In a soon-to-be-released local episode of “Law and Order”, attention is drawn
to the practice of Falun Gong. On Wednesday 2 April (9:30pm Channel 10), “Law
and Order” explores this controversial territory.
The Falun Gong meditation group has been continually raising legal issues both
internationally and locally. For example: the suing of the Chinese Communist
Party Leader – Jiang Zemin on an international level for crimes against humanity;
raising awareness of the implications of Article 23 in Hong Kong, which strongly
focuses on outlawing the spiritual practice of Falun Gong.
The role of the mass media as an avenue to sculpt society’s views and interpretation
of laws is becoming particularly apparent. It is interesting to see how real
life issues are portrayed in the fictitious world of television drama. The program
investigates a re-enactment of China’s alleged “self immolation incident” of
a Falun Gong practitioner and adapts the tragically twisted story to New York
City. However, the sense of intrigue distorts rather than advances human rights,
a core issue for Falun Gong practitioners.
To put things into perspective, the United Nations has issued a public statement
regarding the staged “self immolation”. The statement confirms that the incident
in Tiananmen Square, where seven people set themselves alight in 2001, was deliberately
staged by Chinese authorities as part of the propaganda campaign to discredit
Falun Gong.
Also, reports from the Wall Street Journal documented a detailed account of
the tragic event confirming the UN’s findings, “In our investigation, the
only deaths have been at the hands of the Chinese authorities; families have
been broken up because family members have been killed by the regime; people
have been broken down, not by Falun Gong, but by extreme torture, incarceration
in mental hospitals with brutal treatment, hard labour in labour camps and other
such practices”. As was reported in the International Herald Tribune on
August 6, 2001, the regime admits that it has officially sanctioned violence
against practitioners in order to wipe out Falun Gong. “The regime points
to a supposed self-immolation incident in Tiananmen Square on January 23, 2001
as proof that Falun Gong is an “[Chinese government’s slanderous words deleted]”.
However, we have obtained a video of that incident that in our view proves that
this event was staged by the government”.
Since 1999, authorities have channelled the whole of the Chinese State’s might
to crush Falun Gong and the will of those who practice it. Every imaginable
means has been used. All Chinese people are forced to go against Falun Gong
otherwise they will be punished. Considerable pressure has been put on many
Governments to keep quiet. All throughout, practitioners remain peaceful.
The above information is not only meant to raise human rights awareness, but
to appeal for greater understanding and rightful justice.
For further information and analysis video clips of the “Self-Immolation” incident,
please visit: http://www.faluninfo.net/tiananmen/immolation.asp
Posting date: 1/April/2003
Original article date: 1/April/2003
Category: Open Forum
