- Radio Free Asia journalist ‘blocked’ from investigating
- A Ploy to Divert Attention From the Death of Practitioner Chengjun Liu
after 21 months of torture by Chinese Authorities
(AFDI) Australian Falun Dafa Information Centre – China’s Xinhua News Agency
– the mouthpiece of the Jiang Zemin regime- issued a report about an individual
who has been sentenced to death for a number of killings he committed that Xinhua
says were “inspired … by Falun Gong.”
In fact on 2 July 2003, “Du Shi Kuai Bao”, a local Chinese Newspaper
where the incident of a man poisoning people took place, reported the story
without any mention or connection with Falun Gong. China’s Xinhua newsagency
later noticed the story releasing it nationally and internationally but with
the new slander of attributing the crime to a Falun Gong practitioner.
Independent journalist ‘blocked’ from investigating
On 19 December 2003, Radio Free Asia mentioned in a report that a closed trial
took place on 18 December 2003. A RFA reporter attempted to interview people
who worked in the same hospital as the “criminal”. The co-workers
said that they were told not talk about this case when asked by the RFA reporter.
Falun Gong Philosophy Prohibits Killing
In Chapter 7 of the main text of Falun Gong, “Zhuan Falun”, it is
clearly stated that practitioners cannot kill lives. The consequences for killing
are very serious and they are discussed in great detail in this part of the
book. (“Zhuan Falun” is free to download from www.falundafa.org)
Xinhua Newsagency Not a Legitimate Source of News
Some respected newswires and news publications today broadcast this report
as if Xinhua was a credible source of information on Falun Gong.
The claims put forth by Xinhua in this story however, follow a pattern of fabricated
reports that have – under the orders of Jiang Zemin – been faithfully churned
out by China’s state-run media over the last four-plus years in an attempt to
legitimise the persecution against Falun Gong, or at least dull the interest
of would-be critics around the world.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called these claims, “unproven”,
“bogus” and part of a “massive propaganda campaign”, and
they are the exact opposite from how Falun Gong is known around the world. The
United States Congress, for example, said in Concurrent Resolution 188, which
passed unanimously by a 420-0 vote: “Falun Gong is a peaceful and non-violent
form of personal belief and practice with millions of adherents in China and
elsewhere…”
A Ploy to Divert Attention From the Real News
In the past, those following Jiang Zemin to persecute Falun Gong have often
distributed anti-Falun Gong propaganda with a calculated purpose – to divert
attention away from horrific crimes against humanity committed against Falun
Gong practitioners in China.
In the case of this story, perhaps they are trying to divert the world’s attention
away from a breaking news story. That is, the story of a Falun Gong practitioner
who had been named in an Amnesty International “Urgent Action”, and
who died the day after Christmas after 21 months of torture and abuse in custody.
Mr. Chengjun Liu had been sentenced to 19 years in prison for broadcasting programs
in China’s north-eastern city of Changchun that exposed the atrocities against
Falun Gong practitioners in China and the attempts of Jiang Zemin to cover them
up.
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CONTACTS: Dr. Michael Pearson-Smith 0409 500 271 , Ana Caterina Vereshaka
0408 165 094
Website: www.falunau.org Email: news@falunau.org
Posting date: 1/Jan/2004
Original article date: 31/Dec/2003
Category: Media Release
