(Clearwisdom.net)
Editor's note: Without access to any typical means of communication such as newspapers, magazines, TV, or radio, Falun Gong practitioners in China have resorted to many creative and sometimes unusual methods for raising awareness among Chinese people about the persecution. Dr. Martin Luther King and Gandhi both technically violated laws in their peaceful civil disobedience, but such disobedience did not diminish their goals. In fact, their peaceful course of action was the only possible path to their goals, and by strictly adhering to that path they proved the virtue of their cause.
After Falun Gong practitioners first tapped into television broadcasts in the city of Changchun, there have been more successful broadcasts in China to expose Jiang's crimes of brutally persecuting Falun Gong. Airing truth clarification videos on TV is very powerful, as it directly clarifies the truth in a large area. As Jiang cracks down on tapping into television broadcasts, he is making up lies to slander Falun Gong and deceive people. The broadcasts have attracted the attention of people around the world, and this is not a coincidence.
Falun Gong practitioners follow the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance." In the past four years of persecution, many overseas Falun Gong practitioners have stepped forward to clarify the truth and appeal for Falun Gong, displaying a quiet yet powerful inner strength in their persistent efforts. In a normal environment, we believe that appealing through legal channels and face-to-face discussions are the right way to resolve matters, not tapping into television networks. However, we cannot pass judgment on the act of tapping into television broadcasts without examining the overriding situation in China.
The Beginning of Tapping into Television Broadcasts
At 7 p.m. on March 5, 2002, programs clarifying the truth about Falun Gong entitled "Falun Dafa Around the World" and "Self-immolation or Staged Act" were aired through the city of Changchun's television network. The programs ran for forty to fifty minutes without interruption. This incident shocked Changchun and the Chinese government. Furious and rattled, Jiang ordered the capture and killing of Falun Gong practitioners who took part in the broadcast. Eighteen practitioners in Changchun including Liang Zhenxing, Zhou Runjun, Zhao Jian, Liu Chengjun, and Yun Qingbin were arrested and given heavy prison sentences. More than 4,000 practitioners in Changchun were arrested, tortured and even murdered.
Recently, Clearwisdom reported that Liu Chengjun, one of the practitioners who took part in the broadcast, along with around 100 other practitioners, held a hunger strike at Jilin City Prison to protest the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. The prison authorities have subjected the practitioners to torture, and they are on the verge of death. Their current whereabouts are unclear. Although their maltreatment has been exposed to the world, the prison has continued to block information on Liu Chengjun's condition.
We Recognize and Adhere to a Normal Society's Laws--the Broadcasts Were the Last Resort
In a normal society with a certain extent of freedom of speech, including Mainland China before the persecution began, Falun Gong practitioners were publicly acknowledged as law-abiding citizens. This was no surprise, as we strive to conduct ourselves according to "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" in our daily life, work and study. If not for the continuous, barbaric persecution that has been going on since 1999, if all normal channels for appeal and communication had not been shut off, we surely would not have chosen this course of action.
Without the Jiang Regime's Persecution, There Would Not Be Any Need to Tap Into Television Broadcasts in China
The Jiang regime's irrational persecution is the fundamental reason for Falun Gong practitioners around the world stepping forward to clarify the truth, including through tapping into TV broadcasts in China.
After Falun Gong's public introduction in 1992, the number of practitioners increased dramatically because of Falun Gong's tremendous appeal in improving one's mental, spiritual and physical well-being. Although Falun Gong has no political agenda whatsoever, in July 1999 Jiang started a persecution against a hundred million Falun Gong practitioners. His actions were in clear violation of the Chinese Constitution, depriving citizens of their right to appeal, their freedom of belief, and other basic rights. Jiang mobilized tremendous national resources to sustain the persecution, and his policy for the persecution is "ruin their reputations, bankrupt them financially, and destroy them physically."
Falun Gong practitioners are law-abiding members of society. We come from all walks of life, and are loving and responsible members of our families. We are not interested in getting involved in politics, but we are suffering brutal political persecution. We were a natural component of the Chinese society, but Jiang saw us as his enemy and did everything to slander, demonize and persecute us. He also deprived us of our basic, unalienable human rights and freedom. This is hard to understand for Chinese people, who have suffered through numerous political movements in the past but do not realize the extent and brutality of this persecution. It may be even harder for Westerners to imagine the suffocating brutality of this persecution, because they grew up in a democratic and free society.
The Foundation of Law and Order is Justice and Fairness
A Western legal expert remarked, "From a moral perspective, Falun Gong practitioners should be given our support, but from a legal perspective, tapping into television broadcasts is against the law." The modern legal system is imperfect, and we are helpless when confronted with the Chinese government's accusations. This claim is in fact putting the cart before the horse, in terms of the fundamental purpose of building a legal system.
It must be pointed out that Jiang has followed no law in his persecution of Falun Gong. When it comes to the persecution of Falun Gong, nothing is too excessive in his mind. If the foundation of law is justice and fairness, then the meaning of its existence is to uphold social justice, maintain social order and protect morality and conscience. Indeed, many legal systems around the world are less than perfect, but that's exactly why it's a constant, iterative process to improve. Whether or not we can remember the foundation of law and order directly affects whether or not a modern society can protect the good and punish the evil through the legal system, and whether this society can develop in a healthy, stable way. If those who make and carry out the law follow the lead of those who trample upon human conscience and damage social stability, then hasn't the law become a tool for destroying justice?
The Necessity and Urgency of Exposing Jiang's Lies
Nearly every day there is news of Falun Gong practitioners being killed because of the persecution.
In today's China, the persecution of Falun Gong is still going on. To Falun Gong practitioners, the law has totally lost its purpose of upholding fairness and moral values. While Jiang and his followers can "legally" persecute Falun Gong, any appeal or plea by Falun Gong practitioners is labeled as an "illegal" action. Falun Gong practitioners' lives, families and property can be taken away at any time.
Jiang has also abused the state's media resources to campaign against Falun Gong practitioners, using Cultural Revolution style propaganda to incite hatred and create misunderstandings towards Falun Gong and Falun Gong practitioners. In many places in China, even in an international city like Shanghai, Falun Gong practitioners are illegally detained in forced labor camps for long periods of time, where they are constantly subjected to mental and physical abuse. Each of the 813 practitioners (Chinese government's internal statistics indicate an even higher number) confirmed to have died as a result of the persecution was a good, law-abiding citizen.
Stopping the Persecution Depends on the Actions of Everyone Involved and the International Community
The Chinese government's propaganda is trying to cover up the persecution. Overseas, Jiang's regime uses economic and diplomatic pressure to perpetuate its persecution of Falun Gong. They order Chinese embassies to send large amounts of literature that slander Falun Gong to different countries' governments and foreign embassies. Regarding the lawsuits against Jiang, the Chinese Consulates in the U.S. have tried to influence the American judicial system by sending slanderous materials to American agencies. In Europe, they tried to silence the support from various countries' parliaments and media for Falun Gong.
It has been four years since the persecution began. There are a lot of people in and out of China who still do not know about the true situation of the persecution. Some people have feelings of fear, apathy, or helplessness toward the persecution. The voice of justice from society is far from firm and sure, and far from loud and clear. From another perspective, if in the 1940's, all the countries in the world recognized Hitler's true nature and took the initiative to stop the Holocaust, would it have ever happened?
The TV Broadcasts in China Are Justified by the Extraordinary Circumstances
In a society that upholds justice, rationality and the rule of law, there are legal channels available for the voice of the public to be heard. In that case, Falun Gong practitioners would naturally go through those normal channels for any appeals. In fact, since July 20, 1999 when the persecution of Falun Gong began, Falun Gong practitioners have been seeking channels for communication and open dialogue through the peaceful means of appeal. However, the current reality is that any Falun Gong practitioners who appeal to or seek dialogue with the government at any level will be sent to a forced labor camp or prison, with their homes ransacked and jobs forfeited. Falun Gong practitioners simply do not have a way to speak up in China.
With their legal rights deprived and all normal channels blocked, Falun Gong practitioners in China have been given no recourse but to resort to peaceful yet unconventional ways of getting their message out. In spite of the danger, Falun Gong practitioners have stepped forward to clarify the truth in a number of ways such as passing out flyers, mailing VCD's, etc. Facing the situation of all the resources of the State mobilized against them, saving every penny to clarify the truth, and with the death toll steadily increasing, the practitioners in China have chosen to broadcast TV programs in order to maximize their time, money, and efforts in clarifying the truth to as many people as possible. The purpose of these peaceful activities is only to put a stop to a senseless persecution that is killing innocent people. Is this not a rational, reasonable choice in a dire situation?
It Is also Safeguarding the People's Right to Know the Truth
As long as the persecution against Falun Gong does not stop, we overseas Falun Gong practitioners will continue with what we have been doing all along. We will clarify the truth and expose the persecution with kindness in our hearts and using peaceful, rational means. Meanwhile, our actions are also safeguarding the Chinese people's right, as well as those of people all over the world, to know the complete truth about Falun Gong and the persecution.