front Line, and Hu Jintao, Vice President of China, believe that the creation and penetration of Falun Gong is a political struggle with the Communist Party fighting for winning people's hearts.

The central authority might have realized that in the event of a crisis, they would have no effective way to deal with it. All kinds of serious economic problems that have surfaced in China are not only unresolved, but also aggravated. This shows that the Party has lost the capability of dealing with critical issues. Therefore, the Party does not feel secure with any social group that could possibly have a large-scale social influence. They cannot even tolerate its existence.

The Zhongnanhai incident originated from a legal appeal to a government agency. Why was there such a tragic result? It was not expected by those benign Falun Gong practitioners, including those who went to the appealing offices. If we hadn't read through so much information and tried to find clues, we wouldn't be able to identify the causes of such an incident. The Zhongnanhai incident was not planned by Mr. Li Hongzhi or by any other genuine Falun Dafa practitioner. Since the central authority has worried about the large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners, and they have refused to believe that Falun Gong won't cause any political problems, they obviously sought a way to eliminate Falun Gong. It was an opportunity for the central authority to suppress and prosecute Falun Gong. The Zhongnanhai incident created the perfect excuse for the execution of their plans.