(Minghui.org) The Minghui website has published many experience sharing articles regarding cell phone security. Many practitioners have suffered losses due to not taking this issue seriously. They didn't understand the technological issues related to cell phone security, and therefore thought these articles didn't have anything to do with them, so they didn't heed the guidelines as set forth by Minghui. Sometimes they even said things like, “Master will protect me.” or “My righteous thoughts are strong. I won't have any problems.” They had no idea of the degree to which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) remotely controlled and tapped into cell phones. I would like to share some painful lessons that we learned.
1. Harming Ourselves and Hurting Others
The CCP began to illegally search for and interrupt the reception of New Tang Dynasty Television's satellite signals in early March 2011. There was an elderly male practitioner, Z, in our area who installed NTD Television satellites. The Domestic Security Division was able to determine his position by tapping his cell phone. Practitioner Z didn't know that his cell phone had been tapped.
Another practitioner had suggested that he not carry his cell phone, but practitioner Z didn't take this advice seriously. At the time he was staying at a male practitioner's home, practitioner L. Practitioner Z's cell phone was dead, and he couldn't understand why his battery charger wouldn't work. Perhaps this was a hint from Master to discourage him from carrying his cell phone.
He used a different charger to fill his battery. The CCP was then able to locate his position by tapping his cell phone. Four or five police cars arrived at practitioner L's home. They arrested male practitioners L and Z, a female practitioner, and a relative who didn't practice Falun Gong. At the time of their arrest, the chief officer gestured to a small spherical object and said, “This gadget (that determines the position of a cell phone) is really great!”
Practitioner Z and male practitioner H, who lives in the neighboring city, often communicated using their cell phones, and they often mentioned practitioner H's full name. They discussed technological information regarding satellite installation and other issues. As a result, practitioner H was also arrested. Another practitioner reported that there was a cell phone tracking vehicle in their village for a few days prior to practitioner H's arrest. It periodically changed its position.
2. Cell Phone Tapping Causes Great Losses
On February 31, 2011, the Heilongjiang Province 610 Office, on a so-called “midnight operation,” arrested almost 50 Falun Gong practitioners. About 20 of them were given prison sentences, including Zhang Shengguo, Hou Yinghua, Xiao Kun, and Xiao Yang. Many others, including Zeng Shuling, Liu Yan, and Tian Qingling were sent to forced labor camps.
Practitioners Repeat the Same Mistakes
According to the practitioner who reported this, and information provided by one of the practitioners who had been arrested, this was result of cell phones being tapped. Furthermore, nearly all the practitioners that one practitioner had been in contact with by cell phone were arrested. The losses were disastrous. Unfortunately, the impact of this serious lesson was short lived. For a short period of time after the arrest, practitioners took cell phone security seriously and stopped communicating with each other using cell phones. But after awhile practitioners became lax and started frequently using cell phones to communicate again.
3. CCP's Listening Device is the Cell Phone
This is something that happened a few years ago. Female practitioner G didn't pay attention to cell phone security. She was totally uninhibited on the phone and even discussed that she needed a few hundred fliers. The result was that the practitioners she communicated with were harassed and their homes ransacked by the Domestic Security Division. A male practitioner who was detained at the Domestic Security Division heard officers say that the CCP records all conversations exchanged among practitioners, and the recorded voices are clear and distinguishable. Moreover, police officers carelessly told them, “Without your cell phones we would have no way to locate where you are every day and watch your actions. We control your cell phones remotely.”
I hope that all practitioners will follow the guidelines for cell phone security as stipulated on the Minghui website. We cannot afford to suffer further losses due to lack of cell phone security. It would be extremely irresponsible for us to continue to act this way.
