By Zheng Xu
Currently there are many discussions around the case of Jiang Zemin being
sued in Chicago. Two questions raised by some in the US are particularly interesting.
One question is that as Jiang is being sued in the US, if the US government
supports the lawsuit against him, would the US president be susceptible to being
sued outside of the US? The second question is whether this lawsuit will affect
the relationship between China and the US, especially in relation to the war
against terrorism. I feel that both questions are based on erroneous assumptions.
1. Jiang Zemin is no longer a head of state
First, Jiang Zemin is no longer the president of China. From a legal standpoint,
he should no longer be treated as a head of state.
2. Does everyone know the extent of the crimes against humanity committed
by Jiang Zemin?
While serving as the president of China, based on his personal pursuits, Jiang
Zemin established the guiding principle of “Destroy their reputations,
bankrupt them financially and annihilate them physically” in the persecution
against one hundred million Chinese citizens who believe in the principle of
“Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” and their family members, coworkers
and friends, and attempted to eradicate the entire practice within three months.
Due to the determined peaceful appeal of Falun Gong practitioners, Jiang Zemin’s
plan of eradicating Falun Gong never came to fruition. But in the four years
since July 20th of 1999, based on incomplete statistics and information sent
by Chinese citizens, it is confirmed that at least 714 Falun Gong practitioners
have died as a result of persecution. Those people came from more than 30 Chinese
Provinces, Autonomous Regions and Centrally Administrated Municipalities. Out
of them, 52% were women, and 27.6% were elderly people between the age of 50
and 70. They experienced more than 40 different types of cruel torture before
their deaths, which includes the following: deprived of sleep for several consecutive
days; shocked with multiple electric batons for a long period of time (with
the electric batons striking sensitive areas such as their mouths, chests, underarms,
breasts and private areas); forced to wear handcuffs and shackles of various
designs including ones with spikes on the inside; handcuffed with hands behind
the back; hit with rubber batons and clubs with sharp spikes; locked in cellars
and water chambers; forced to lie down with both feet and hands tied and not
allowed any movement for days; whipped with cords made of leather, copper wires,
steel wire; tied up in painful positions; having sharp objects hammered into
their nails; having flesh torn away by pliers; having their nails torn off by
pliers; forced to staying hunched down for long periods of time; being force-fed
water laced with (extremely hot) cayenne pepper and/or highly-concentrated salt
water through plastic tubes; having feces shoved down their throats; doused
with cold water in the winter; being forced to take their clothes off and stand
outdoors in the winter for long periods of time; being forced to stand outside
during the height of summer for long periods of time; not being allowed to use
the restroom; injected and forced to take large amounts of drugs that damaged
their central nervous systems (narcotics), being stabbed with electric needles,
etc, etc.
The people that Jiang Zemin hates and has persecuted so ruthlessly are Falun
Gong practitioners, who believe in “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance”,
the same cultivation principle that brought health benefits and moral improvements
to one hundred million Chinese people during the seven years before the supression.
This is a noble spiritual pursuit that can only bring benefits to any country,
culture, or individual. It is a set of wonderful moral values that humanity
as a whole should respect.
What Jiang Zemin hates is the principle of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance”,
something that people everywhere have embraced. The very people he has been
madly trying to eradicate are those who practice “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance”
in their daily lives, Falun Gong practitioners. Because of his personal jealousy
and his insecurity about his power, he decided to use any means that he could
to unleash his personal vendetta, fanning and spreading hatred and prejudice.
Isn’t this someone that the humanity should be ashamed of?
In the 21st century, should people be forced to endure such inhumane treatment
just because they believe in “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance”
and happen to live in China? Of course not. In addition, the key issue is not
the magnitude of the genocide that Jiang Zemin has succeeded so far in carrying
out. The key issue should be the crimes that he has committed in the process,
and the stopping of the genocide before it goes any further.
Such evil has exceeded the scope of what any country’s laws should protect,
and has violated what those with a sense of morality should tolerate. In this
case, inaction is the same as tolerating and even encouraging these types of
crimes against humanity.
3. A Communist dictator can’t be discussed in the same way as a democratically
elected president
I want to ask everyone a question: is there any president of a country as evil
and cruel as Jiang Zemin? I think everyone who understands the United States
(not counting those in China who have been brainwashed with anti-“US imperialism”
propaganda), including the US president himself, knows the answer to that question.
It is possible that certain unsavory countries have such vicious, evil “heads
of state,” but the US president is clearly not one of them. It takes courage
to uphold justice, and there might be a price that needs to be paid to do so.
But any country and culture that truly holds up justice will in the end be honored
by the heavens.
4. It is a sign of serious disrespect to the people and governments of both
the US and China to confuse the relationship between the US and China with the
relationship between the US and Jiang Zemin
(1) Jiang Zemin is someone that everyone detests
Because of the information blockade and slanderous propaganda, not everyone
in China is able to know the facts about Falun Gong and therefore have a positive
understanding. But almost everyone in China speaks ill of Jiang Zemin. Everywhere
in China, even before he left the post of the Chinese president, he was already
a subject of wide ridicule. (I won’t mention the unofficial nickname that people
have given to Jiang here, as I don’t think this is the right place for it).
The disdain and aversion that people feel for Jiang Zemin has reached a point
rarely seen before throughout Chinese history. How could someone so detestable
and irrelevant to the present be thought of as representing the people of China’s
present and future?
If someone says that the relationship between the US and China is equivalent
to the relationship between the US and such a character, isn’t this person putting
himself as well as other people down?
(2) There needs to be strong action to stop the persecution in China
If the head scoundrel can be persuaded to give up his violent, despicable deeds
through talking, he wouldn’t be called a head scoundrel anymore. The annual
human reports published by the US State Department have listed criminal evidence
against Jiang Zemin. But in order to stop the persecution before the damage
caused by it expands even more is something that requires stronger action. Filing
a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin and putting him on trial are necessary, peaceful
ways to stop the persecution.
The people that Jiang Zemin has persecuted are not limited to the tens of millions
of Falun Gong practitioners. He is responsible for numerous big social issues,
and Falun Gong practitioners are the most peaceful group of people among his
victims. If the issue of Falun Gong can’t be resolved peacefully, when all the
discontent that Chinese people from all walks of life erupts, who would be there
to clean up Jiang’s mess? Peacefully resolving this issue is the best course
of action, so that more people will not be harmed.
(3) Stopping the persecution of Falun Gong will lend powerful support to
the Chinese people and the development of the Chinese economy
According to a report published by the World Organization to Investigate the
Persecution of Falun Gong (“WOIPFG”) on March 20th, 2003, “The
regime has expended one quarter of China’s financial resources to persecute
Falun Gong, which is one of the main reasons why the persecution is able to
last. This funding comes from diverting foreign investments and Chinese citizens’
earnings, as well as the illegal fines forcibly imposed upon Falun Gong practitioners
and their family members and work units. A great deal of funding has been allocated
to public security, national security, the criminal “610 Office” across
the nation, and the foreign affairs department. The sustained defamation
campaign and information blockade have cost a great deal of the country’s financial
resources. This has put tremendous pressure on the livelihoods of people
throughout China and brought grave consequences to the nation’s economic development.”
Do Jiang and his gang dare to let the international community investigate these
types of activities?
Stopping such madness and extreme measures will protect the livelihood of the
Chinese people and the stability of the environment for peaceful economic development.
At the same time, it will also bring tangible economic benefits to the whole
world.
(4) It is vitally important to uphold and strengthen the image of the United
States as a beacon of justice and freedom
The United States is a country that stresses the importance of human rights
and leads the rest of the world in upholding human rights issues all around
the world. Stressing freedom of belief and freedom of speech are the country’s
founding principles. Any governmental policy (including diplomatic policy) should
be based on the same principles. This image of justice and freedom given by
the heavens was bestowed upon the United States, and is the result of the tireless
effort of the country’s founding fathers and the support of all Americans from
different backgrounds over the last two hundred years. On the scales of justice,
the United States’ status as protector of freedom and human rights, as well
as the reputation and the future of the US government, far outweigh the importance
of Jiang Zemin, who is detested by both history and the Chinese people. In today’s
world, in order to maintain the proper balance and stability of the global environment,
it is crucial for the US to uphold and strengthen its status as the protector
of justice and freedom.
5. Court Decision: Nobody else could defend Jiang Zemin on his behalf
On January 13, 2003, an Illinois court reached the decision that nobody else
could defend Jiang Zemin on his behalf. In other words, Jiang Zemin must be
present for his defense.
It is time for Jiang himself to be held accountable for these crimes that have
violated the Chinese Constitution, gone against government policies, used up
so many resources, and conducted severe spiritual and moral persecution against
countless people. If he is not held accountable for his victims in a US court
now, and he is forced to repent in front of the Chinese people in China later,
wouldn’t he be even more scared? When that time comes, he can no longer hope
to dodge it by bringing up issues such as the relationship between the US and
China or diplomatic policies.
For everyone and everything in this world, in order to gain something, one
must lose something else. But Jiang Zemin is someone who always tried to gain
things for himself and bring losses to other people. When the SARS epidemic
began to threaten the government compound of Zhongnanhai, despite being the
commander of the Chinese military and the one who suppressed the information
about SARS, Jiang took his family and fled Beijing for Shanghai. He has become
a laughingstock for people everywhere. Fearing court procedures, lacking the
nerve to face Falun Gong practitioners, and using diplomatic, political and
economic pressure that challenge the founding principles of the United States
in attempts to save himself, Jiang will only back himself into a corner and
meet a dishonorable end.
Should someone who has committed crimes against humanity and is the mastermind
behind genocide be allowed to escape justice?
Posting date: 12/July/2003
Original article date: 1/June/2003
Category: Open Forum
