AWSJ: Who's Next?

International Commentary

February 19, 2001

Abridging freedoms is a slippery slope. That's the danger Catholic Bishop Joseph Zen warns must be heeded in official persecution of the Falun Dafa. In the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, singling out a peaceful and lawfully registered religious group for special attention, as the government has already done, points to dangerous fault lines in the "one country, two systems" political arrangement that granted Hong Kong specified rights of political autonomy.

Bishop Zen, the second-ranking member of the Catholic hierarchy in Hong Kong, wrote in yesterday's diocesan newspaper that Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa's labeling of Falun Dafa (or Falun Gong) as an "[Chinese government's slanderous word]" is "very alarming, not only for Falun Gong, but for all of us." The bishop pointed to the shallow criteria used by Beijing to brand the spiritual movement as XXX: "Falun Gong has become more political, has connections with 'foreign elements' and is targeting the Beijing government." According to the bishop, the SAR government is toeing the Beijing line. After all, "if Falun Gong is an "[Chinese government's slanderous word]" on the mainland how can it not be such in Hong Kong?"

The important theme the prelate mentions and others have neglected is the threat of escalated persecutions on an increasing number of religions. Given the criteria, nearly any group merely seeking to defend its right to a free conscience is a potential target. After all, the Falun Dafa's only political activity has been to protest its own persecution. Will the Catholic Church, which has underground priests in China, find itself under attack in Hong Kong?

During the Holocaust, Protestant pastor Martin Niemoller wrote a warning for future generations against silence in the face of persecution. "When they came for the Jews, I did not speak up for I was not a Jew," he confessed. Mr. Niemoller noted that unpopular groups were victimized first, but eventually the net grew larger, until finally, "when they came for me, there was no one left to speak up for me." Bishop Zen has shown he isn't going to make the same mistake.