Minghui Shifang Video: “1,400-death-cases” - A Lie That has Been Repeated Numerous Times

(Minghui.org) The following is a video in Chinese from “Minghui Shifang.” The video script is translated below:

Hello everyone! Welcome to “Minghui Shifang”! We hope our sincerity will bring you warmth and hope.

In the summer of 2001, a woman named Xiao Yufen in China wrote to Minghui.org and exposed one of the darkest and most evil lies propagated by the Chinese news media. She said her husband, Wang Ku, a public servant, suffered from hereditary liver disease. His two brothers died of the disease in 1995 and 1997, respectively. He himself also died of the disease in 1998. His death was a natural death. Ms. Xiao clarified that her husband had never practiced Falun Gong, but his death was included as one of the “1,400-death-cases” that Jiang Zemin and his followers used to defame Falun Gong.

The so-called “1,400-death-cases” were compiled shortly after Jiang ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999. The slanderous propaganda claimed that practicing Falun Gong resulted in the deaths of the said 1,400 people. Thousands of state-owned newspapers, magazines, radio stations and TV stations reported on the “1,400-death-cases” for several months in a row, deceiving numerous Chinese people.

Bicycle Repairman Li Youlin in Liaoning Province

One of the most publicized cases was the hanging death of Li Youlin. He was a farmer in Dongliao County, Jilin Province. He later moved to Liaonyuan City in the same province and made a living by repairing bicycles. One day the city management department confiscated his repair tools and cart. With no means to make a living, he felt so hopeless that he hanged himself at the local mountain.

His family was indignant that the city management department drove him to his death. In order to shirk the city management department’s responsibility, the Liaoyuan civil affairs bureau promised to issue compensation to the family on the condition that they state that Li died as a result of practicing Falun Gong. The police then staged a death scene by moving Li’s body, which had been brought back home, to the mountain and hanging it up there. They next placed two bottles of liquor and some Falun Gong items nearby. They then taped the scene.

However, the staged scene had a loophole. Falun Gong is a Buddhist cultivation school. It prohibits murder and suicide. It discourages drinking and smoking. The two bottles of liquor were a clear indication that the police were fabricating evidence against Falun Gong. As a matter of fact, Li’s neighbors all knew that he had never practiced Falun Gong and that he had a history of mental illness.

Wang Youan in Shandong Province

In addition to mentally ill Li Youlin, the CCP has also found many other mental patients to smear Falun Gong. Wang Youan, a man who killed his father with a shovel, was another example.

Wang was a worker at Taishan Machinary in Xintai City, Shandong Province. He had an episode of his mental illness and beat his father to death with a shovel. The whole incident was clearly documented in his divorce decree, which stated that his wife Yin Yanju asked to divorce him precisely because he never disclosed his mental illness to her before they got married. He had numerous relapses of his condition during their marriage and even killed his father. But the CCP blamed Falun Gong for the killing.

Zhang Haiqing in Liaoning Province

The CCP also recruited terminally ill patients and lured them to smear Falun Gong by promising to cover part or all of their medical expenses.

There was a hunchback case. Zhang Haiqing was a resident in Panjin City, Liaoning Province. He went to Beijing Xiehe Hospital to get treatment for his inflamed vertebrae. There were many patients at the time and he was at the end of the registration line. A reporter from the CCP mouthpiece CCTV showed up and said whoever was willing to be interviewed and state on TV that Falun Gong was no good would get registered to see a doctor first and pay only half of the medical expenses. Zhang was eager to get treatment so he accepted the interview and said that practicing Falun Gong caused him to become hunchbacked. He also said some bad words smearing Falun Gong as coached by the reporter. While he did get registered first, he never received the 50% discount as promised. His wife later told people that CCTV had deceived them.

Li Shuxian in Heilongjiang Province

Li Shuxian lived in Acheng District of Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. She went to the Harbin No. 4 Hospital in July 1999 for a gastric ulcer. Because her family couldn’t afford to pay the required upfront fee for hospitalization, the hospital president suggested that she claim that practicing Falun Gong made her sick and he’d then waive the fee. She and her husband agreed. Soon a reporter from Harbin’s New Evening Press arrived at the hospital to interview Li’s husband. The reporter coached him to say pre-written scripts and encouraged him to appear more miserable so the viewers would believe that Falun Gong made his wife sick. However, the hospital president didn’t keep his promise to waive the medical fee. Li’s condition worsened but she had to leave the hospital against her will. She died shortly afterwards.

“No Treating Illnesses” Changed to “Not Allowed to Seek Treatment”

In addition to publicizing the “1,400-death-cases,” the CCP also misconstrued Falun Gong teachings about “no treating illnesses.” After qigong became popular in the 1980s, using qigong to treat illnesses also became popular. Some people were eager to treat others’ illnesses using qigong and there were even qigong treatment centers popping up.

Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, warned his students that “No genuine Falun Dafa disciples should treat illnesses for others.” (Lecture Seven, Zhuan Falun) He also explained the deeper reasons for “no treating illnesses.” It is because treating illnesses for others will not only harm practitioners’ bodies but also encourage their attachment to fame and personal gain.

However, the CCP took Master Li’s words out of context and claimed that Falun Gong prohibits its practitioners from seeking treatment when ill. Falun Gong books clearly state that hospitals can treat illnesses and Falun Gong has never opposed hospitals.

Whether to Seek Treatment is a Personal Choice

Falun Gong has never stipulated that its practitioners cannot seek treatment when sick. But it was a well-known fact that Falun Gong has miraculous power in curing illnesses and keeping fit. Many practitioners used to suffer from poor health and did often see doctors, especially those who were privileged to have access to free medical care. After they took up Falun Gong however, they became healthy and understood why people may become sick in the first place. As such, they were no longer pill poppers as they didn’t need them. Such a phenomenon was very common among practitioners.

In 1998, five large-scale surveys of Falun Gong practitioners were conducted in Beijing, Wuhan (in Hubei Province), Dalian (in Liaoning Province), and Guangdong Province. The survey results showed that Falun Gong had a 97.9% efficacy rate in treating illnesses.

Many Chinese Cannot Afford Medical Treatment

Even if someone chooses not to seek treatment, it is not a crime, but a personal choice. Even hospitals must seek consent from patients or their families before performing any surgery. However, in the smear campaign against Falun Gong, the CCP has especially emphasized the issue of seeking treatment when ill, as if everyone can enjoy free medical care, and not seeking treatment would be an unpardonable sin. The fact is that many people in China cannot afford medical care. There are many jingles attesting to this fact, such as “postpone seeking care even for severe symptoms and one can only wait for death when catastrophic illnesses strike,” “one hospitalization will use up three years of income,” “one person becomes sick and several generations in the family will live in poverty,” “working hard to get out of poverty, only to have all efforts in vain if hit with a major illness,” and “self-diagnose minor symptoms, and end one’s own life if it’s a major disease.”

Medication Error Results in 200,000 Deaths

Medication errors and medical practices are commonplace in China. The State Food and Drug Administration once produced a statistical report stating that a quarter million Chinese people take the wrong medication every year, resulting in 200,000 deaths. A research paper stated that medical errors were the third leading cause of death in the U.S.

More Personal Choices

In the west, many religious groups openly oppose seeking medical attention when sick, but instead focus on saying prayers. Such a choice is their freedom, and their governments have no right to intervene. At the peak of the Covid pandemic, many governments mandated vaccinations, but some countries (such as the U.S.) still allowed exemptions on the grounds of religious beliefs.

Modern medicine appears to be very advanced, but it is often hopeless when dealing with some diseases. As such, alternative medicine has gained ground. To many westerners, seeing traditional Chinese medicine doctors is a form of alternative medicine. Meditation is also considered an alternative medicine.

Falun Gong does not mandate that its students not seek treatment when ill. As a matter of fact, whether to seek treatment is a personal choice. However, the CCP’s lie that Falun Gong didn’t allow people to see doctors smeared Falun Gong and incited people’s hatred towards it.

Another Angle

We can also view the “1,400-death-cases” from another angle. The China Statistical Yearbook indicated that the mortality rate in China was 0.65% in the 1990s. The State Sports Bureau conducted an investigation and found that there were about 70-100 million Falun Gong practitioners before 1999. After the persecution began in 1999, the CCP intentionally lowered the number to 2.3 million. Even if we use the low-ball figure of 2.3 million, the typical deaths of Falun Gong practitioners per year [based on the nationwide mortality rate] should be about 14,950 (2.3 million*0.65%). Note that this 14,950 figure is per year, but the alleged 1,400 deaths spanned seven years (1992-1999). Many practitioners were elderly or ill, and they took up the practice mainly for its health benefits. Still, the mortality rate of Falun Gong practitioners was much lower than the country average, which reflected the miraculous health benefits of Falun Gong.

Concluding Remarks

Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister in Nazi Germany, once stated, “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself.” The CCP, which is good at fabricating things, must have admired Goebbel very much and repeatedly propagated the 1,400-death-cases. Had there been no persecution of Falun Gong, how many more people in poor health would have taken up Falun Gong and regained health? Seeing through the lies underlying the 1,400-death-cases and finding the truth can not only dispel the hatred instilled in your hearts but also offer you a chance to regain health.

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