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(Clearwisdom.net) The present state of today's humankind is formed by countless tragic but magnificent historic stories that are little known to humankind.
In an era a long time ago, in the immense colossal firmament, the lords and kings of cosmic systems at different levels -- out of compassion for sentient beings and in order to attain the Fa at this moment in time when the Fa rectifies the cosmos and thereby save the beings that they represent -- fully experienced the hardships of history and endured disgrace and dishonor by coming down to the human world. Upon entering the three realms they became lost in the mortal world, and exhaustively suffered the mistreatment of low-level beings in the three realms, and in order to survive, they also created innumerable quantities of karma. Many were high lords, divine and holy Fa kings that confronted danger in the three realms and the human world, hoping to attain the Fa. Finally in this lifetime, they reincarnated in the eastern land of China at a time when Dafa is being widely spread. Their lives and futures directly affect many cosmic systems and the future of those sentient beings in the universe.
Nevertheless, from a long time ago, the old forces of the universe, out of only consideration for themselves, made plans at each level. From May of 1992 to the beginning of 1999, in these seven short years, cultivators of Falun Dafa reached one hundred million, and because the numbers were continuing to increase rapidly, in July of 1999 the evil forces began a comprehensive persecution targeting Falun Dafa. The destiny of those new students that just began practicing and many people with great inborn quality that had not yet attained the Fa took a serious turn.
"People haven't come to this human world for nothing," "Actually, people have been waiting for the Fa." (Reference 1) "All those sentient beings" that have thoroughly suffered the hardships of history and reincarnated in the land of China, from July 1999, not only because the evil old forces have obstructed them and they are not able to become Fa-rectification disciples, but due to serous poisoning from the lies spread by the evil forces, they have become hostile towards the truth of the universe, and even look upon Dafa and Dafa disciples with hatred. In Mainland China, more than a billion sentient beings have been placed in an extremely dangerous situation.
In Fa-rectification, Master treasures every single life, and silently bears the karma created from the degeneration of human beings in the course of history, painfully saving everyone that can be saved.
This time the Fa rectifies the cosmos, and it is a great event that has never occurred before in the entire history of the immense firmament. During this special period in history, the standards for measuring good and bad lives are also very unique. All lives in the cosmos are originated and created by the Fa. For an individual life, no matter how good or bad this life has been in ordinary human society, and no matter how enormous the karma it has generated, as long as this life does not damage Dafa or is able to have clear minded righteous thoughts towards Dafa in a timely manner, then this life can be rescued and in the future may even have the opportunity to be saved. But, "In the midst of the overwhelming, vicious propaganda, what those people have committed are no longer ordinary sins. Some of them are fated for destruction--regardless of where they came from, and regardless of what kind of predestined relationship they have or how high their levels were. Isn't it truly a pity for this to happen to a being?" (Reference 2)
Because of this, make the best use of time, and through every channel at various levels, use every effective method to deeply and meticulously clarify the truth to Chinese people and help Chinese people come to understand Dafa in a positive way. The significance of this is unparalleled. For all of the Fa-rectification disciples who have already been fortunate enough to attain the Fa, this has become an urgent responsibility to which we are duty-bound in our mission of helping Master in Fa-rectification.
At the same time, it is extremely important to do all of this well by rationally and wisely using methods that can be easily understood and accepted by others. This is not just an expression of Dafa disciples' compassion towards sentient beings and pure benevolent thoughts, but it also affects whether or not that life will truly be able to be saved or not.
November 27, 2001
References 1 and 2 are from "Lecture on the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Conference" on July 21, 2001.
(Clearwisdom.net) In the process of Fa-rectification, some old forces hold fast to their own arrangements which deviate from the characteristic of the universe. They interfere with Fa-rectification, and manipulate people to oppose and persecute Dafa and Dafa disciples. What our Dafa disciples cultivate is the righteous Fa, and we should be like the Buddhas, Daos, and Gods of the universe by being responsible for every righteous element in the universe. Therefore when dealing with the evil that damages Fa-rectification, we must resolutely and thoroughly eliminate it. Master said, "Eliminating evil is thus doing Fa-rectification, and is also saving the world's people and sentient beings" ("Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts are Powerful"). Actually, eliminating evil is also being compassionate towards lives that have become corrupt to the point that they are no longer savable.
The arrangement for Fa-rectification is very well ordered. What it currently requires us to clear out are the beings that have taken part in damaging Dafa. As for some other beings, although they have become quite bad or even extremely evil, as long as they are not currently taking part in damaging Dafa, they are not the ones that we need clear out during this Fa-rectification period. That will be an issue to be resolved in the future when the Fa rectifies the human world.
Dafa disciples' elimination of evil is entirely out of pure benevolence; it is out of being responsible for the Fa, sentient beings, and one's own cultivation. Recently a small number of students has treated all the conflicts and obstacles met within life and society as demons, and have sent out thoughts to clear them out. In doing this, though, they have neglected the important aspect in individual cultivation that one must look inside and improve one's xinxing. This type of mentality not only can be easily taken advantage of by demons and has the effect of damaging Dafa's reputation, but also directly interferes with the well ordered arrangement for Fa-rectification. When the issue of sending forth righteous thoughts was discussed for the first time during the lecture in Canada in 2001, Master seriously told us, "But if you use this for something a cultivator shouldn't do, it won't work; as soon as the thought arises, retribution will follow or your level will drop."
The steps we take in Fa-rectification may all become references for the future. Because of this, Dafa disciples must maintain clear-headedness, understand the Fa from within the Fa, use righteous and benevolent thoughts to treat everything, and have compassion for sentient beings.
November 28, 2001
Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
November 26, 2001
xx
address
Dear [name withheld] family:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the continued persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. I strongly agree with you that these human rights abuses must stop. As a member of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, this issue is extremely important to me.
Not since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown has the Chinese government displayed such blatant disregard for civil and religious freedom. Despite agreeing to sign the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in March of 1998 along with the U.N. Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in October of 1997, China continues to violate human rights, detain political prisoners, restrict religious expression, and unjustly persecute innocent citizens, particularly practitioners of the Falun Gong movement.
In July of 1999, the Chinese government detained and questioned over 30,000 practitioners. Soon after, the state began to arrest and punish Falun Gong practitioners at an unprecedented rate. As many as 10,000 Falun Gong followers are currently under detention, while nearly five hundred others have been tried and sentenced in China to prison terms of up to eighteen years. Not only has the government continued to arrest leaders and impose harsh prison sentences, but it has also closed Falun Gong facilities and confiscated and destroyed the group's religious literature.
I am proud to be a cosponsor of H. Con. Res.188, introduced by Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). This important legislation calls for the U.S.government to urge the Chinese government to release all Falun Gong practitioners, end all cruel treatment of these prisoners of conscience, and abide by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, so that all Falun Gong members are free to pursue their personal beliefs. I am encouraged by the strong, bipartisan support that this legislation has received in recent months.
China is a signatory to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. It should live up to the commitments it has made to that document. As a nation that prides itself on religious freedom, the United States must not stand idle while this intolerance takes place, nor should the international community. No faith warrants persecution, and I find the Chinese government's actions inexcusable. I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure that religious freedom is respected throughout the world.
Thank you for contacting me with your concerns. Please feel free to contact me again should any other issues of importance to you come before Congress.
Sincerely,
(signature)
Mark Steven Kirk
Member of Congress
(Clearwisdom.net) Jiang Zemin's regime does not show off how it beats up people in Tiananmen Square, how it cruelly force-feeds Dafa practitioners, how it gives poisonous injections to practitioners detained in psychiatric hospitals, or how the bestial police like Qianmen [in Beijing] Police Station Chief Ma Zengyou insult female Dafa practitioners. Nor does it show off how the gangsters from the "6.10" office [an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems] dragged a practitioner to death with a motorcycle in broad daylight and how they set fire to another practitioner and burned her alive in front of a township government office. Then, why does Jiang's regime shamelessly and triumphantly show off its "reform" achievements to the general public both in China and abroad? We all know that "reform" is the ultimate goal of its attempt to destroy people's will using every possible means.
However, this "reform" is a form of persecution and abuse that is even more brutal than beating, force-feeding, or even death. It tramples upon people's consciences and attempts to destroy their souls. This is the case for everyone, whether or not he or she is a Dafa practitioner. For a Dafa practitioner, the damage caused by the "reform" is really beyond description. I have met many practitioners who had setbacks in their cultivation, and they all shared one regretful thought, "I would be better off had I died before being 'reformed.'" In fact, many of them indeed had no fear of death, but were taken advantage of by other attachments.
"Reform" is also extremely painful for everyday people. As a matter of fact, the so-called "reform" has existed for a long time. During the Cultural Revolution, many innocent young people were turned into violent ruffians by the evil theory of struggle, which led to innumerable horrible tragedies, such as betraying their parents, putting their thumbnails into their teachers' foreheads, and even killing in broad daylight. The son of the famous writer Yang Mo later wrote a book entitled "Bloody Dusk," in which he painfully recalled the bitter memory of how a son tied up his mother and beat her up. Between the lines there was irredeemable pain and regret.
Imagine that under ruthless threats or the deception of lies, if you are a mother, being asked to deny that the infant you are holding in your arms is your own; if you are a husband, being asked to deny that your wife, whom you love so much, is yours; if you are elderly, being asked to admit that the pension you have earned through life-long hard work belongs to somebody else. Although innocent, you are asked to admit that you have committed despicable crimes.
You know that all these claims are untrue. However, your will has been destroyed by threats and persecution and you have no choice but to admit that they are true. Through these admissions, you have lost your loved ones, your reputation and everything you cherish, and having lost all these, you live in an ignoble existence, not knowing when new disasters will fall upon you. Isn't this far more painful than torture or death?
I had a roommate in college whose mother used to work as the caretaker of a storehouse that lost several hundred bolts of cloth. Such things were commonplace during those turbulent times; but the "work team" seized the opportunity to torture people. They conducted lengthy interrogations, asking her the same questions hundreds of times, and repeatedly made suggestions to her saying, "Think again. Think properly...you did take them, but have forgotten...think again..." In the end, his mother "admitted" that she had taken the cloth, but the "work team" did not punish her, because by then she had a mental breakdown and showed signs of insanity.
It was not until after she went insane that my roommate was born. The cruel reality drove his father into violent despair. He beat my friend savagely, even using a thermos flask filled with boiling water. In primary school, when my roommate was asked by his friends why his mom's room had three locks, he had a feeling of extreme anger and humiliation, and didn't say a word. Even with three locks, his father would still break into the room and beat and scold his mom. If he tried to protect his mom with his tiny body, his father would beat him as well.
When he was as young as 4 or 5 years old, his mom would often tell him that his father was going to kill them. One day, she told him that his father would kill them that evening, so they agreed that as soon as his mom tapped the heater pipe, they would run away. At night, he was awakened by the hasty noise of tapping. He ran out into the freezing cold with his mother, who had on only her underwear.
At the police station, a policeman took him aside and asked quietly, "Is there something wrong with your mom?" He cried and said firmly, "No, my mom is not sick. There is nothing wrong with my mom!" It was not until he was in high school that he gradually understood that his mom had indeed become mentally ill from the persecution she had received. But for the previous ten years, he had lived in fear, assuming that his father would "kill" them at any time.
This is just one case that shows the real effects of the brutality of "reform."
The key point is that Jiang Zemin's regime has gone so far as to show off this type of brutality! Why? I believe this is because they have taken advantage of people's ignorance and the fact that they have not realized that the ultimate goal of all these brutalities and lies is to "reform" the practitioners. Therefore, "reform" is also the cruelest persecution.
When pondering that some of our fellow practitioners were "reformed" under severe pressure, some practitioners hold this train of thought: "So and so had attachments and were thus brainwashed." I should learn from the setbacks, give up my attachments and determinedly cultivate myself to the end. There is nothing wrong with thinking this way. However, we should not neglect another point-- that those who were "reformed" are victims of the cruel persecution of the old cosmic forces that undermine Dafa. Many of them fell under extremely brutal circumstances. Therefore, we must first of all clearly recognize the evil nature of the old cosmic forces and root out all their evil arrangements. Otherwise they will exploit any loopholes we may still have. We should try our best to help those who were brainwashed. The key is that we should be clear in our minds that Master does not acknowledge any of these arrangements. "Although they had attachments, were momentarily taken advantage of by the evil, and did what a cultivator should not, a cultivator ought to be looked at in his entirety. I do not acknowledge any of those things" ("Coercion Cannot Change People's Hearts").
As for everyday people, we should clearly tell them that the "reform" is brainwashing and persecution. This persecution is especially horrifying when those who have been "reformed" have to pretend to be happy amidst the persecution. We should help everyday people understand the brutality of "reform" from the perspective of those who were brainwashed.
After the incorrect mentality about "reform" is eliminated, the propaganda and the showing off of "reform" achievements by Jiang Zemin's regime will lose ground, and have no place to survive.
For instance, Jiang Zemin's regime would never show off the "achievements" of the June 4th massacre at any press conference. [A reference to the violent crushing of the students' pro-democracy movement in 1989.] Whenever the June 4th incident was mentioned, everyone would wait to see how they would make fools of themselves. At the APEC press conference, when asked about the Internet blockade, the spokesperson replied that it was because of a "data transmission problem." Everyone burst out laughing. There is no place for such a lie, and it could not be taken seriously. Through our clarifying the truth about the "reform," the "reform" will also become a laughingstock in the end, and will only serve as evidence of the Jiang Zemin regime's crimes. When people start to view the "reform" in the same way as they view the cloth full of blood in the "June 4th" massacre, the evil will completely lose ground, lose confidence and lose power.
"A large number of declarations from students all over the country have appeared daily. The last hope of attempting to change Dafa disciples' righteous thoughts through coercion and deception has been completely shattered." ("Coercion Cannot Change People's Hearts") We are aware that the "reform" is the last hope and the last resort of the old evil forces. Once we have a clear understanding of the nature of "reform"--that it is an arrangement of the old cosmic forces, the ultimate goal of the evil persecution and the most cruel form of persecution--we will be able help the public see the truth and to break the last means of the old evil forces to persecute Dafa. We can impel them to completely give up their attempt to "reform" Dafa practitioners. The more practitioners they "reform," the more it shows how evil they are. Breaking the evil "reform" is not only the responsibility of the practitioners in jail, but also of those outside. Breaking the evil "reform" is not only to help those practitioners who had setbacks in their cultivation awaken to their mistakes through our heartfelt support, but also to break the space field that the mentality of "reform" depends on for existence. This will have a preventive and eliminating effect. At the same time, we should try even harder to free and rescue those Dafa practitioners, including Teng Chunyan. If we feel discouraged by the Jiang Zemin regime's propaganda of "reform" achievements, we will have fallen into their treacherous trap.
If we cannot correctly understand the nature of "reform," if we cannot clearly recognize that "reform" is the last and the most vicious means the old cosmic force has to damage Dafa, and if we cannot effectively prevent and eliminate the "reform" instead of just passively reminding ourselves to not be brainwashed like others, then we have in fact acquiescently acknowledged and indulged the old cosmic forces in their arrangement of the "reform."
The above are my personal views. Due to my limited cultivation level, some of my understandings may not be correct, so please kindly point them out.
(Clearwisdom.net)
On November 21, 2001, fifteen Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioners went to Moscow to attend an experience sharing conference hosted by local practitioners in Russia. Here, there is a local marketplace frequented by a large number of Chinese people. The practitioners decided to go there to hand out flyers and clarify the truth about Falun Gong to the local Russians and Chinese. At about 1:00pm of November 23, Taiwanese and local Russian practitioners arrived at Ismaelovsky Market to hand out flyers. It only took a minute before a few uniformed security agents and some Chinese appeared. They appeared out of nowhere, and escorted the eight Taiwanese practitioners to the Market Management Office, where they were detained and their passports and Falun Gong flyers confiscated. They forced female practitioners to take off their Falun Gong vests, took away their backpacks, and inspected their personal belongings. Taiwanese practitioners protested from the very beginning, asking these people to explain why they thought they had the right to confiscate their private property so rudely. The Russian Market Management personnel and local Chinese ignored their protests and remained belligerent towards the practitioners. In the end, they kept all the Taiwanese practitioners' truth- clarifying and Fa-promoting materials, vests, and Falun Gong banners. When the security agents inspected the practitioners' passports, they discovered they were from Taiwan, so they had to return the passports to them; still they escorted the practitioners out of the Market.
After this incident was over the practitioners found out that Chinese secret agents monitor the Market at all times. When the agents noticed Taiwanese practitioners handing out flyers in the Sun District of the Market, they immediately contacted the Chinese Embassy. The Embassy personnel then pressured the Market Officer to demand the arrest of all Chinese people handing out flyers and have them deported, but they found out that those handing out flyers were actually Taiwanese. This forced them to maintain at least a little civility. Eventually they were released from police custody, and within one hour of the incident, the Russian practitioners reported the incident to the Police Department explaining that it was legal for practitioners to hand out flyers in the Market, and it was illegal for the Market Management to make arrests and confiscate materials. They also contacted a local lawyer and Human Rights Information Center. The Center said right away that they were willing to file a complaint with the Russian judiciary office on behalf of the Taiwanese practitioners. Then the Russian practitioners advised major media including the Tradesman Newspaper and Society Newspaper to expose the illegal activities of Chinese Embassy personnel on Russian soil.
On November 27, the local Russian as well as all 15 Taiwanese practitioners went to the Representative Office of Taiwan in Moscow to meet with Ambassador Jin and Assistant Representative Zhan. A lawyer practitioner presented a memorandum and testaments expressing formally that: Taiwan nationals were legally handing out flyers on Russian soil, but they were insulted and manhandled by the Market Management personnel without any public security mandate. Their freedom was compromised; their passports and personal properties were confiscated. These outrageous actions not only infringed upon Taiwanese practitioners' personal freedom and rights, but also broke the local laws of Russia. Since the Representative Office's duty is to protect local Taiwanese residents and tourists, it must not take this incident lightly and should raise concerns with the Russian government in order to make sure that foreign nationals' legal activities are protected and the guilty parties punished. Ambassador Jin said that he was ambassador in Germany before and knew Falun Gong's (good) international reputation. He was impressed by the popularity of Falun Gong around the world but could not understand why practitioners felt the need to always clarify the truth. The practitioners explained the situation to him. In the end, Ambassador Jin agreed to write to the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry to express his concern about the unfair illegal treatment of Taiwanese practitioners, and would also give a copy of the letter to local Russian practitioners to show the Office's sincerity and stress the importance of this matter.
[China Brief, a publication of the Jamestown Foundation]
The U.S. Census 2000 data revealed dramatic growth over the past ten years in the Chinese American population. In these years the Chinese-American community has increased by 48 percent to over 2.4 million, making it the largest Asian ethnic group in the country.
Notably, surveys have found that of this Chinese-American population, as many as 82.9 percent speak the Chinese language at home, with 60.4 percent professing that their English skills are limited (www.asianmediaguide.com). As one might expect, these people's dependence on Chinese-language media is heavy. And to a significant degree it is these media, as made available in the United States, that determine the worldview of many Chinese-Americans living in the States. Depictions of the democratic process, the rule of law, human rights and other American concepts come to Chinese-Americans through the filter of Chinese-language media. The content and nature of Chinese-language media (hereafter "Chinese media") in America thus deserves greater scrutiny.
Before 1985, Chinese media operations in the United States came primarily from Taiwan and Hong Kong, with little influence from Mainland China. This would change in the mid 1980s, however, when waves of immigration from Mainland China changed the profile of the Chinese-American community. The influx of Mainland Chinese piqued concerns of state-run media operations back home, triggering what can now be described as aggressive media efforts in the United States by Mainland operations. Indeed, the Mainland Chinese government has made major inroads into the Chinese media market here over the past decade.
Four main tactics characterize the Chinese government's effort to influence Chinese media in America. First is the attempt to directly control newspapers, television stations, and radio stations through complete ownership or owning major shares. Second is the government's use of economic ties to influence independent media who have business relations with China. This leverage has had major effects on the contents of broadcasting and publishing, effectively removing all material deemed "unfavorable" by the Chinese government. Third is the purchasing of broadcast time and advertising space (or more) from existing independent media. Closely related to this is the government's providing free, ready-to-go programming and content. Fourth is the deployment of government personnel to work in independent media, achieving influence from within their ranks.
These tactics have been applied with much effect to both national- and local-level Chinese media throughout the United States.
Influencing Chinese Newspapers
The dominant Chinese media vehicle in America is the newspaper. Four major Chinese newspapers are found in the U.S.: World Journal, Sing Tao Daily, Ming Pao Daily News and The China Press. With an alleged total circulation of over 700,000, these publications are regarded as indicators of the market's growth.
Of these four, three are either directly or indirectly controlled by the government of Mainland China, while the fourth (run out of Taiwan) has recently begun bowing to pressure from the Beijing government.
The China Press
Established in New York in January of 1990, The China Press is directly controlled by the Chinese government. The paper is characterized by its substantial and timely news reports from Mainland China. It represents the voice and views of China's Communist government.
Its daily issue averages some forty pages in length, and is distributed in almost all major U.S. cities. The paper claims a total circulation of 120,000.
Sing Tao Daily
Sing Tao Newspaper Group (STNG) was established in Hong Kong in 1938. In the 1960s regional offices were established in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles to publish Sing Tao Daily in North America. In the late 1980s, STNG owner Sally Aw Sian met with financial crisis, and found a financial solution in the form of aid from the Chinese government. The past decade or so has seen the transformation of Sing Tao Daily into a pro-communist newspaper. Sally Aw Sian has since become a member of China's National Political Consultative Conference.
In January of 2001, the Global China Technology Group, a Hong Kong-based company chaired by Ho Tsu-Kwok, acquired the controlling shares of Sing Tao's holdings. Ho Tsu-Kwok, it should be noted, has close ties with Beijing and is currently also a member of China's National Political Consultative Conference. In May of 2001 Ho cooperated with China's state-run Xinhua News Agency to establish an information service company known as Xinhua Online.
Larry Lee (Li Ge), the deputy chief editor at Sing Tao's North America headquarters in San Francisco, is himself a former editor of China's People's Daily--the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party. Li is in charge of the newspaper's editorial forum, Sing Tao Square. During the recent EP-3 incident, when two columnists published articles in Sing Tao asking China to release the American crew and return the U.S. airplane, they were singled out and attacked on Sing Tao Square for nearly a month. Similar situations have occurred following the publication of articles sympathetic to the Falun Gong spiritual practice.
Sing Tao Daily prints sixty-four pages in each issue and claims a circulation of 181,000.
Ming Pao Daily News
As preparation for Hong Kong's return to China in 1997, the Chinese government made vigorous attempts in the early 1990s to purchase several major media agencies in Hong Kong. This was done through the use of third-party merchants who have close business ties with China.
In October of 1995 Ming Pao Daily News was bought by a wealthy Malaysian merchant in the timber industry, Datuk Tiong Hiew King. As people guessed, Datuk had close business ties with China. Like Sing Tao, Ming Pao has since been heavily influenced by the Chinese government. For example, there is an unwritten rule at both Sing Tao and Ming Pao that no exclusive reports on the Pro-Democracy Movement of China are to be published. In order to appear to be "neutral" and "independent," they do however publish some related reports, but they are merely based on news releases from sources like the Hong Kong Information Center for Human Rights & Democratic Movement in China. Employees at Ming Pao's New York office have told sources that their "true boss" is none other than the Chinese Consulate [in New York], and that they are obligated to do whatever the Consulate asks.
Ming Pao claims a circulation of 115,000 and is distributed mainly on the east coast of the United States.
World Journal
An independently run daily publication, World Journal is one of the six branch-newspapers of the United Daily News (UDN)--Taiwan's most influential newspaper. World Journal is presently trying to develop business ties with Mainland China. The effects of this are already being felt, some persons report. For example, Chinese Consulates in both New York and San Francisco have pressured World Journal's local offices to not publish ads related to Falun Gong. The New York office has already acquiesced in full, and the San Francisco office has in part; it still prints Falun Gong ads, but with them appearing on the paper's least-viewed page 90 percent of the time.
World Journal is the most widely read Chinese-language newspaper in North America, and claims a circulation of 300,000 in the United States.
Influencing Chinese Television
The Chinese government of Mainland China has managed to influence Chinese-language TV in the United States, primarily by means of its China Central Television International station, or CCTV-4. CCTV is China's official state-run TV station.
Using digital compression technology, CCTV International offers Chinese programming twenty-four hours a day via satellite at no additional charge to viewers around the world, including those in the United States.
CCTV-4 also rents broadcasting time from influential independent TV stations across the United States, such as SinoVision in New York, which reaches millions of households and tens of thousands of Chinese viewers daily with its several broadcasting channels. Furthermore, CCTV-4 also provides free programming (especially news programs) to independent TV stations, ready for broadcast. Some of these stations also reach millions of households, such as Cable KPST 66 in San Francisco, which reaches 2.3 million households in the Bay area.
It is difficult to estimate the total number of viewers CCTV-4 has. First, its satellite broadcast signal is uncoded and can thus be received by any type of satellite dish; second, it runs on cable channels in most every U.S. city.
What this means is that CCTV-4 has effectively brought the Chinese Communist government's slanted news, or propaganda, to the vast majority of ethnic Chinese living in the U.S. Much of CCTV-4's broadcasting is identifiably anti-American even, and greatly at odds with reporting produced in the free world.
Concluding Thoughts
The 2000 Census also revealed that 80 percent of all Chinese-Americans live in twelve major U.S. cities. As one might by now expect, all these cities are targeted by the Chinese government with misinformation and propaganda. Not only are the above said papers and broadcasting to be found, but also, in almost every case, there are smaller, local newspapers, television stations and radio stations that are controlled by the Chinese government.
Beijing's government has thus penetrated U.S. markets to no small extent, having effectively infiltrated all major U.S. cities home to Chinese-Americans. Perhaps what should concern us most, though, is the nature of reporting that results from this. In most cases journalistic standards are clearly far below those of their English-language counterparts, with half-truths and even gross misinformation sometimes being panned as "news." Analysis of the reporting that takes place in this arena is in great need of careful examination, but of course beyond the scope of this article.
But for many of the United States' 2.4 million Chinese-Americans, such reporting might be all that they read, hear or see. Few or, in some cases, no alternatives exist. The "outside world" and current events are filtered and presented through a limited number of media, the majority of which are influenced--or even run, as we have now seen--by Beijing's communist government.
While there has been no formal analysis of such reporting's impact on Chinese-American communities, its long-term negative effects can nonetheless be surmised if not caught in glimpses. Startlingly apathetic responses to the September 11 tragedies are one recent indicator. Strong anti-American sentiments (especially notable among the Mainland Chinese communities in the United States) amidst the EP-3 affair and the Belgrade Embassy Bombing would be another. And fierce, even violent antagonism towards the Falun Gong on U.S. soil would also seem telling.
And, surprisingly, this would appear just the beginning. This past week it was reported that AOL Time Warner had closed a major deal with the Beijing government that would bring CCTV programming to the United States on a much larger scale, via Time Warner's cable operations. The U.S. government, by comparison, continues to have broadcasting rights in China flatly denied, instead finding its Radio Free Asia and Voice of America radio networks constantly jammed. Similarly, all major U.S. newspapers are banned in China and their websites blocked.
Mei Duzhe is a PRC Chinese scientist now teaching at a leading Western university.
China Brief is a publication of the Jamestown Foundation, a private nonprofit organization. Neither the Jamestown Foundation nor China Brief receives funding or support from any government or government agency.
http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=17&issue_id=638&article_id=4587
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 12/3/2001 [ http://www.faluninfo.net/ ]
NEW YORK, December 3, 2001 (Falun Dafa Information Center) - A man who went on hunger strike after suffering severe torture at a labor camp died in a hospital in China, according to three men who accompanied him on the hunger strike.
Mr. Chen Dewen, 40, Falun Gong practitioner from Huludao City, Liaoning Province, died in mid-March 2001. His three companions, also Falun Gong practitioners, witnessed Chen being tortured. The four were handcuffed to beds, shocked by police using electric batons, and violently force-fed with salt water as punishment for declining to wear prison uniforms. They went on a hunger strike, and ten days later, Chen was moved to a hospital, where he died.
In keeping with the policy of Chinese officials to report all deaths of Falun Gong practitioners as either "suicide" or "natural causes," police reported that Chen died of a heart attack.
The prison director implicated in this crime, Liu Guohua, and the warden, Wang Shiengli, could not be reached for comment. Officials at the labor camp reported that the Liu was located in a "back office" and could not be reached by phone.
At least 30 Falun Gong practitioners in Liaoning Province have died as a result of torture by police since the persecution campaign against Falun Gong began. Chinese officials have revealed that well over 1,000 practitioners have been killed during the more than 2-year persecution campaign.
"Recently, Liaoning Province has suffered extreme drought and unusual locust infestation," noted Falun Dafa Information Center spokesperson Feng Yuan. "Huludao City has been particularly hard hit. In traditional Chinese culture, such natural phenomena are viewed soberly as portents related to human behavior...perhaps this is nature's way of saying this persecution is absolutely unacceptable."
Falun Gong practitioners and supporters in North America and Europe have called for the abolition of China's "6-10 Office," a cross-jurisdictional body formed for the exclusive purpose of persecuting practitioners of Falun Gong in China. "The basic laws surrounding an individual's rights seem to be flexible when it comes to Falun Gong," said Ms. Yuan. "Jiang Zemin has given full license to use deadly force and any atrocities - against peaceful people, appealing non-violently for their right to meditate."
(Clearwisdom.net)
Since the beginning of November 2001, police from the "610" Office, Public Security Bureau, and the Police Bureau (especially the Police Subbureau of Zhifu District) of Yantai City, Shandong Province, have been indiscriminately arresting Dafa practitioners. More than 10 practitioners have been detained. Practitioner Wu Haiyou was arrested by six policemen of Xipaotai Police Station. At Huangwu Police Station he was pushed, dragged, and brutally beaten from the fourth floor to the ground floor by the six policemen, until he lost consciousness. Five days later, Wu Haiyou's family received a notice from Huangwu Police Station asking them to claim his corpse. Obviously, Wu Haiyou had been beaten to death.
Zhifu police are notorious for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Please see related reports:
http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2000/11/14/105.html (in Chinese)
http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2000/11/21/6100.html (in English)
Here we release the phone numbers of the responsible parties and individuals:
China code, 86; Yantai code, 535.
Telephone: 86-535-628-0265
Beeper: 86-535-198-2721-7799
90 Daoshi Road, Yantai
Shandong Province 26400
86-535-629-7123;
86-535-629-9114 (Switchboard)
Telephone: 86-535-629-7100-1153
Telephone: 86-535-689-1355
beeper: 86-535-95950-632-2023
76 Shifu Street
Zhifu District, Yantai
Shandong Province 26400
Telephone: (Switch board) 86- 535-622-4391
Lijaoqiao Police Station of Zhifu Police Subbureau, Yantai.
in charge of persecuting Falun Gong
Office telephone 86-535-621-9944, or 86-535-622-4391 (to extension First Section)
(Home) 86-535-662-829.
Office telephone 86-535-622-4391 (to extension First Section)
Office telephone 86-535-622-4391 (to extension First Section)
123 Xian Fu Street
Fushan District, Yantai
Shandong, 265500
Telephone: 86-535-362-758
6 Taishan Road, Kaifaqu, Yantai
Shandong, 265500
Telephone: 86-535-371-340,
16 Yuhuangding Road
Central District, Yantai
Shandong, 264000
Telephone: 86-535-242-725
76 Shifu Street, Yantai
Shandong Province 264000
Telephone 86-535-622-2959
Fax 86-535-621-6784
3. The Trap
Later, the two policemen who were there while I was beaten by policeman "A" led me back to the interrogation office in Hanzhuang. There was a phone call. Policeman Zhu Xiaosong said I had good luck and I could be released. I asked him when and he said he was asking the higher authorities. After a while, policeman Zhang Lijun went out to ask what was going on. When he came back he said, "So much trouble, [a case of] a kid had to be reported to the Chief." After he waited for half an hour, policeman Qin Shouwen came in and said, "Give your parents a call, arrange a meeting place and ask them to pick you up." I said that we had agreed to let me go by myself. Qin said, "We'll let you go by yourself, but you need to arrange a meeting place with your parents." I accepted his request. He gave me his cell phone and asked me to use his phone to make a call. I thought his cell phone could have automatic memory function to record the outgoing phone number, so I refused to use his phone. He said, "What are you worrying about? This cell phone will not display (your parents') phone number." What he said just verified what I thought was right. I said, "I won't use your phone, I want to use a public phone." They drove me to a grocery store. I asked them to stay outside while I made my call, which they did. Just after I dialed the number and connected with my mother, they rushed in. I saw they wanted to grab the phone in my hand, so I quickly hung up. Policeman Qin Shouwen redialed the number and asked the other police to get me out of the store. He wrote down my mother's phone number. I immediately told them, "You lied. Why did you rush in while I was making the phone call?" Policemen Qin Shouwen and Zhang Lijun said, "You arranged a meeting place with your mother. We need to know it to make sure." Qin Shouwen got my mother on the phone. My mother asked them to release me unconditionally. After the phone call, Qin Shouwen was very angry and said, "Your mother would not come to pick you up, let's go." I was sent back to the detention center, it was already around noon. In the afternoon of November 9, 2000, policeman Zhang Lijun came into the interrogation room and told me, "You can leave here, and go home now." He sent me to the gate of the detention center and told me where the bus station was. I got on 918 bus route to Beijing.
When I arrived at the Dongzhimen bus station, I found policemen Qin Shouwen and Zhu Xiaosong waiting for me. They grabbed me and would not let me go. I was forced to make a phone call for my mother to pick me up. On the phone, I whispered to my mother that I had two dogs following me and told her that I was at the Dongzhimen bus station. After the phone call, they asked me, "Have you arranged for your mother to come and meet you?" I said, "Yes." They put me into a police car and waited inside. After a while, policemen Qin Shouwen had not seen my mother arrive and said, "Where did you tell your mother to meet you? Where is your home? What's wrong with your mother?" I kept silent. Later I learned from my mother that policeman Qin Shouwen had told her that I was at Dongzhimen bus station, that the police had left, and he asked my mother to come quickly to pick me up. I wanted to buy some food; the police dragged my arm, got out of the car and went into a store. When I came out, Qin Shouwen dragged me by the arm back into the police car. Qin Shouwen called my mother again. Later my mother told me (after I was released) that she again asked Qin Shouwen to release me unconditionally and demanded an explanation for his lying to her previously. Qin was angry and said to my mother, "You don't want to pick up your kid so we'll take her back [to the detention center]." After the phone call, I was driven back to the Pinggu Detention Center. On the way, he said, "As long as you tell us your address, we will release you immediately." I thought at that moment, "You are all liars. You lied to me twice. You tricked me into giving out my mother's phone number and lied about releasing me. I will not be deceived by you anymore." I could not trust their words.
When I was back to the Pinggu Public Security Bureau, policemen Zhu Xiaosong and Zhang Lijun were too sleepy to keep watching me, so the two other policemen were sent over. I was later sent to the Judicial Section in the fourth floor. Till then, I had not slept for 36 hours and had been on hunger strike since November 8, 2000. They handcuffed my hand to a heater and finally allowed me to sleep on two chairs put together. The police said, "By doing so, I don't need to worry too much." I thought I must let them send me out openly.
4. Detention and Threats of Forced Tube-feeding
Around 10am on November 10th, I was picked up and taken for interrogation by police officer Qin Shouwen. He angrily grabbed my collar and demanded to know my name, address, where the banner came from and who made it. He asked details about my mother. I did not answer him. He threatened, "I'm telling you, no matter how young you are we can throw you into jail." I was taken to the third floor where Officer Qin telephoned my mother and told her what he had just told me. He then ordered her to bring blankets and money to pay for my detention, saying that it is very cold here and that the detention center can't provide "facilities" for anything. My mother replied, "This is illegal detention. You law enforcement officers are violating the law. If you don't stop, I will expose your ugly deeds in the international media." Officer Qin became even more frenzied and yelled, "You can expose me wherever you like. I'm not scared, go ahead!" He then hung up the phone.
I was returned to the interrogation office (Han Estate) on first floor. Police officers Zhu Xiaosong and Zhang Lijun were both writing detention reports. Since I had not revealed my name, they assigned me the number 3501. Soon Officer Qin Shouwen walked in. He said, "If you don't tell us your name, we will detain you." I felt that they had used every single way they could think of. I told him that the decision was not his to make. He angrily asked that if it's not his decision, then whose is it? I thought to myself, "It's Teacher's." I then ignored him and did not talk to him anymore.
In the late afternoon, Officer Qin walked in again. He had already signed my detention order but he also needed the approval of the police chief, Officer Wang. I heard him ask on the phone, "Can we send that kid to the detention centre? She can't stay here forever." I don't know what Wong said. After a while, Qin said, "Wait another night?" Later he ordered me to eat and threatened that I must eat or else he would forcefully tube feed me at 10pm that night. I thought to myself that I could not let him succeed in force-feeding me and asked Teacher to help. He tried to shove biscuits and other food into my mouth but I clenched my teeth together and as a result, he slapped me. He pinched my nose and poured water into my mouth. I almost suffocated so I drank few mouthfuls. He yelled wildly, "If you don't eat, I will force you to eat. If you still don't eat, I will pour the food down your throat." He struggled for a long time but still did not succeed. He ordered me to squat next to the wall but because I had not eaten for a number of days I did not have the energy to squat so I stood up again. Not long after, the cruel woman in charge of section B walked in and began the interrogation anew. Every time she spoke she poked my shoulder sharply with her finger and threatened to force feed me with a 1.5 to 2 cm (around 3/4 inch) thick tube. She then slapped my face, saying, "When the time comes to force feed you, you will have to suffer." I replied, "I'm not scared." She also said, "Later we may give you some drugs, so that you will lose your memory. Then we will see whether you will continue to practice or not." I remembered what Teacher had said about "magic potions", that these things would not work on Dafa practitioners. Seeing that I refused to answer anything, she said to Officer Qin, "Hang her up. Hang her up for a night." After a while, she said, "If she doesn't eat by 10pm, tube feed her and send her to detention." Then they both left.
(To be Continued)
(Clearwisdom.net)
á
1. [Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province] Knocked Out Teeth Restored: Another Miracle of Dafa
A Dafa practitioner from a suburban county of Harbin City went to Beijing twice to appeal. She was sentenced to 1 year in Wanjia Labor Camp in Harbin City. In the labor camp, she firmly cultivated Dafa and refused to be brainwashed. As a result, she was tortured and abused by the police. During one of the beatings, three of her teeth were knocked out leaving only the roots exposed in her gums. The female practitioner had a righteous thought in her mind at the time: I am a Dafa practitioner, so I will not lose my teeth. I will validate Dafa and reveal what really happened to me. After one night, she noticed a miracle: the three teeth had restored themselves firmly in her gums, like nothing had happened. The story spread inside the labor camp, and the miraculous event strongly validated Dafa and shocked the evil. A few months ago, the female practitioner was released from the labor camp. With her own experience, she further clarified the truth of Dafa to people around her, exposing the evil and offering people salvation.
2. [Lanzhou City, Gansu Province] More Crimes Committed by The Perpetrators in Pingantai Labor Camp
Zhao Jingui is a Dafa practitioner from Wuwei, Gansu Province. He adamantly refused to write anything denouncing Dafa. Police and the inmates in the labor camp (instigated by the police) tortured Zhao so viciously that his condition was critical. Fearing his possible death, the labor camp notified Zhao's family to take the practitioner home.
An inmate from Yao Street, Honggu District, Lanzhou City was sent to the labor camp for drug abuse. The inmate came to know the Dafa practitioners inside the labor camp and understood Dafa little by little. The inmate repented of what he had done before. Later on, he was found helping practitioners delivering Dafa materials. As a result, he was tortured and put into a solitary confinement cell for two weeks. The authorities also added 3 months to his sentence.
A practitioner in Group No. 7 refused to write pledges against Dafa. The practitioner was hung in the air and beaten. The result was badly swollen hands, completely numb arms and he was in a delerious state.
3. [Lanzhou City, Gansu Province] Chief of Liujiabao Police Station Uses His Influence to Send Dafa Practitioners to Labor Camps
Two Dafa practitioners from Lanzhou City were transferred from Xiguoyuan Detention Center to a labor camp on Dec 19, 2000. Having been tortured in the detention center for a long time, the two practitioners were in critical condition, and they both failed the medical examination at the labor camp. The labor camp refused to take them as a result. Perpetrators in the local police station used their personal influence and sent the two practitioners to the labor camp again. However, they failed the medical examination again, and were again refused by the labor camp. Chief Huang of Liujiabao Police Station then personally went to talk to director Li of Pingantain Labor Camp Hospital. Using some unknown influence, Chief Huang managed to get the two practitioners into the labor camp.
4. [Mainland China] A Retired Policeman: "Self-immolation in Tiananmen Square" Is Fake
One day, when I was talking with one of my colleagues about the truth of the "Self-immolation in Tiananmen Square," my colleague said that he knew it was fake immediately after he saw the report from CCTV. When I asked him why, he told me that he served as an armed police officer in Beijing for three years. Every year, he was sent to Tiananmen Square as a guard. "There were three sub-divisions of armed police in Tiananmen Square. The armed police can surround the square in two minutes in case of an emergency situation. At the time of the "self --immolation," there should have been armed police instead of Public Security staff. However, there were many Public Security guards and only a few armed police. That's why I know it was fake."
I gave him the video CD that clarifies the truth of the "self-immolation." He was very happy to have it, and he also showed it to his friends.
5. [Xiangfan City, Hubei Province] Evil Person in Handan Cooperation Meets Retribution
Xue Lixin is a manager in Handan Cooperative in Xiangfan City, Hubei Province. Xue repeatedly has illegally sent practitioners like Tian Bo and Wu Yun from the Cooperative to brainwashing classes in a detention center. In early 2001, after sending practitioner Tian Bo and his wife to a brainwashing class yet again, Xue fell to the ground three times for no apparent reason. Shortly after that, Xue felt some pain and went to a hospital in Wuhan City, where he was diagnosed with an incurable disease. After surgery, Xue was transferred to a hospital in Xiangfan City because of the high expenses in Wuhan. He remains in Center Hospital of Xiangfan City.
6. [China] A "Deal" of 15,000 Yuan (Yuan is Chinese currency. The average monthly salary in urban areas is about 500 Yuan)
My neighbor, an old lady who makes her living by picking up recyclable things from the trash cans, told me of an incident she had experienced not long ago:
One day when she was picking things up from the trash, two people came up and asked to make a deal with her. She was curious and listened to what they had to say. They beat about the bushes. She finally realized that they wanted her to work with them to frame Falun Gong. If it was a success, they promised her 15,000 Yuan as a reward. The old lady was furious. She said to them, "I will not sell my soul for dirty money no matter how hard life is." Discouraged, the two people went away.
7. My Understanding of Writing Solemn Statements
The reason that some practitioners go awry in Fa-rectification is that they do not have a deep understanding of the Fa and do not realize their fundamental attachments. They have forgotten the vows they made and do not have a firm belief in Falun Dafa and its teacher. The solemn statement is a precious opportunity Teacher benevolently gives us. My understanding is that we shouldn't take it merely as a form of declaration. Instead, we should know clearly in our hearts that it is a vow that we make again with Teacher, after which we will firmly continue practicing Falun Dafa, redeem all the losses done to Dafa, double our efforts and keep up with the process of Fa-rectification, and live up to what we have vowed to do so as to "Obtain the Fa and return through cultivation, Achieve Consummation and follow the teacher home." (Hong Yin)
Written on November 1, 2001 by practitioners in China
8. A 70-year-old Veteran: I Am Not Afraid of Being Arrested or Beaten. I Have to Learn Falun Gong.
I went with a practitioner to distribute truth-clarifying literature in the rural areas last spring. A 70-year-old man took the flyer and listened to us with interest. Though he had read some slanderous reports about Falun Dafa, he didn't argue with us. On the contrary, he said he wanted to learn Falun Gong because "Mr. Li's teaching is so righteous. Why does Jiang Zemin oppose it? I am a veteran. I am not afraid of being arrested or beaten. I have to learn Falun Gong." Because there is a shortage of Falun Gong books, we only managed to give him the book Zhuan Falun not long ago. The old man smiled when he got the book and said that he had been looking forward to seeing us.
9. [Dalian City, Liaoning Province] Three Practitioners Are Kidnapped by Police
On November 9, 2001, Jieshan Police Station of the Zhongshan District in Dalian City kidnapped three practitioners, including Yang Zhaoying. Their whereabouts are unknown.
10. [Anlu City, Hubei Province] Police Kidnap Practitioners
After the persecution of practitioners in Anlu City, Hubei Province was revealed on the Internet on October 24, 2001, the perpetrators in Xiaogan area were extremely angry. They organized 80 special agents to search for practitioners in Anlu City, attempting to arrest practitioners who distributed truth-clarifying literature and who had access to Internet, but to no avail. Angry at having been humiliated in their efforts, they then kidnapped Pan Junying and Mao Cuilian from their homes on November 21, 2001.
The policemen brought a snake to terrorize Pan Junying by forcing it to bite her. Mao Cuilian's husband (non-practitioner) is a senior computer engineer who has his own computer store. The police searched his store and found nothing on the computer. It is said Mao and Pan have been secretly sent to Shayang.
At present, the persecution of practitioners in Yingcheng City and Anlu City within the Xiaogan area is escalating. This is more of the state terrorism initiated by Jiang Zemin, coming at a time when the whole world is calling for measures against terrorism. Here we call upon all the kind-hearted people in the world to resist Jiang Zemin and his gang.
11. [Acheng City, Heilongjiang Province] Police Extort Money from A Practitioner
7000 Yuan was extorted from Gao Chunzi, female, 59, by Jin Zhongxue in the security office of Relay Co. in Acheng City. The 610 Office in Acheng City extorted 2000 Yuan from her. She was detained for 18 days for appealing in Beijing.
12. [Beijing] Over Ten Practitioners in Beijing Are Kidnapped
On November 20, 2001, some practitioners (over ten) from Beijing were arrested while exchanging experiences in the Madian area outside Deshengmen Gate. The details are yet to be revealed.
13. [Mishan City, Heilongjiang Province] The Conduct of the Political and Security Section of the Police Department
Some people from the Political and Security Section of the Police Department in Mishan City, Heilongjiang Province went to a practitioner's home. They said to his family, "If you don't turn in your son, you will be arrested. The same fate will befall you as the family of Lao Xing. Zhang Yulan was the daughter of Lao Xing and she died in the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp. You will be like them if you refuse to turn in your son." The practitioner's family said they had no idea where their son was. The police then detained them for two or three days.
According to some investigations, the money they have extorted from practitioners runs in the hundreds of thousands. That is the figure kept in the book. The money not written in the book is hard to estimate. They extorted more than 40,000 Yuan from Zhang Yulan's family alone. Several of their cell phones and other items were also confiscated. All detained practitioners had to turn in 3,000-6,000 Yuan for bail. Some were charged 10,000 Yuan. It is said that anyone being sent to the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp has to pay several hundred Yuan as the transportation fee. The office of the politics and security section is stuffed with items they confiscated from practitioners' families, including tape recorders. The section used to be a place nobody cared about. Nowadays, the police working there are equipped with cell phones, computers, and cars bought with the money from the practitioners. The money that had been saved by practitioners and their families in the flagging economy has now become the ill-gotten gains of the police.
Phone of the Political and Security Section of the Police Department in Mishan City:
86-467-5230149
Head of the section: Meng Qingqi: 86-467-5231270
Police officers: Liu Qin, Li Gang, Du Yongshan
14. [Shenyang City, Liaoning Province] List of Perpetrators
The Zhangshi Reeducation Center
Director: Li, male, in his 50's, height: 1.76 meter.
Cheng Diankun, male, in his 40's, vice director
Jiang Haibo, male, 36, head of the supervision office
Yang Yang, male, staff of the office
Song Baishun, male, chief officer in the 5th team. He beats people and uses electric batons to shock practitioners. He denies practitioners' sleep, keeps them awake 24 hours, and ruthlessly tortures them.
Cao Qinglu, male, safety personnel.
At present, there are about 200 to 300 practitioners held in the center.
The Masanjia Forced Labor Camp
Dia Yuehong, female, chief officer in the Fourth Group of the Second Team in No. 2 Female Section. She organizes police guards to beat people and adopts various ways to torture practitioners.
Written on November 25, 2001
(Clearwisdom.net)
[China] Practitioners Correct Those Who had Enlightened Incorrectly
Insiders said the authorities had arranged for people who had been deceived from brainwashing classes to talk to steadfast practitioners in The First Prison and The Second Prison of XX City. The authorities attempted to deceive the steadfast practitioners by bringing in about 20 male and female brainwashed practitioners into the discussion. The more they talked, the more they realized the correct path. So, a few people who had enlightened along an evil path also abandoned their misunderstandings. They told the authorities that they were withdrawing their previously written "repentance letters" and "transformation letters." They returned to Dafa. The prison guards were very angry so they illegally stopped relatives from visiting the practitioners.
[Acheng City, Heilongjiang Province] Acheng City Judicial System Illegally Prevented Lawyers from Representing the Family Members of Ju Yajun, Who Was Tortured to Death While in Custody
After practitioner Ju Yajun was beaten to death while in custody, the Acheng City Judicial System had an urgent meeting. In the meeting, the authorities notified all attorneys at local law offices, and all people working in the judicial system, not to represent or help Ju Yajun's family members. They also pressured the victim's family. The authorities also faked the autopsy results to fool the people and to hide their responsibility. Ju's family recognized the plot and resisted their pressure. The family continued to accuse the murderers in Harbin City and Heilongjiang Province judicial systems. In the meantime, practitioners in Acheng city stepped forward to clarify the truth to the people. Truth flyers, big and small banners and posters could be seen everywhere in the city and the surrounding counties.
[China] Why Are the Reports About Falun Gong Here Different From Those in China?
After "7.20" (July 20, 1999), one practitioner's child watched a TV program in school and went back home to talk to her mother seriously. She said, "I don't agree with you practicing Falun Gong." Though the mother talked about her own experiences of benefiting from Dafa and the truths about Falun Gong, the child was still not convinced, since the propaganda was continuous at school.
Later, the family sent the child to study in Great Britain. Recently, the child called home and asked the mother, "Why are the reports about Falun Gong here (in Britain) different from those in China? The reports here are very positive." The mother was very happy to hear that because she knew that the overseas practitioners were doing well in clarifying the truth. She told the child, "Please think about what I said before. You should look at the facts and come to your own conclusions."
[Heilongjiang Province] Practitioners in Hegang No. 2 Detention Center Have Been On a Hunger Strike for 10 Days
Starting from November 16th 2001, Hegang area practitioners Gong Guizhi, Gong Guihua, Cai Qingzhen, Li Xiangyun, Hou Yuxin, Liang Wei, Wang Shuxia, Yang Xiaohong, Zhao Shuling, Huo Shuqing and some other female practitioners went on a hunger strike to protest their illegal detention. As of the 26th, they have been on hunger strike for 10 days. They are now detained in Hegang No. 2 Detention Center.
[China] Forced Labor Camp Can't Lock Up Practitioners
I was illegally sentenced to two years of forced labor because I went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa in July 2000. After I was arrested, I kept up my righteous thoughts and didn't cooperate with any requests from the evil force. I recited the Teacher's poem
Non-existence
á
To live with no pursuits,
To die with no regrets;
All excessive thoughts extinguished,
Cultivating Buddhahood is not difficult.
I kept reciting the Fa that Teacher told us in his poem "Saving All Sentient Beings"
Put down everyday people's attachments
Already a god when obtaining the Fa
I realized that a forced labor camp was not the right place for a practitioner and that Teacher would arrange for me to walk out of the den of evil. How can the evil force lock up a Dafa practitioner!
On November 9th around 5:30 PM, I saw a chance. I spoke to the great Teacher with my heart, "Teacher, please give me half an hour, and I can certainly walk out!" Then, I started to send forth righteous thoughts and began to walk to the gate. At the front gate, I saw several people in the guards' room. I was a little hesitant but then I thought, "Keep walking!" So I calmly walked out with dignity.
[China] Evil Materials Slandering Dafa Disappear
In one bookstore, the labels slandering Dafa were torn; the evil books slandering Dafa were taken off the shelf. This is the result of practitioners sending forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil. This strengthened the confidence of the practitioners. The practitioners felt the great power of Dafa and the great Compassion of the Teacher.
[Dalian City, Liaoning Province] Vicious Police Plot to Detain Practitioners
Practitioner Miao Limin of Shihe Town Jinzhou District Dalian City was arrested from home in early July of 2000 because of insisting on practicing Falun Dafa. She was sentenced to one year of forced labor and was detained in Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. Because of steadfastly practicing Dafa, she was detained past her term for a few months.
On September 25th, she was released. After returning home, on September 27th, the vicious policemen from Jinzhou District came to her home and took her away by force. Now they have detained her in Jinzhou Detention Center.
[Mengyin County, Shandong Province] Police Thugs of Taoxu Town Create Terror
On October 23rd 2001 at 8 AM, the evil forces of Taoxu Town had an urgent meeting in the conference room on the 4th floor of the town hall. In the meeting, the evil forces decided to launch an illegal mass arrest of practitioners. The mass arrest was led by Party General Secretary Liu Zhimin, and organized by thug Bao Zitang. They arranged for over 100 people to ransack all of the practitioners' houses. This group was made up of over 80 teachers and some government staff. They rampantly broke doors and locks. They turned cabinets upside down in their quest for cash and certificates of deposit. All the money they found was taken away immediately without receipts. If they found a Dafa book or a truth flyer, they would take away the practitioner or a family member in order to extort more money from them.
Thug Liu Zhimin ordered that the family or practitioner be fined 300 Yuan for each truth flyer, 500 Yuan (500 Yuan is the average monthly salary of an urban worker in China) for each Dafa audiotape. He also threatened the practitioners in order to get them to write "guarantee letters". (Guarantee letters are a written "guarantee" that the practitioner won't practice Falun Gong any more.)
There were two practitioners that were not at home when they did their search. Their wives didn't practice Falun Gong. The bandits didn't find the practitioners so they detained their wives in order to extort money from the family. They claimed that they would not release the wives until the family paid them the money. Otherwise, they would detain the wives for a long term or send them to a brainwashing class. One old lady had been to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Dafa, so the thugs extorted 10,000 Yuan from her. The old lady refused to pay. The thugs went to arrest her two sons (who don't practice Falun Gong). They took them to a detention center and forced the families to pay money for their release. There are over 60 villages under the administration of Taoxu Town. In one of the villages, the thugs searched for and took cash and certificates of deposit for over 5,000 Yuan.
During 2001, the thugs detained practitioners, ransacked houses, heavily fined, and brutally tortured the practitioners. Many practitioners were "fined" repeatedly. Therefore, they had heavy debt, which caused difficulties in their lives. Some practitioners were brutally tortured because they were firm in their beliefs. They were beaten unconscious several times. The thugs would pour cold water on them to wake them up. They would send any practitioner unable to pay the "fine" to brainwashing class. In Taoxu Town, five practitioners were illegally sent to prison or forced labor camps. This is the terror created by the vicious Liu Zhimin and other thugs.
A source from the local government said that the evil forces will use the excuse of searching for dynamite, detonators, and fuses to launch another mass ransacking and pillaging of people's homes.
[Qingbaijiang City, Sichuan Province] The Persecution of Dafa Practitioners in Qingbaijiang City, Sichuan Province
Dafa practitioner Chen Guijun has been detained in Xindu Detention Center in Sichuan Province for over half a year and has still not been released. The other detained practitioners include Zhang Yuequn, and Feng Ping.
The criminal police of Xindu County, with the intent to prevent Dafa practitioners from going to Beijing before October 1, National Day, detained dozens of practitioners whom they regard to be steadfast, with fabricated charges. The details are under investigation.
Dafa practitioner Shen Xuqing from Qingbaijiang went on errands to Jian'ge. Just because he disclosed the truth about Jiang Zemin's corrupt faction's lies of the "Tiananmen Self-immolation" he was illegally sentenced to one year of forced labor in a labor camp. Recently his work unit (Qingbaijiang Food Supplies Bureau, phone 86-28-3302287) wanted to dismiss him of XX Party Membership and asked his family to sign the related documents. His family refused. Shen has been the backbone and a model of the work unit.
Wang Jisen, a Dafa practitioner in Jian'ge County has a business in Xindu. Later Jian'ge Police Station suspected that he was passing out Dafa materials and wanted him for questioning; he had to close his business and become homeless. On January 28, 2001 he and another practitioner, Dong Jinzhi were reported for distributing Dafa materials. Although the police did not find any evidence they detained the two practitioners in Xindu detention center for ten months. Last month Wang was illegally sentenced to a four-year jail term, Dong has not been released until now.
Now Wang Jisen is still detained in Xindu detention center. We don't know what kind of mental and physical torture he is bearing. Kindhearted people please pay attention to this issue.
Phone:
Xindu Police Station 86-28-3964803
Xindu Detention Center 86-28-3972939
County Law Court 86-28-3972802
[Baise County, Guangxi Province] Unlawful Police in Baise Abduct Dafa Practitioner
Dafa practitioner Xing Yongfa, a platoon leader in Baise, Guangxi province, went to visit his girl friend there and he stayed at a fellow practitioner's home (this practitioner has been illegally detained for distributing truth-clarifying materials and only his elderly parents remain at home). Someone who had betrayed Dafa called his parents and asked "Is Xing in your place?" Instantly their home was surrounded by over twenty heavily armed policemen, and four people were arrested. Now Xing is being illegally detained in a military base in isolation and the details are unknown, while the mother of his fellow practitioner was illegally sent to a labor camp. However, since her blood pressure was high the labor camp did not dare to accept her; therefore she was released.
The wicked police openly used the promise of a bonus to tempt those people who are ignorant and greedy to act as informants against Dafa practitioners. Whoever reports one practitioner can get 1000 Yuan; whoever reports a key figure can get 3000 Yuan. One person reported 29 practitioners and got a 29,000 Yuan bonus. What awaits him is harsh punishment by the heavenly law!
[Dehui City, Jilin Province] The Crimes of Dehui Police Station
At the beginning of November, female Dafa practitioners Wang Di, Yu Chunjie, Liu Donghui and Zhang Yunjie were arrested and beaten by the police from Zhenxing Police Station in Dehui City, who broke into their houses at midnight. They have been detained for over twenty days. Kindhearted people, please pay attention to this.
The malicious thugs sent Liu Donghui to Changchun Police Department Section One. Some policemen employed various torture instruments, including the Tiger Bench. (a torture instrument: the practitioner is forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall. He has to sit straight up with his eyes looking straight ahead. His hands are placed on his knees. He is not allowed to turn his head, close his eyes, talk to anyone, raise his hand, or call out for the attention of the guards. Many inmates are assigned to watch the practitioner. If he turns his head, they would force the practitioner to hold his head in that position indefinitely. If the practitioner raises his hand to call the attention of the guards, they would force him to hold his hand in the air indefinitely. If he speaks, they would force his mouth to remain open indefinitely. Sometimes the practitioner is forced to kneel to the ground. They then would place a wooden bat on his leg and stand on top of the bat to hurt him) They also covered her head with a plastic bag to suffocate her, burned her chest, and beat on an iron bucket which they had placed over her head. Liu fell into a coma several times; now she is numb on half of her body, and cannot control her bowels and urination. She can only lie in bed all day long; however police still refuse to release her.
The List of vicious criminals:
Guo Guangtian, Director of Dehui Police Station: work 86-431-7222192 home 86-431-7225949
Zhang Qingchun, the director of political security section: work 86-431-7222344 home 86-431-7264567
Xu Jinlong, director of Zhenxing Police Station: work 86-431-7222877 home 86-431-7228717
Police Operative Team: 86-431-7223434 and 86-431-7232411
Detention Center 86-431-7222546
Custodial Center: 86-431-7225375 and 86-431-7233438
[Beijing] Court of Law Illegally Sentences Dafa Practitioners from Qinghua University
Beijing Law Court will illegally sentence detained Dafa practitioners from Qinghua University at the end of this month. These practitioners are Ph.D. and Masters students of Qinghua University and are all steadfast Dafa disciples. Righteous people all over the world, please pay attention to this issue.
[Bozhou City, Anhui Province] Four Practitioners from Lumiao Town Are Detained
Four practitioners from Lumiao town, Qiaocheng district, Bozhou city, Anhui Province were reported by a local painter when they clarified the truth of Dafa; now they are illegally detained at Qiliqiao detention center in Bozhou city. It has been reported that recently Bozhou has had more practitioners arrested.
[Acheng City, Heilongjiang Province] The Facts of the Persecution Against Dafa Practitioners
Dafa practitioner Zhang Bojing from Acheng City, Heilongjiang Province went to Beijing to appeal on July 16, 2000 and was escorted back to the local detention center. After being released, the cruel policemen extorted 2000 Yuan from her family. The school also extorted 2000 Yuan from her; otherwise they would not let her to go to school. On December 8, 2000 she went to Beijing to appeal again and was illegally sentenced for one year. Now she is infected with scabies and cannot take care of herself. Her family requested her release but the forced labor camp refused.
Vicious Police of Xuanxi Police Station in Nangang district, Harbin City:
Su Yujiang cell phone 86-13703623007
Sun Ruchang
Dai Leiping
As practitioners in China face tremendous pressure to give up their beliefs under the Chinese regime's brutal persecution, there are those who have given in and signed documents renouncing Falun Dafa. However, many of these people deeply regret doing so after they are released from detention and labor camps. "Solemn declarations" are the public statements made by such practitioners, often at great risk to their personal safety, to declare to the world that the documents they signed under duress are null and void and that they will continue to practice Falun Dafa.
Here are some of the Solemn Declarations from the practitioners:
Please click here for more Solemn Declarations.
(Clearwisdom.net)
Following are a few examples of wicked people in Mengyin County, Shandong Province receiving retributions.
Wang Yitian, 50 years old, a resident of Xiaoshankou Village of Liancheng Township, was director of the township's education committee. From 1999 to 2000 he was hostile to Falun Dafa and madly persecuted practitioners. One day in the summer of 2000, his motorcycle ran off the road on the north side of a bridge near Yanziya Village and he died instantly.
Before 2001, Li Weidong, the main criminal for the persecution of Falun Gong, was an associate party secretary in Taoxu Town, a place where Falun Gong practitioners were persecuted most severely. Since Li Weidong was very successful in persecuting Falun Gong, he was promoted as associate party secretary and township head of Liancheng Township in 2001. A few months later he was involved in a corruption case and was removed from his post as township head.
Zhao Shengjia is a former military unit director in Mengyin County's Jushan Township (which is now annexed to Chengguan Town) and party secretary of the Jinwen management area. In the past two years, he ignored practitioners' kind advice and persuasions, closely followed Jiang and Luo's criminal group, and persecuted Dafa and practitioners. He has had several surgeries and has spent over 10,000 Yuan on medicine.
Here we advise you: The principles of the universe control everything. Only truly being a good person and following the characteristic of the universe "Truth, Compassion and Tolerance," can bring an individual good future.
Three hired thugs from an illegal brainwashing class successively receive retributions in Cuijiayu Town, Yishui County in Shandong Province.
In early September 2001, three hired thugs from an illegally organized forced brainwashing class in Cuijiayu Town received tribulations, one after another. Fu Zhongzheng, who lived in Longshanguan Village of Huangshanpu Township, was the main criminal in persecuting Falun Gong. One day at the end of September 2001, he had a motorcycle accident, broke his nose, and his face was mangled. He almost lost his life. The day following Fu Zhongzheng's motorcycle accident, another hired thug, Huang Chuanbo, overturned his motorcycle on the way to buy groceries. And shortly afterwards, in October 2001, the other hired thug, Zhang Dejun, hit a rock when riding on his motorcycle, fell and was seriously hurt. These were the unavoidable consequences of persecuting Falun Dafa and practitioners. We hope the retribution they received in this lifetime can awaken their consciences; otherwise, it will be too late to repent, and they will have to pay for the endless crimes they have committed.
A wicked policeman from Jincheng Police Department of Changchun City (the security department in No. 1 Automobile Factory) broke his wrist while torturing a practitioner.
According to internal news from Jincheng Police Department, a few days ago several policemen from Jincheng Police Department went to a large corporation in Changchun City, saying that they wanted to get some information from a female practitioner. This practitioner openly stated, "If there is nothing you would not want others to know, please ask your questions here because I still have a lot of work to complete." The policemen just grabbed her arms and legs and carried her into a police car without any concern that this practitioner was just wearing a thin uniform (it was very warm in the workshop) while the wind outside was piercing. At the Yingchunlu Police Station, the wicked policemen repeatedly threatened her, but this practitioner was not intimated and said to them with a righteous attitude, "I am behaving as a good person according to the principle of 'Truth, Compassion and Forbearance.' The excuses that you make up or forcefully impose on me do not exist. What you are doing is illegal!" After a few hours' harassment, the wicked policemen could not get the "affidavit" they had wanted, then they wanted to force this practitioner to be fingerprinted. This practitioner said, "I did not do anything bad, why should I give you my fingerprints?" She firmly refused to cooperate with them. Then four tall and sturdy policemen burst in and grabbed and held this practitioner's two slim hands tightly, trying to open up them and get a fingerprint. Though they tried so hard that they got tired and breathless themselves and their eight hands made this female practitioner's two hands bruised and bleeding, they still could not open up her fists. Under the enormous pain and humiliation, this female practitioner still uttered, "Falun Dafa is good." Before she finished saying the sentence, there was a clicking sound as a wicked policeman broke his wrist on the spot in a compound fracture. A piece of white broken bone stuck out of the skin at his wrist. This person wailed in pain and loosened his grip. After the other wicked policemen recovered from the shock, their faces turned pale and they were dumbfounded.
The cases of the Fa rectifying the world and retribution in this lifetime finally made the wicked policemen realize the power of Dafa and the anger of the gods. This story is widely known among personnel from Jincheng Police Department as well as among local residents. Some wicked policemen finally realized that if they do not persecute Dafa, even if they are fired from their posts and lose their jobs, they can still make a living in society. But if they continue to not distinguish between good and evil, and blindly follow Jiang Zemin to persecute Falun Dafa, they can be punished in this lifetime, not to mention retributions which will follow in the future. If they are disabled from a retribution, they will find it difficult to make a living in any other occupation as well.
For those who have been bullied or deceived, it is the time to wake up!
A Union director in Linyi City's Public Health Bureau, Shandong Province, who closely follows Jiang Zemin, has a tragic accident.
Kong XX, a worker's union director in Linyi City's Public Health Bureau, Shandong Province, has been closely following Jiang Zemin's evil regime since July 20, 1999. He made false accusations about Falun Dafa and practitioners in his bureau. He has talked a great deal of nonsense in the bureau's brainwashing classes several times, and has persecuted Dafa practitioners for his own political advantages. Last year he fell off a bicycle, causing his hipbone to fracture and shatter, and has not recovered yet.
(Clearwisdom.net) One day in 2001, several practitioners were posting truth-clarifying materials in a park when a vicious policeman spotted them. Because it happened so suddenly, two of the practitioners forgot to send forth righteous thoughts. They dispersed and left the area immediately after quickly disposing of the truth-clarifying materials they had brought with them. The vicious cop arrested one practitioner, and called in another policeman to chase the others separately. The other practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts as they were running. One of them was ducking down in some woods when the policeman discovered him. As the policeman was trying to grab the practitioner, three words miraculously appeared in white and yellow, "do not arrest." The policeman stopped, and thought it would be violating the will of Heaven to arrest the practitioners. He then went away alone.
The practitioner who had been arrested was taken to the local police station. When the policeman who had seen the miraculous words returned to the station and saw the practitioner there, he was very kind towards her and asked to "guard" her. Actually, he wished to talk to her. He told the practitioner that he had read Zhuan Falun before but hadn't finished it, so the practitioner spread the Fa to him. They had a very agreeable talk. The policeman said, "It is your Teacher that arranged for you to save me. We are together right now because of a predestined relationship." Seeing the compassion of the policeman, the practitioner asked him to go and hide all of the truth-clarifying materials that were at her home. With the policeman's help, the Falun Dafa materials were moved to a safe place. The policeman also told the practitioner not to compromise with the evil forces and gave her suggestions and encouragement. Because the practitioner refused to compromise with the evil forces throughout her interrogation, and never even divulged her name and address, the police chief couldn't begin to dig out any incriminating information. With no idea whether he should release her, the chief asked his superior to make a decision.
The compassionate policeman told the practitioner, "Don't worry, if they don't let you go before 5 p.m., that means you will be detained for a longer period. I'll be on duty tonight and open the door for you at midnight. I'll give you 200 Yuan RMB." (Note: 200 Yuan is nearly one half of an average Chinese worker's monthly salary.) Because the practitioner had remained gracious and steadfast while under arrest, the police station chief liked her very much, and set her free before 5 p.m. Also, the chief wished to make friends with her.
Three days later, the practitioner made a visit to the police chief at the station to spread the Fa and clarify the truth to him. After a while the chief said, "I'll surely treat you Falun Dafa practitioners well from now on. But under the current situation, I have to keep a low profile about it."
The compassionate policeman has kept a remarkable connection with the practitioner since then. He often helps her receive and send Falun Dafa materials, especially in the areas where the police maintain a high alert. He showed the truth-clarifying CDs to his relatives and friends, and told the practitioner, "I'm doing this for others, but also for myself!"
(Clearwisdom.Net)
Four practitioners from the Taiping district in Harbin City were illegally sentenced to one year in a labor camp. Female practitioners Chen Yalin and Gao Shuyan were sent to Wanjia Labor Camp and have been detained for more than eight months beyond their sentences. They suffered severe torture in the labor camp. Without any legal reason, Shuini Lu Police Station cancelled Chen's residence registration. (Note, without a valid residence registration, a Chinese citizen cannot legally live anywhere.) Male practitioners Zhang Qi and Liu Hongtao were sent to Harbin Changlinzi Labor Camp.
Practitioner Sun Shuyun, female, 49 years old, went to Beijing to appeal on April 4, 2000. She was illegally detained for fifteen days. On December 27, 2000, the former Chief of the Shuini Lu Police Station, Zhang Jinsheng, and Police Officer Zheng Yanbin called Sun to the station and tried to force her to write a document stating that she would quit Falun Gong. She refused and was detained for 24 hours. In order to send Sun to the labor camp, Zhang looked for "evidence" against her. He tried to force a local Falun Gong practitioner to falsify evidence. When the man refused, Zhang shocked him with an electric baton, kicked his legs, and ordered the other policeman to beat him. On December 28, 2000, Zhang forcefully sent Sun to the Second Detention Center in Harbin and detained her for 188 days.
Since July 22, 1999, Zhang has frequently directed the police to practitioners' homes to harass their families.
Under the direction of Xu Yongmao, the party Committee Secretary of Harbin Cement Factory, the officials of the factory and the local police conspired to persecute the Falun Dafa practitioners. Besides forceful brainwashing, the factory provided manpower and financial support to the local police station for persecuting the practitioners, such as cooperating with the police station in collecting and organizing "evidence" etc. In the meantime, the factory violated the state's law prohibiting dismissal of people who go to Beijing to appeal, and illegally fired 6 Falun Dafa practitioners.
Persecutors' contact information:
Xu Yongmao: the party Committee Secretary of Harbin Cement Factory. Office telephone: 86-451-7600363; home phone: 86-451-7671918 extension 6156
Zip code: 150050
Zheng Yanbin: Taiping District Police Station. Office telephone: 86-451-7693914
Zhang Jinsheng: the former chief of Taiping District Shuini Lu Police Station, currently works at Taiping District Weixing Police Station.
Office telephone: 86-451-2403701
Zip code: 150050
(Clearwisdom.net)
Ever since Li Yumei became the Party Secretary of Laiwu City, Shandong Province, she has sought to further her own interests. She has conspired with her seniors to involve her subordinates (those in subordinate government offices and police departments) in the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners. No avenue has been left untried. She has used intimidation, coercion, temptation, and deception. She used inhuman methods, such as physical torture and force-feeding, against the local practitioners. She also gave directions for the police to phone tap, follow the practitioners around, and monitor their actions, including seniors and teenagers. Many local practitioners have been sent to the forced labor camps. For those who failed the physical examination and were refused by the labor camps, Li Yumei pressured the related offices and even bribed them to accept these practitioners. In less than a year of her assuming office, over 30 practitioners in the city of Laiwu have been sent to labor camps. One died in custody. Over ten were forced to leave their homes and wander about. She organized many brainwashing classes. The number of practitioners and times they were illegally detained exceeds 1000. The money extorted from practitioners and their families amounts to 100,000 Yuan (Translator's note: Yuan is the Chinese dollar. The average monthly income of an urban worker is 500 Yuan.) Many practitioners are forced to leave their homes and countless families are torn apart, their happy and peaceful lives destroyed. The following is a brief report of some practitioners under the persecution.
Qi Yingjun, male, was arrested on June 9, 2001 and detained in the custodial center in Laiwu City while he was practicing Falun Gong exercises in the morning. He was sent to the Wangcun Forced Labor Camp on the third day of his detention. The police guards there used various physical tortures to make him give in, including forcing him to sit on the "Triangle Iron Board" and shocking him with 8 electric batons at the same time. (For a detailed description for this and other forms of torture used in forced labor camps, see http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/24/16156.html)
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The perpetrators in Laiwu City headed by Li Yumei are helping Jiang Zemin and his associates to do evil. They ignore the criminal elements in their jurisdiction and instead focus on persecuting people following the principle of "Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance." They are corrupt and take bribes, owing heavy debts to people under their administration.
Li Yumei used to be the mayor of Linyi City of Shandong Province. During the time she was in the office, she took advantage of the reconstruction of the old town. The amount in bribes and payoffs she accepted was beyond imagination. In one case alone, she took over one million Yuan.
Last winter, Li Yumei's younger brother died in an accident when he drove his motorcycle into a utility pole. Everyone knows how notorious Li Yumei is in Linyi City.
Here we solemnly warn Li Yumei and other perpetrators: you will be held responsible for your evil conduct after Jiang Zemin's regime falls. Stop doing evil. Remember that evil will receive retribution. A wicked person is sure to bring destruction to himself.
(Clearwisdom.net)
On the evening of December 1, 2001, Friends of Falun Gong held a banquet in Redwood City to express their appreciation to those who have been supporting the human rights of Falun Gong practitioners. About a hundred people attended the banquet. Falun Gong practitioners prepared delicious food and performed musical programs for the banquet on instruments such as cello, piano, and saxophone. The atmosphere was very cordial and enthusiastic.
Mr. George Li, who is in charge of Friends of Falun Gong of North California, stated that Friends of Falun Gong is a Not- for-Profit organization and its purpose is to stop Mainland China's persecution of Falun Gong. Some videos made by Falun Gong practitioners were shown at the banquet.
Friends of Falun Gong also issued awards to some individuals who provided their support and help to Falun Gong. They are Congressman Tom Lantos and Nancy Pelosi, Mr. Stan Bogosian (congressman for the city of Saratoga), Mayor Thomas Springer of Gilroy, Councilman Chuck Reed of San Jose, San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly, and the human rights committee of Amnesty International in San Francisco.
Congressman Tom Lantos was absent due to his busy schedule. His assistant, Ms. Margery Fawar, represented him at the banquet and read his speech, in which he condemned Jiang Zemin regime's inhumanity and persecution of Falun Gong. He also pointed out that it was very foolish for the Chinese police to beat Western Falun Gong practitioners on Tiananmen Square.
 |  |
| Ms. Margery Fawar, assistant to Rep. Tom Lantos, reads Tom Lantos' speech | Falun Gong practitioner issues an award to Mr. Chris Daly |
Practitioner Adam Leining, who went to Tiananmen Square, shows a video clip about the peaceful appeal on Tiananmen Square.
The host also introduced each Falun Gong practitioner, who issued awards to the guests, including a medical doctor, student, engineer, consultant of computer science, and scientist. The delicious dishes also gave attendees a good impression of the cooking skills of Falun Gong practitioners. The banquet was organized by volunteer Falun Gong practitioners. Everyone enjoyed it very much.
"Augsburger Allgemeine," (Newspaper) November 29, 2001
(Augsburg and Donauwoerth are cities in Germany; translator)
Walking for Compassion -- Young Chinese pledge support for Falun Gong
Donauwoerth (cb).
They spent the night at Holy Cross Cloister. The next morning they appeared at city hall. These ambassadors for Falun Gong did not yet know where they would find a place to stay for the following night in Augsburg (a historically significant German city, known previously for its great merchants and their wealth, mostly from imports of rare spices and banking).
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is presented as a meditation practice which surfaced in China in the 1990s and is based on self-cultivating the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance--so said Guang Yang. She is a student, living in Berlin at the moment, whose sister introduced her to Falun Gong. "The goal of these teachings is to achieve harmony between body, mind and spirit, which results in inner peace and strengthens ones health." Because in China the movement gained millions of followers within a short few years it became suspect in the eyes of the Chinese government. In spite of the fact that Falun Gong followers are not politically active in China, the movement was banned in 1999 and its members have been persecuted ever since.
Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch point out the severity of the suppression. One hears reports of torture, incarceration and mention of 320 deaths [while in custody].
Guang Yang, Liu Lin and Yan Wang are part of the worldwide march, which is raising awareness of the plight of Falun Gong in China. The German "leg" of this march takes this trio from Berlin to Munich.
Wearing bright yellow windbreakers and carrying a huge placard, the three young Chinese walk an average of 30-50 km a day, hand out flyers and newspapers, and have interviews with mayors and the media at local stops as they attempt to rouse people's support for Falun Gong.
(Clearwisdom.net) It was such joyous news to hear about your magnificent endeavor on Tiananmen Square in China. As practitioners in Zhejiang province, China, our hearts were profoundly moved and touched. We again felt the unified power to eradicate the evil by all Dafa practitioners throughout the world. We are a diamond-like, indestructible unity. Regardless of where we are in this world, we must always fulfill our role as Fa-rectification particles so the voice of righteousness will resonate throughout the cosmos!
Let us strive for excellence and eradicate any remaining evil elements.
Dafa practitioners in Zhejiang.
November 16-18, 2001
This was the 4th time Falun Gong took part in the yearly "Alternative Fair" (an esoteric fair for health and spiritual growth) in Oslo, which is the biggest one in Europe. This year was very different from the past.
In other years, between Friday and Sunday, we used to distribute only 700 flyers. But this year was completely different. Many people, when passing by our stand and hearing us say "Falun Gong Information," stopped, took a flyer or asked questions, such as "Oh, Falun Gong! I have heard about it. Can I get a flyer?" This year we distributed nearly 3,000 flyers!
Some weeks before the fair, Norwegian practitioners published a two-page article about Falun Gong in the most important Norwegian alternative magazine, a publication containing lots of alternative, esoteric and new-age articles, which is read by many spiritually open-minded people in Norway. It just so happened that the publishers printed 30,000 copies of this issue instead of the usual 15,000! Many people read it and were very positive about Falun Gong.
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Dafa reaches peoples' hearts
A young couple stopped and talked with us for a while. When they heard that Falun Gong is completely free and that we use our own money to print flyers without asking for any donations because we do all this completely from our own wish to let other people have a chance to cultivate, they told me, "You are the only ones at this place who are genuine."
A middle-aged lady told us, "I have been in Beijing and have seen Falun Gong practitioners arrested! It is really horrible!" She told us that she was soon traveling to China again. She got different Falun Gong information material from us, which she will take to China to clarify the truth to the Chinese people.
Another middle-aged woman was deeply touched by Falun Gong and told us that she had waited for this her whole life. Now she knew that she had finally found what she had been looking for.
Many people bought the books and videotapes. A woman called us some days later and told us that instead of an "introduction" video, the video she bought was an SOS-video, which had been accidentally placed into an introduction video-case. She wanted to get the real introduction video, but also three more SOS-videos. "This issue is so important that we need to inform the world about it!" she said to a practitioner.
A man from the stand opposite to ours asked a practitioner, "Why are your flyers getting distributed so much faster than mine? People take your flyers but not mine. Is it because yours are a nicer color?" The practitioner replied, "I think they take them because most people recognize "Truthfulness -Benevolence-Tolerance" from their heart. The neighboring man: "Yes, there you are right. People understand that they are missing something in their lives; they are longing for something." Practitioner:"Truthfulness-Benevolence-Tolerance are universal principles. One feels satisfied if one follows those and that's the best a human being can get." Man: "I will come to the exercise site. I have a strong desire to try it. That seems very interesting." Practitioner: "Welcome! We are looking forward to seeing you!" Since the Monday after the fair he has been coming to our exercise site.
Another neighboring stand was that of "parapsychologists." They were always watching us. One of them came over to a practitioner and asked how it could be possible to hold the arms so quiet, without moving a little bit for such a long time as we were doing the fifth exercise. He found it really impossible to do! After talking with the practitioner he got very interested in Falun Gong and said that he wanted to read the introductory book.
A small girl passed our stand many times. She was looking at Master on the TV and said to her mother that she liked the exercises very well and wanted to learn them. Other children were also looking at Master on the TV introduction video and found it so nice to watch that they didn't want to leave our stand.
When people got the Falun Gong flyers, they were smiling broadly and a lot of them said, "Thank you very much, I will read it." Some people first refused to take a flyer, but then they stopped only after taking a few steps because they changed their minds suddenly and asked us for a flyer.
A very old lady bought the books and the introduction video, but then she suddenly asked a practitioner to show her the exercises at our stand. She wanted to learn them right away.
We also held lectures all three days during the fair. Around 70 people attended the lectures. They were touched by Falun Gong and the serene atmosphere in the room. Many of them wanted to learn more. One lady believed Falun Gong could help improve relationships at work. She invited us to lecture for a group of employees at a hospital.
Two weeks after the fair (on November 30th, 2001 and December 1st, 2001), we held an introductory course over two days and around 25 people learned the Falun Gong exercises. After the fair and the introductory course, we are now completely out of materials-- books, videotapes and exercise music.
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December 3, 2001
By Ray Routhier
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SOUTH PORTLAND - Six people wearing yellow and blue T-shirts sat on the ground with their legs folded and one arm across their chests. Their eyes were closed and their faces were expressionless as they moved from one position to another, almost in slow motion.
"If you were doing this in China, you could be beaten and sent to a labor camp," said Martin Fox, using a microphone to explain this demonstration of the mind-and-body practice known as Falun Gong. "We need to stop this persecution."
Fox, a public relations professional from Kittery, was among about a dozen Mainers who say Falun Gong has improved their lives. They were at the Maine Mall on Sunday to demonstrate the techniques and make people aware of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, where the practice originated.
The demonstrations were uneventful, as the practitioners stood or sat with their eyes closed and slowly moved their arms into different positions while soothing music played. The participants stretched in various positions and often looked as if they were praying.
But Fox and others talked passionately to interested onlookers about Falun Gong and what it has done for them. Fox, 60, said he and other Falun Gong enthusiasts demonstrate the practice at fairs and other events around Maine to help people find out more about it.
"We're not an organization. We are all people who happen to practice it and who take the opportunity to help people find out about it," Fox said. "It's a free practice, and it's just something that made sense to me."
As hordes of Christmas shoppers flowed through the mall, a trickle of people stopped to find out more about Falun Gong.
Fox, who saw a pamphlet about Falun Gong at a Chinese restaurant, said the practice has helped make him more relaxed, more aware, more truthful. He and others at the demonstration said that it is Falun Gong's emphasis on truthfulness and compassion that makes it a target of persecution by the Communist government in China.
[...]
Fox and others at the demonstration said the principles of Falun Gong are achieved by doing the exercises and reading the teachings associated with the practice.
"It's a purification of body. There's no mind intent; you're not thinking about anything," Fox said. "You're connecting yourself to nature."
Jason Pomerleau, 25, a native of Vassalboro now living in Boston, said he discovered Falun Gong while in college. He had read about other mind and body practices but found that Falun Gong appealed to him more than other techniques.
He said his younger brother began reading about Falun Gong on his recommendation, and because of positive changes in his attitude, Pomerleau's mother began practicing Falun Gong as well.
"Everyone has their own internal questions to answer," Pomerleau said. "And I found more of my questions answered through this than anything else."
http://www.portland.com/news/local/011203gong.shtml
(Clearwisdom.net)
Clarify the Truth, in Order to Save Sentient Beings
(We should) Use ways that everyday people understand to clarify the truth, and save sentient beings. The purpose of clarifying the truth is to save sentient beings, not just to speak out about what we want to speak out about. Therefore, whether we are really compassionate to people, and whether we are really thinking of others' futures, is directly related to the impact of our efforts at clarifying the truth, and validating Dafa.
Mainland China
Ninety-one people declared solemnly that what they did and said against Falun Dafa while under the influence of the evil force, and while being guided by their desire for personal fame, self-interest, and feelings are null and void. They will follow the Fa-rectification closely from now on, clarify the truth to the people of the world, redouble their efforts to amend the damage they did to Dafa, and be dignified Dafa practitioners.
One Falun Dafa practitioner in Hebei Province went to Beijing to appeal in 1999. He was detained and forced to pay fines. He went to Beijing twice in the year 2000, and was illegally detained. Police searched him and took all the valuables from his home. At the beginning of this year, he was sent to the Shijiazhuang Labor Camp, tortured with an electric baton, hung and beaten, locked in the "small cell"...
The awakening of an ordinary person is shown in his/her comment, "The Falun Gong practitioners are really determined and firm. Jiang Zemin is a big villain, he plays political trickery and tramples upon the constitution; he uses the money earned by the taxpayers' blood-and-sweat to torture good people. The vicious police at the labor camp beat to death a young man around 30 years of age and even disallowed his family to tell about it.... What third-generation national leader? Jiang Zemin is really an organized crime boss!"
The persecution of my entire family: my sister was illegally detained just
because I contacted her; my parents were harassed and are living in constant
fear; my uncle was fired because of me; I myself cannot go home so I move from
place to place as a homeless person to avoid persecution. My child is only 5
years old and had to be sent to live in his/her aunt's home.
Cultivation Story
Once again a practitioner triumphs through Dafa: A female practitioner was arrested when distributing truth-clarifying materials of Dafa. She clarified truth with reason and explained that good is rewarded with good and evil meets evil. She broke through the tribulation with righteous thoughts and firmly refused to cooperate with evil; she did everything she was supposed to do and after 11 days hunger strike, she was released unconditionally.
Stories of distributing truth-clarifying literature: I was distributing truth-clarifying literature at a dormitory when a woman stopped me and asked to check my bag. I sent forth righteous thoughts to prevent any evil interference. I said to her, "I am distributing truth-clarifying literature to let people know the truth so as not to be deceived into doing something terrible. Sending practitioners of the Buddha Law to jail would be harmful to you." I also told her that the story on the flyer was about how a policeman began practicing Falun Gong. She listened quietly and said nothing more to stop me, so I continued distributing the materials.
A 60-year-old attained Falun Dafa and broke away from his ailments to discover a new life. I used to have an intervertebral disk spur in my waist, and I suffered from pain in my lower back and legs. I was bed-ridden for half a year. After practicing Falun Gong, the symptoms of headache, stomachache, and pain in my waist and legs have all disappeared. My family and neighbors are all praising the practice.
A Taiwan practitioner recovered from illnesses that he had for ten years, including pain from joint cartilage wear, gout, and high blood pressure, after practicing Falun Gong for a month.
After interviewing Falun Gong practitioners, Radio France Internationale (RFI) said that according to a report from the UN Education and Development Division, the examples the Jiang Zemin Regime used to defame Falun Gong were actually fabricated by the persecutors. From this, a conclusion can be reached that the Jiang Zemin Regime is running a national terrorism campaign.
With strong support of the Culture and Arts Bureau and their local government, Dafa disciples in Saipan held a free picture exhibition for one month on the Journey of Fa-rectification. It was an effort to more deeply and thoroughly clarify the truth, expose the evil, and save the sentient beings.
Falun Gong practitioners from Washington DC have started another wave of introducing the Fa to local universities. They have successfully used many ways to introduce Falun Gong to professors and students and tell them about the spread of Falun Gong around the world and the brutal persecution occurring in China.
(Clearwisdom.net)
Clarifying the Truth
A report from November 21 of Jamestown Foundation of America indicated that China controls most of the Chinese media in the United States. The report enumerated that four main Chinese newspapers in the USA, which are World Journal, Xingdao Daily, Ming Pao and Qiao Bao, are directly or indirectly controlled by Mainland China. The employees of the New York branch of Ming Pao even said that their real boss is the Chinese consulate.
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News from Mainland China
Today, 60 people published solemn declarations. These declarations invalidate the verbal and written statements that renounced Falun Dafa under the strong pressure of the persecution. These people would catch up with the Fa-rectification process by re-doubling their efforts to compensate for the losses they caused to Dafa, and by becoming steadfast Dafa practitioners.
Vicious police in Liudian Township Police Department often climbed over a wall and broke into the home of a 70-year-old widow(er) at midnight to threaten her (him) to turn over her (his) daughter, who is a Dafa practitioner. The police's burglar-like behavior aroused the neighbor's protest.
On November 26, the northern seashore region of Weihai City, Shandong Province had lightening and thunder while it was snowing. In China such rare weather is considered a warning to people that act against the will of heaven. Shandong Province has one of the highest death rates of Falun Gong practitioners. Recently, practitioner Wu Haiyou was beaten to death by police of Xipaotai Police Station in Yantai City.
Practitioners in China sincerely congratulate the founding of Falun Dafa Associations in Belgium, Austria and Israel.
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Summary of Overseas News
The fifth seminar on Falun Gong organized by the Chung Hua Daily newspaper was conducted on November 25, 2001. Dr. Wu Hui Lin, a prominent economist in Taiwan, shared the cultivation experiences of himself and his family. Another speaker, Yeh Shu Wen, a medical doctor, talked about how she witnessed the miraculous cure of two people suffering from chronic illnesses by Master Li in 1993. These two people and their families were so grateful that they knelt in tears before Master Li.
RefAsso of France gave front-page coverage to Falun Gong and the brutal persecution in China on November 23, 2001. The article described Falun Gong as an ancient cultivation practice of the Buddha School. It said that the five sets of slow and gentle exercises open the energy channels of the body and are beneficial to people's health; in spite of this, Jiang's government uses torture, rape and murder to force practitioners to give up their practice.
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Cultivation Stories
After appealing on Tiananmen Square on October 28, a Dafa practitioner was arrested and brought to the Tiananmen Police Station for clarifying the truth about Falun Gong. She saw that vicious policeman spit on the head of an elderly woman and kicked a handicapped practitioner who asked to use the bathroom, and that the fat supervisor of the police station brutally beat a 14-year-old practitioner.
Doctors could not cure the glaucoma and neck problems I had suffered from for over 20 years. I deeply felt the limitations of modern knowledge. After practicing Falun Gong, I disciplined myself with the standards of a practitioner. My body kept improving and all the diseases have disappeared.