Government officials say that Wang Jindong is a Falun Gong practitioner, and that he was responsible for coordinating the self-immolation incident. In the Chinese Central TV film, we see a policeman waiting behind him as he sits on Tiananmen Square. Only after Wang Jindong shouts some slogans does the policeman cover him with the fire-extinguishing blanket. For a man whose body is supposedly on fire, his voice seems in good shape--he shouts loudly and clearly. The words Wang shouts in translation are: "this universal Dafa is something that everyone has to get through..."

Anyone who has studied Falun Gong knows that this statement has no basis in Falun Gong. Nevertheless, these words, and the way that Wang Jindong was sitting are the basis of the Xinhua News Agency's claim that the self-immolators were Falun Gong practitioners. There are no other corroborating facts. Indeed, the way Wang is sitting is not characteristic of Falun Gong either.

Falun Gong requires practitioners to sit with both legs crossed while meditating. The position is called the full lotus position. Beginners are allowed to sit in half lotus position, with just one leg crossed over the other, until they develop the flexibility to sit in the full lotus. As we can see in the video, the man Xinhua claims to be a Falun Gong practitioner is not even sitting with one leg crossed. The media reported that Wang Jindong had been practicing Falun Gong since 1996. For someone who had practiced for so many years, isn't it strange that he was unable to sit in the full lotus position?

Wang also fails to correctly form the very basic hand position called "Jie Yin," which is the first position in all Falun Gong exercises. All Falun Gong practitioners learn to form the Jie Yin position correctly by slightly touching the tips of both thumbs together. We can see that Wang overlaps his thumbs in a completely incorrect manner.

Wang Jindong during the self-immolation incident at Tiananmen Square.

Many people have noticed that the way Wang Jindong sits is exactly like a Chinese soldier. Some suspect that the man who set himself on fire was a spy hired by the police to put on this show.

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