By Li Zhiqing
Through a series of on-line news, people may have recently
become clearer about the disaster that Jiang Zemin’s faction has brought to the
nation-wide educational system during the persecution of Falun Gong. It may not
be excessive to say that China’s educational institutions are marching toward
complete deterioration. How to stop this catastrophe has become an issue that
is placed before every Chinese person and needs urgent resolution.
Data
shows that amidst the persecution of Falun Gong, a large number of teachers and
students who persisted in conducting their lives according to “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance”
have encountered ruthless persecution from their school authorities, from the
“610 Office” and the police. They have been expelled from schools, deprived
of work, and refused university admissions even though their test scores qualified
them. They have been subjected to discrimination, threats, brutal beatings, brainwashing,
illegal detention and even being tortured to death.
According to incomplete
statistics, at least 70 teaching staff and students in the educational system
have died as a result of the persecution. For example, associate professor Zhang
Chuansheng from Chengdu University in Sichuan Province was strangled to death
by guards at Chengdu City Detention Center. His face was swollen at death and
with a greenish, purple and black color. There were many bloodstains on his face
and mouth. On his neck there was a deep purple-green mark that was the width of
two fingers. The guards lied to his family, saying that he died from a heart attack
and threatened that the whole family would be in danger if any one of them dared
to tell others the cause of Zhang Chuansheng’s death.
Many more Falun Gong
practitioners who were teachers or were attending universities, high schools and
elementary schools have suffered persecution to different degrees. In Qinghua
University, as an example, there were at least 16 Falun Gong practitioners sentenced
to prisons; at least 18 practitioners have been sent to forced labor camps. Many
students and teaching staff have been forced to suspend their schooling, leave
school and stop working. They have been illegally detained and brainwashed. Similar
cases have occurred at Beijing University, the University of Science and Technology
of China, Fudan University, Nankai University, Jilin University, Chongqing University,
Zhejiang University, Wuhan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tianjin
University, Dalian University of Technology, and at Henan University and others.
Students at many high schools and elementary schools were forced to leave school
for practicing Falun Gong.
Apart from this, under direct command of Jiang
Zemin’s trusted underling Chen Zhili, high schools and elementary schools nationwide
have been forced to conduct a campaign to slander Falun Gong. Teachers and students
have been forced to view the videos that slander Falun Gong as a part of their
brainwashing. Topics that slandered Falun Gong have become mandatory test questions
at students’ exams to advance to the next higher grade. A “Million People’s
Signature Campaign” was conducted in schools at different levels. Millions
of underage students’ minds have been poisoned.
Seeing all this, it’s really
difficult to describe the sorrow and dread in regards to such deterioration. Schools
are places to educate people, and students are a nation’s future. A place for
learning should be a piece of pure land in this human world, and a beacon of hope
that humanity follows to walk toward a beautiful future. It is where the best
of a nation’s culture and values should be passed down from generation to generation.
“It
requires ten years for a tree to grow to maturity, while it takes a hundred years
to cultivate a person.” Any far-sighted country in the world attaches great
importance to education. The quality of education can determine a nation’s future.
The quality of education is in large part determined by the reward and punishment
mechanism for teachers, students and schools. A good educational system will surely
strive to have good teachers and reward the best students, while emphasizing morality.
A renowned Chinese educator once said, “Teachers first teach people how to
be an upright person, while students first learn the way of life.” He also
said that morality is the root of being an upright person. If the root goes bad,
even if you have some knowledge and capability, it will be to no avail. But during
Jiang Zemin’s persecution, China’s educational systems have rapidly marched in
the opposite direction.
Those teachers and students who believe in “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance”
and have good moral qualities have been deprived of their rights to teach and
learn. What schools encourage are no longer truthfulness and compassion, but lies
and hatred. Political persecution has invaded the classrooms, and students’ minds
have been bombarded with toxins. The majority of students are young people with
impressionable minds. Having their minds poisoned by such malicious propaganda
will result in huge harm to their individual growth and the country.
At
present, there are so many problems in schools across the country. Crises are
everywhere, from fraudulent practices in examination rooms to embezzlement of
educational funds, from teachers assaulting students to murders on campuses. Aren’t
these the direct consequences of the persecution of good people and the educational
system’s moral decay? Isn’t this a prelude of an educational system collapsing
on itself?
When an educational system goes against “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance,”
it is on a dangerous path that will end beyond redemption. If we say that an education
determines the fate of a nation and humanity, then where will the fate of a nation
end up when it goes against “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance?”
Falun
Gong originated in China and has been spread to over 60 countries and regions
around the world. Falun Gong has been extensively spread on campuses around the
world. Only in China is Falun Gong banned, due to Jiang Zemin’s personal resentment,
fear and lust for power. Isn’t this a shame for the Chinese people? The political
movements during the Cultural Revolution wreaked havoc on the education of a whole
generation. Today, the persecution of Falun Gong will shake our nation’s foundation
and morality, and the consequences will be even worse. Everyone should work together
to stop the persecution of innocent people, particularly the persecution in the
educational systems.
History tells us that criminals will eventually be
brought to justice for their transgressions. Former Minister of Education and
State Councilor Chen Zhili, who has been actively following Jiang Zemin’s persecution
policy, has committed grave crimes against China and the Chinese people. It is
inevitable that she will be brought to justice for her crimes.
Posting
date: 2/Aug/2004
Original article date: 1/Aug/2004
Category: Open Forum
