By Xiao Han, a Minghui commentator
Persecution is always built on lies. In 64 AD, the Roman emperor Nero set in motion
a large-scale persecution of Christians. Rome was set on fire and Christians were
blamed for it. From 1938 to 1945, Hitler perpetrated genocide against the Jews,
espousing a theory that they were an inferior human race. It sounds absurd today,
but for many people at the time, it seemed to provide enough grounds for the persecution.
Because many people believed the carefully fabricated lies, those who opposed
the persecution were silenced by force.
The
persecution carried out by Jiang Zemin and the Chinese Communist Party is also
based on lies fabricated by the Chinese Communist Party and then broadcast by
the state-controlled media. At the same time, the Chinese regime used terrorist
tactics to cover up the truth so that the public would participate in and consent
to the persecution.
In order to persecute Falun Gong, the Communist Party's
methods of creating these lies have become very sophisticated.
1. Bombarded
by Indiscriminate Lies
On July 20, 1999, Jiang's regime started
to arrest Falun Gong practitioners on a large scale. As ordered by the Jiang regime,
all of the Chinese media began to malign Falun Gong, confusing the entire country
about the true situation. The media continued to fill people's minds with
lies, such as that practitioners “killed people and set them on fire,” and promoted
“superstition.” They published intimidating announcements. The effort put into
this media drive far exceeded the propaganda for any political movement in history.
Over 2,000 newspapers, 1,000 magazines, and several hundred radio and TV stations
began to publish and broadcast material to incite hatred towards Falun Gong among
the Chinese people. Given the massive and unrelenting bombardment of lies, people
began to believe this propaganda.
One example of a fabricated story is the
“Tiananmen Square self-immolation,” which was completely staged by the Communist
Party. The Xinhua News Agency (1), China Central Television (CCTV), the People's
Daily (2), and all the party's propaganda machinery in the country did not
“cover up the bad news” as usual but were falling over themselves to report this
fabrication. Through these media, the Chinese general public saw heartrending
pictures, listened to people speak out against Falun Gong, and read police testimonies.
The only oddity was that no one was allowed to ask questions. Although there were
many questionable points regarding the self-immolation, the majority of people
were unable to fathom that it was a staged drama created by corrupt Party officials.
Thus, people accepted the “Falun Gong Self-immolation” as real. Soon after it
happened, however, it was exposed both inside and outside China. On August 14,
2001, about seven months after the incident, the International Educational Development
Organization published research findings based on the pictures shown by CCTV.
Slow motion pictures showed clearly that public security personnel had killed
the self-immolator, Liu Chunling. But to this day, four years after the incident,
when Falun Gong is mentioned, many people still associate it with the “Tiananmen
Square Self-Immolation.” This is the evil consequence of the bombardment of falsehoods
by the Chinese Communist Party.
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The Tiananmen Square Self-immolation was a staged incident created by
the Chinese Communist Party. The CCTV films in slow motion prove beyond the shadow
of a doubt that a plain-clothes policeman killed Liu Chunling. The red circle
shows a heavy object flying through the air after hitting Liu Chunling.
2. Creating Something from Nothing
Although propaganda campaigns
may shock and frighten people, using them too often will make people numb and
bored. Only through constant lies can the persecution be sustained. “Creating
something from nothing” is the easiest way.
At the end of April 1999, ten
thousand practitioners went to the State Council Appeals Office, a gathering that
was distorted as “Falun Gong's April 25 Siege of Zhongnanhai.” (Zhongnanhai
is the headquarters of the Chinese Central Government.) The General Office of
the Central Government promptly handed down a document creating a rumor that “On
May 1 at Xiangshan Park, ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners will commit self-immolation.”
This document was widely spread within the Chinese government and police were
deployed at Xiangshan Park. Such an event, of course, wouldn't have happened
under the eyes of the authorities, but the lie had achieved its purpose: “Falun
Gong teaches people to commit suicide, and the government used proper means to
protect Falun Gong practitioners.” Thus, it not only created a rumor to slander
Falun Gong but also created an excuse for their policy that “killing Falun Gong
practitioners is to be counted as suicide.”
In 2000, China's mouthpiece
in Hong Kong spread a rumor that the United States Agency for International Development
had provided Falun Gong with twenty million dollars. Through the hired thug He
Zuoxiu, this rumor was spread throughout China. This is another example of creating
something from nothing. Because the US is equated with being “Anti-China” under
the Communist Party culture, China was able to smear Falun Gong as an anti-China
force. This false rumor has caused tremendous confusion among Chinese citizens.
Although this rumor was later shown to be unsubstantiated, many people believe
the lie. They believe that Falun Gong's activities against the persecution,
such as group exercise demonstrations, appeals outside Chinese consulates, and
clarifying the
facts on the street, are paid for by the “foreign evil power.” They thus show
contempt for Falun Gong practitioners when they see them.
In August 2000,
when a CBS “60 Minutes” reporter asked Jiang Zemin the question, “Why are you
persecuting Falun Gong?” he cooked up a story. He said, “Their leader claimed
to be the reincarnation of Buddha as well as Jesus.” Being the president of a
country, he compromised the prestige of the government by spreading such rumors
through a renowned international media. People who did not know the truth though
would never know he was creating something from nothing.
3. Confusing
Concepts
The statement “Falun Gong does not allow its practitioners to
see doctors when they are ill” is a typical lie, designed to confuse the general
public.
Many practitioners, through cultivating “Truthfulness, Compassion,
and Forbearance” and exercising, have achieved health and fitness. When many people
talk about Falun Gong, the first thing they mention is the power to heal illness
and keep fit. For example, a 70-year-old lady said, “I am a Falun Dafa practitioner
from Foyedong Village, Lingyuan City, Liaoning Province. I have been practicing
Falun Dafa for eight years, since 1996. During these past eight years, I have
changed completely. My gastric disease, tracheitis and gynecological problems
were all healed. I felt energized and my family was in harmony. It was the first
time that I felt completely healthy and illness-free. I haven't needed to
take any medication since I started practicing Falun Dafa.” (From “A 70-Year-Old
Practitioner Relates Her Experiences in Validating Falun Dafa”- Clearwisdom.net
on 11/22/2004.)
But, if the people understand that those who practice Falun
Gong achieve a healthy body and retain fitness, then the persecution couldn't
possibly have been perpetrated. Thus, practitioners' becoming healthier “without
a single pill” was distorted to “people practicing Falun Gong are not allowed
to take medicine when they become ill.”
In the face of such lies, people automatically
have misunderstandings and thus feel hostility towards Falun Gong.
4.
Twisting the Truth for Another Planted Story
Mistreating one's family
members, corruption, and even suicide or killing others is common in China today.
Such behavior without doubt violates the principles “Truthfulness, Compassion,
and Forbearance.” Such incidents have nothing to do with Falun Gong, which teaches
its practitioners to cultivate “Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.” In
such situations, twisting the truth is the most frequently used method for making
up a story.
Among the “1,400 death cases” fabricated by the regime, “cutting
open one's own stomach to look for the Falun” is the one that incites people's
hatred against Falun Gong the most. Ma Jianmin was an employee of the Huabei Oilfield
in Renqiu City, Hebei Province. His family, including himself, had a history of
mental disorders. After Ma Jianmin committed suicide by cutting open his own stomach,
the CCTV went to take photos. His son declared many times that his father's
death had nothing to do with Falun Gong, and he refused to appear on TV. But CCTV
still claimed that Ma Jianmin's death was the result of “cutting open one's
own stomach to look for the Falun.”
Since the dead cannot speak, as in the
aforementioned example, people who are adept at fabricating such stories can come
up with something totally convincing. Another example is the infamous murderer
Fu Yibin in Beijing.
Sitting cross-legged in front of a TV camera, Fu Yibin
talked excitedly. One moment he said he would feel sorry for a person being pierced
by a needle and the next moment he described how he had killed his wife and his
father like butchering a pig or cutting up vegetables. This was obviously a case
of mental disorder. But CCTV claimed that the killing was caused by his practicing
Falun Gong.
This technique of twisting the truth to frame someone does not
work every time. In 2002, Kong Zhaoyun, a resident of the 7th Team of the Xincun
Brigade in Linyuan Town, Datong District, Daqing City, Helongjiang Province, committed
suicide by hanging himself because of family conflicts. Datong District government
officials and legal medical personnel went to Kong Zhaoyun's home and wanted
to cut open Mr. Kong's stomach. They told the family that, if they agreed
to say that Mr. Kong had killed himself while cutting his own stomach open to
look for a Falun because he practiced Falun Gong, the government would pay for
the funeral expenses. At the same time they threatened the family, saying that
if they didn't agree, the government would sue them for mistreating Mr. Kong
and causing his death. But the family refused because they didn't want Mr.
Kong buried with his stomach cut open. Besides, they said their village didn't
have anyone practicing Falun Gong.
(To be continued)
Notes:
(1) The Xinhua News Agency – The official Chinese news agency; it handles all
official press releases to foreign media.
(2) The People's Daily – The
largest state-run newspaper in China.
