On this evening of Valentine’s Day when couples are celebrating being together, we Falun Gong practitioners are here yet again in front of the Chinese consulate. For us the knowledge that our friends, relatives and fellow practitioners are suffering is never far from our thoughts. 64 more practitioners have been reported dead from torture – a reminder that the persecution against Falun Gong is real and continues to take lives while many people in China and overseas are still oblivious to the tragedy.
Jiang Zemin, currently head of the Chinese Military controls the state propaganda apparatus which is a finely tuned machine, capable of covering up and deceiving on a massive scale, even internationally. One of the biggest mistakes we could make today is to assume that in this era of sophisticated media analysis and communication channels it is not possible for us to be caught unawares and lulled into complacency by such a machine. Many details of the persecution of Falun Gong remain hidden.
More than 60 years ago, when the Nazis started World War 2, not a single country realised that a world-wide catastrophe would come. Some countries were taking the opportunity to do business with Germany.
Technically speaking, what the Falun Gong practitioners in China are suffering is genocide according to the definition of the 1948 U.N. Convention Against Genocide.
For those who may ask “could it really be that bad?” consider the facts. On 6th June 1999 the dreaded “6-10 Office” was set up to systematically and exclusively persecute Falun Gong on the orders of Jiang Zemin,. It employs imprisonment without trial, forceful indoctrination, sexual and psychiatric abuse, torture (inflicted even upon the elderly and very young), and murder. Its aim is to terrorize and dominate the minds of Falun Gong practitioners to the point where they succumb and give up the spiritual practice that ensures improved health and high moral character.
There were up to 100 million people practising Falun Gong in China before the persecution began in 1999.
The genocide of Falun Gong practitioners may or may not involve the murder of millions, although the verified death toll is high and the real death toll is still a dark mystery. However, it is an attempt to ‘eradicate’ Falun Gong by whatever means necessary. The stark choice practitioners are given is ‘transform or die’.Jiang Zemin”s strategy has been to:
– “Bankrupt them financially. Destroy them physically. Defame their reputation.”
– “Falun Gong practitioners being tortured to death is counted as suicide”.
– “Do not identify the body. Cremate it locally.”
Despite this, Falun Dafa practitioners never wished to put themselves in opposition to any political body or persons. Mr. Li Hongzhi, who for the first time in history introduced this ancient secret practice of Falun Dafa to the public, said regarding this issue: “We are not against the government now, nor will we be in the future. Other people may treat us badly, but we do not treat them badly, nor do we treat people as enemies.”
From the perspective of practitioners and human rights organisations, the aim of rescuing family members, friends and fellow practitioners from torture and death is an act of basic human decency that is inspiring an ever-increasing number of governments and NGO’s to lend a hand.
Ironically, Tianjin – Melbourne’s Sister City, is where Falun Gong practitioners were first persecuted. It is a reminder that we here in Australia have ties with China and therefore with those ties comes responsibility. In light of this, we hope that the people of Melbourne will not be apathetic. We have the opportunity to speak up and to help.
When the full facts of this human tragedy are revealed to the world everyone will need to look to their conscience. People in the future might ask: “you were a politician/journalist at that time…what did you do to help stop that happening?” It would be a tragedy of a different kind if one will have to reply – “nothing”.
Posting date: 14/Feb/2004
Original article date: 14/Feb/2004
Category: Australian News
