ALERT - MORE VIOLENCE ON THE WAY: The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Sept. 19 that "China would exploit international outrage over the US attacks to aid its own fight against terrorism... 'Evil cults,' recently identified as another source of terrorism, would face an intensified purge... Propaganda departments had ordered state media organisations to describe the self-immolation by alleged Falun Gong followers in Tiananmen Square on January 23 as terrorist acts, one source said. The source added that authorities would use the attacks on America to justify its renewed campaign to crush any religious group that posed a threat to the party's leadership." It is going to take some work, however, to plant the ludicrous idea that a peaceful, non-violent group like Falun Gong could possibly engage in anything even remotely "terrorist-like" in nature.
We hope that all peaceful groups that have been falsely labeled "evil cults," including the underground Catholics and Christians, will be on the alert, especially in the run-up to the week-long National Holiday beginning on Monday October 1st. This year the occasion is particularly special, and perhaps thus particularly sensitive, because it coincides with the "Mid-Autumn Festival", the date of which varies year-by-year according to the lunar calendar. FDI has verified the deaths of 20 more Falun Gong practitioners in police custody in the just past two weeks.
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NOTE FROM EDITOR: Falun Gong is a peaceful spiritual practice, similar to tai-chi or yoga. Its principles prohibit killing and suicide, and advocate truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. China has waged a bloody campaign for over two years to annihilate anyone who practices or supports Falun Gong, though it poses no threat, political or otherwise. |
The NGO International Education Development (IED) had this to say about Falun Gong at the UN Human Rights Commission in August, 2001: "We strongly agree with Special Rapporteur Mme. Koufa that State terrorism in the form of government terror against its own people -- what she calls "terrorism from above" -- produces far more gross violations of human rights than any other form of terrorism... In our investigation, the only deaths have been at the hands of the Chinese authorities; families have been broken up because family members have been killed by the regime; people have been broken down, not by Falun Gong, but by extreme torture, incarceration in mental hospitals with brutal treatment, hard labour in labour camps and other such practices." In reference to how the Chinese regime has tried to use the supposed self-immolation incident in Tiananmen Square on January 23, 2001 to slander Falun Gong, IED states: "we have obtained a video of that incident that in our view proves that this event was staged by the government."
According to disclosures by certain Chinese governmental officials, two completely different voices have now emerged from within the governmental administration regarding how to handle Falun Gong:
FROM THE EDITOR: This story that we ran almost two years ago, in August, 1999 appears to be even more relevant now in light of this latest information. We hope that the people of China can see this persecution for what it is and not allow themselves to be used by certain members of the leadership to blindly discriminate against innocent people:
WHAT'S BEHIND THE BANNING OF FALUN GONG?: "A LEADERSHIP STRUGGLE AND INNER FRAILTY OF COMMUNIST PARTY"-- SAYS THE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
Hong Kong's leading newspaper contends that the suppression of Falun Gong has to be seen against the background of a deeper crisis in China. "The Chinese Communist Party leadership is facing its toughest leadership test since the Cultural Revolution," writes Willy Wo-Lap Lam. "The Party's inadequacy -- perhaps even impending irrelevance -- can be seen when we examine two critical issues: The lack of unity at the top and the dicey future of reform." The newspaper describes China's persecution of Falun Gong as a "Maoist mass movement."
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WHAT EXACTLY IS THE "610 OFFICE?": The "610 Office," as its name suggests, was set up on June 10, 1999. It is a standing member of the Political and Judiciary Committee that reports to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee. Headed by Luo Gan, the Secretary General of the Political and Judiciary Committee of the CCP, it is the highest authority deployed by PRC President Jiang Zemin and his accomplices to persecute Falun Gong. The "610 Office" specializes in political persecution and is particularly deadly because it has been given the authority to override any law. It is very similar in nature to a product of the Cultural Revolution -- the ubiquitous "Cultural Revolution Leading Committee" of the CCP Central Committee - which also derived its authority directly from the nation's top leader and chief architect of the Cultural Revolution, Chairman Mao. All provinces, cities, autonomous regions, and municipalities have a local "610 Office" that reports to the local CCP Political and Judiciary Committee. Thus, the "610 Office" is a well-oiled, independent system spanning from the central government down to the local governments. It has absolute power over each level of administration in the Party, as well as over the political and judiciary branches. |