How much False Evidence has Been Fabricated by The Government; From the "Suppression of the Student Uprising" to the "Self-Immolation in Tiananmen"?

Shan Gu

Recently, I read on the Internet about the incident of "Falun Gong practitioners' self-immolation in Tiananmen Square" (as claimed by the Chinese state-run news and government propaganda mouthpiece) on New Year's Eve. It reminded me of a story. On New Year's Day in 1997, my husband and I were guests at a friend's house. At mealtime, a couple, which came from Beijing, recounted an unforgettable story. In June 1989, a couple of days following the June 4^th incident, soldiers on several military trucks cruised the nearby residential district, and shouted loudly: "Troop XX (name of the troop that suppressed the student uprising) is the rebel troop!" Even in such oppressive times, there were people coming out on the side of justice. Beijing citizens brought tea and rice to the soldiers as if they were "part of the family", showing their gratitude and support for the soldiers' "just deeds". However unbeknownst to them, a clandestine reporter covertly hidden nearby captured such touching scenes on tape. The next day, the scenes were shown on TV as "the Capital City people welcoming the Liberation Army that put down the riot in Beijing". The same people and the same scene can be manipulated to present a different message, at the discretion of the government. At the same time, the farmers in nearby suburbs were induced by a reward of 100 RMB each (RMB is Chinese money unit, 1 RMB = 8 U.S. dollar.) to parade on the street, holding banners of support for "putting down the riot". All of a sudden, Beijing presents "Unity of the people with the Central Government". To provoke public resentment for the pleading students, the authority ordered the state-run TV stations to stop all other TV programs, and air repeatedly the bloody scene of "a young soldier killed during the uprising, with abdomen lacerated, and hanging from an overturned bus". Such orchestrated productions to fabricate evidence are all too common in the new China. When Jiang Zemin appeared on the scene, things have gone from bad to worse. Jiang has made serious miscalculations time and again on Falun Gong issues, and has now reached an apparent dead end. He could not pass the opportunity to re-stage this self-immolation tragedy and transform Tiananmen, the national monument, into the hell of the human world. They presumed that by staging this self-immolation drama, they could then justify to the world their labeling of Falun Gong as a [slanderous word respectfully omitted], and pave the way for the next round of persecution. However the production is full of flaws and inconsistencies. The actors performed like amateurs, their dream of a "Swan Lake" production masterpiece turned out more like "ZhuBaJie [note: a pig figure from a well known work of fiction] peeking into the mirror --- disappointed that he did not look human however he appeared." Isn't that the case? The clear-sighted people might award them a "ten" for the police's equipment and their almost perfectly coordinated timing with the immolators. However, seasoned directors however would find it a bit too perfectly done. If this performance were to be presented to the Oscar's Nomination Committee, it could very well win the "most flaws" award. Consider this, less than one minute into the immolation, the police each jumped to his given role and extinguished the fire in a flash, before the plot had a chance to evolve. Their speed inevitably raises doubt on the authenticity of the production. But how can we blame the performers? After all, the director hadn't given those amateur actors enough rehearsals before they were rushed on stage. However, thanks to the expert propaganda techniques of the Xinhua News Agency and CCTV, an even more ridiculous performance could be "finessed" to appear believable to the unwary. The host of a TV show in China, while denouncing Falun Gong, was rendered speechless by an outspoken audience. I feel for those fellow countrymen who lost their rationality and participated in this horrible act. I cry for all the indifferent elders, brothers and sisters of my home country. Wake up please! Lets together put out this fire of hell before it engulfs you.
Chinese version available at http://minghui.cc/mh/articles/2001/2/4/7672.html

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