Jason Loftus

University of Toronto Engineering Student

May 9, 2001

Just over two years ago, we witnessed a day for the history books. On April 25, 1999, more than 10,000 people--grandmothers, children, farmers and businessmen--gathered peacefully and solemnly in ordered rows outside China's government compound in Beijing. They carried no signs and chanted no slogans, but their numbers and their presence quickly brought Falun Gong from a complete unknown outside China to the centre of the world stage.

The event is portrayed by the Chinese government as the source that ignited what is now their more than 20 months attack on Falun Gong--an exercise and meditation system that teaches "truth-compassion-tolerance". The event is also hailed by Chinese leaders as evidence that Falun Gong is disruptive to social order and wishes to subvert the government. Yet the event, dubbed the Zhongnanhai Incident (after the name of the central government building), is to this day largely misunderstood.

Before Zhongnanhai, Falun Gong was endorsed by the government, even praised and awarded for its benefits. It looked in appearance much like many other traditional "qigong" practices--slow moving exercise regimes that fill China's parks each morning. However, Falun Gong's benefits and its free teaching helped it spread to tens of millions of Chinese within a matter of years.

The onset of any large group in China is sure to raise eyebrows among leaders. Despite investigations showing no inherent threat in Falun Gong, leaders took a "criminalize now, investigate later" approach...just in case. Beginning in 1996, articles attacking Falun Gong began to appear in state-run press. Practitioners were compared to the Boxers, a radical group that caused havoc in China years before. They were tagged as "promoting superstition"--a deadly attack under an officially atheist regime.

When practitioners gathered in Tianjin to appeal such an article on April 23, 1999, Public Security Bureau officers unexpectedly arrived on site, beating and arresting practitioners. It was under these conditions that Falun Gong took their appeal to the central government in Beijing. What is seldom reported is that the practitioners did not actually go to Zhongnanhai, they went to the Beijing appeals office. It was Chinese police who directed the massive line to circle the government compound. After some practitioners met with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, all went home quietly. However, the orderliness of the event sent shockwaves through China's leadership. President Jiang Zemin could not believe that a group of common citizens could be behind such a massive, well-mannered appeal. Concerns arose that there may be rebellious Party officials or even overseas forces behind Falun Gong.

President Jiang has now pulled out all the stops on Falun Gong, including a massive defamation campaign. What could make Jiang so fearful of Falun Gong that he feels it necessary to turn every Chinese citizen against them? Perhaps we witnessed a similar display in the spy plane ordeal. Jiang used the prolonged dispute to demonize the US in China, portraying them as a serious threat imposing on China's harmonious life. The parallels are profound. Could it all be the result of a leader who fears a challenge to his stranglehold of power?

To reflect seriously, who has in fact shown themselves to be a detriment to a harmonious China? Jiang's crackdown on Falun Gong has now claimed nearly 200 lives, families are torn apart and decent Chinese people are being tormented unjustly.

Posting date: 5/11/2001
Original article date: 5/9/2001
Category: News & Media Reports

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