As an Anglo-Australian, I don't know a lot about Chinese politics. In fact, I don't know a lot about Falun Gong either. I do know, however, that the only crime committed by the old lady I saw getting beaten up in Tiananmen Square was handing out pamphlets about some kind of spiritual practice.

It was a cold winter's morning in Beijing, the second morning of my first trip to China. As I stepped out of Mao Zedong's mausoleum, back into the chilling breeze of Tiananmen Square, I heard a muffled scream. It caught my attention because, even with my mediocre Mandarin comprension abilities, I could understand what was being yelled: "Falun Dafa Hao! (Falun Gong is good!)" It was an elderly lady, lying on the ground as two policemen kicked her. They continued to kick, but she continued to display utter bravery. One of the policemen then stomped on her head, causing blood to appear at the corner of her cheekbone. I slowly began to take my camera out of its cover, but then looked up only to be meet the icy glare of another police officer. I knew it would be the end of my camera if I dared to take a photo.

It didn't take long for a police van to arrive and for the lady to be thrown in. As she was, however, she continued to yell at the top of her voice: "Falun Dafa Hao!" I wondered whether she was just crazy, or amazingly courageous.

Some of my Chinese friends later told me that such force is necessary and cited some propaganda from state-run media.

I found most of their reasons totally unacceptable. Those who practice Falun Gong do not inflict any direct harm on other people. Even if handing out pamphlets about Falun Gong in Tiananmen Square has the potential to brainwash people - which from what I know appears highly unlikely anyway - preventing it has even more dire consequences. That would take away people's freedom to think and choose for themselves, and history tells us that this creates fertile ground for a small group of people to control the lives of many. This scenario is the antipathy of all understandings of democracy - be they libertarian, socialist, or whatever.

It was the Chinese Government's ban on Falun Gong which originally made it known to the world and seemingly political. From what I know about Falun Gong, it is a belief system comprising spiritual teachings and meditations techniques - it is not inherently political. It is now a political movement in the international community's eyes because its banning symbolises the continued lack of civil liberties in China. Its banning, however, seems to have been deemed necessary by the Chinese [party name omitted] Party simply by virtue of its sheer size, and inherent threat to Government power. The irony here is, of course, that China still professes to run a 'socialist market economy', and socialism is all about the will of the masses.

In terms of its threat to economic growth, one might answer that economic growth is useless without basic human freedoms. The Chinese Government often criticises the United States, where there are many economical people who are more concerned with surviving than their right to form a political party. This is a valid argument, but China's own history reveals a good argument for Falun Gong movement. I think it was during the Ming Dynasty where Chinese were banned from building large boats and sailing abroad. This coincided with a technological decline in China, while Europeans continued to improve their navigational techniques, discover new lands, and benefit from the subsequent sharing of skills and resources. This laid the foundations for the industrial revolution in Europe, which allowed several European countries to almost colonise China. The moral of this (true) story is that freedom is not only good in itself, but it can also lead to innovation, and economic growth. Meanwhile, suppression of freedoms can lead to economic stagnation and exploitation.

As I've said, I don't know a great deal about Chinese politics and it may not be my place to get involved in matters which hardly concern me. It's just that what I saw appeared to be a brutal suppression of a harmless freedom, and I'm yet to hear any convincing argument to the contrary.

Posting date: 6/27/2001
Original article date: 6/26/2001
Category: Truth Clarification

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