I heard today that during November 16-17, while Hu Jintao was visiting Argentina
as China’s Chairman, Falun Gong practitioners went to peacefully appeal to Hu
Jintao and the Chinese delegation and held up banners that said, "Falun Dafa
is good", "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" and called for
"Bringing Jiang Zemin to Justice." At several different appeal sites
and almost right in front of the Chinese delegation headed by Hu Jintao, Chinese
Embassy officials used violence to wrestle away and destroy the Falun Gong practitioners’
banners, even using knives to cut apart the banners.
This January when Hu Jintao
was visiting France, Falun Gong practitioners went to welcome him and appealed
to bring Jiang Zemin to justice. The French police detained and interrogated several
practitioners who had gone there to peacefully appeal and to welcome Hu. The BBC
reported on January 29 that some French newspapers asked President Chirac, how
much economic benefit did all of this pandering and bowing to Hu bring to France?
French newspaper Le Figaro commented that President Chirac’s actions to please
Hu Jintao went over the line. The World Daily expressed that ignoring China’s
terrible human rights record is unforgivable, "Diplomacy has never been something
that can be made up out of thin air but is based on concrete things, so pragmatic
diplomacy cannot put a false façade on top of the fact that China tramples
on human rights."
According to a report by Voice of America on June
10, 2004, Hu Jintao visited Poland on June 8. On the day of his arrival, a Polish
attorney said that the "welcome team" organized by the Chinese Embassy
started off by physically jostling other appealers. They then held up red "Party
faithful" banners attempting to block the Tibetan flags hoisted by those
appealing for a free Tibet and to block Falun Gong practitioners banners that
read, "Bring Jiang Zemin to Justice" and "Falun Dafa Is Good".
The attorney said, "They were very aggressive. One of the drivers for the
welcome team jumped out of the car and started to assault a Falun Gong practitioner,
but was stopped by the Polish police." The unique "welcome" provided
by the Chinese Embassy prompted strong reactions from Polish society.
So
far we have not seen Hu Jintao take any public position himself regarding the
many incidents of Chinese diplomatic delegations trampling on human rights and
violating laws in the countries they are stationed at, nor have we seen any attempts
to hold the perpetrators responsible.
During this trip to four Latin America
countries by Hu Jintao, even though he only stayed in Argentina for two days,
incidents of peacefully appealing Falun Gong practitioners being assaulted right
in front of him have happened repeatedly. As China’s paramount leader, his silence
towards the Chinese diplomatic mission and their cohorts’ vicious acts constitutes
acknowledgement and encouragement.
It has been more than two years since
Hu Jintao ascended to the position of the country’s Chairman. The persecution
of Falun Gong in China is still continuing. Everyday many practitioners are continuing
to be subjected to senseless, illegal and brutal persecution, and some areas have
seen escalated and even more cases of torture. In these more than two years, countless
practitioners have been illegally detained, brainwashed, illegally sentenced,
murdered, and countless practitioners have had their families ruined and torn
apart.
On November 18 alone, while the violent incidents in Argentina were
taking place, we could see that the Minghui website published nearly 20 articles
documenting persecution cases in China, which is now under Hu Jintao’s leadership.
One
of these cases details Jilin Province’s Number 2 Prison officials stabbing Falun
Gong practitioners with needles, shocking them with electric batons, hanging them
up and scalding them with boiling water, forcing them to sit on ridged stools
for 24 hours a day except for eating and going to the bathroom, and other forms
of torture. For those who refused to give up Falun Gong, they are forced onto
the "stretching bed". The practitioners’ limbs are immobilized by four
rings on the bed, which are then pulled hard. As the rings get pulled harder and
harder, the victim’s body arches and is elevated from the bed, stretching the
arms and legs and causing the joints and tendons to be torn and dislocated. The
victims’ arms and legs are handicapped to the point where they cannot even crawl
or put on clothing by themselves.
Another example is the Zhengzhou Shibalihe
Forced Labor Camp in Henan Province, which was constructed under Jiang Zemin’s
direction. This particular forced labor camp’s officials directed thugs to torture
female practitioners by pulling on their breasts and stabbing their vaginas with
screwdrivers.
Recently, people who exposed the tragedy in Chongqing, where
Chongqing University’s third-year Master’s student in High Voltage Power Transmission
Wei Xingyan was raped by police, were targets of reprisals from the police. These
people upheld the basic rights granted to them and their friends by the Constitution
and tried to safeguard a noble belief and morality. They did not receive encouragement
and support from Hu Jintao’s administration, but instead they were illegally sentenced
and subjected to torture.
In the past two years, how many people have been
tortured to death, how many had to leave their homes or had their families torn
apart, how many had their homes ransacked or were subjected to huge fines, how
many families were illegally detained for persecution and had the elderly and
children deprived of incomes to cover their living expenses? How many people and
work units were forcibly implicated because of relatives and colleagues practicing
Falun Gong? All of these cases put together are in excess of 100 million. This
persecution has created countless social problems, and the persecution cases over
the last two years are just the tip of the iceberg.
Facing these facts,
how can Hu Jintao, as China’s Chairman, deny responsibility?
In the two
years since Hu took the position of China’s Chairman, Jiang Zemin’s faction has
superceded the law with individual desires, and has continued to ruthlessly trample
China’s Constitution and deprive all of the Falun Gong practitioners’ rights.
These actions have not been judged by law at all, but instead have received Hu
Jintao’s tacit consent.
A Chinese saying goes, "Every injustice has
a source, and every debt has someone who needs to repay it." Falun Gong practitioners
have no interest in any political power, government or political party, and hold
no position towards any of these things. But we will pursue all of those individuals
and groups responsible for this persecution, and we will pursue this till the
end. This is for the sake of our noble fellows who gave their lives in the course
of upholding their beliefs and to help people position "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance"
correctly in their hearts, thereby helping more Chinese people reestablish the
right moral baseline. A country that tells its people to reject and even hate
"Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" cannot possibly have social stability
or a bright outlook for its future.
Jiang Zemin, because of his unilateral
decision to persecute Falun Gong, is sure to go down in shame in the annals of
history. In the near future, he will assuredly meet his due when judged by the
laws of the world and be condemned by the public. The overseas Falun Gong practitioners’
activities to hold public trials and bring lawsuits against Jiang and other perpetrators
are merely a prologue to what will happen in China. This is an inevitability of
history.
We would like to ask, based on this incident in Argentina, is Hu
Jintao making a choice between Jiang Zemin and Falun Gong? Does Hu Jintao want
to shoulder the criminal responsibility for this persecution alongside Jiang Zemin?
I
hope that Hu Jintao will wake up immediately and carry out his responsibilities
based on his conscience.
(Commentary by Clearwisdom correspondent Qingshan)
Posting
date: 21/Nov/2004
Original article date: 20/Nov/2004
Category: Open Forum
