NEW YORK, December 29, 2002 (Falun Dafa Information Center) -- Yesterday, CNN reported that eight Falun Gong practitioners have been sentenced to up to 13 years in prison for tapping into local television and radio signals in eastern China's Anhui province.

Throughout more than three years of horrific persecution and continuous attacks by China's state-run televisions, radios and newspapers, practitioners of Falun Gong in China have continued to appeal, seeking peaceful ways to expose the atrocities, and cut through the lies and slander of the propaganda.

Some have successfully tapped into television and radio signals to make their appeals.

Is this a criminal or heroic act? One that violates the rule of law or one that seeks to restore it?

A Lesson From History

December 1938. Germany. Open violence against Jewish people has become commonplace. Most quietly and fearfully look the other way. Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Ministry of Propaganda maintains draconian control over what Germans read, see and hear.

"The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never escape from it." -- Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda and National Enlightenment for Nazi Germany

Among the measures Dr. Goebbels has taken is to organize the sale of cheap radios -- commonly known as the "People's Receivers" -- to ensure the people would hear Hitler's speeches and other propaganda material. Cafes and public properties are equipped with loudspeakers for the same reason.

Then one evening in late December, as the people gather around their radios, and huddle over their coffees at the cafes, the regular program suddenly goes dead...silence. From the silence emerges a voice, and it speaks clearly: "The Jewish people are a good and honorable people. They have a rich tradition grounded in virtues that build healthy families and strong communities."

Everyone stops moving. No one makes a sound. All eyes are fixed on the radios and speakers. The voice continues...

"The Jewish people in Germany are being horribly persecuted. Many have died. Hitler's regime has adopted a policy of genocide. The world must speak out..."

The voice cuts off mid-sentence. There's a crackle and then silence again.

A small group of Jews have engineered a tap into the Nazi central broadcast and overridden the broadcast with a message of their own: A message they hope will cut through the lies and slander about Jewish people, expose the horrific persecution that is unfolding upon them, and awaken people to the darkness that has engulfed their nation.

Are these Jews criminals or heroes? Have they "disrupted social order" or laid their very lives on the line to maintain it?

This particular broadcast is fictitious, but the point is very real: How would history judge such "hackers" of Nazi television and radio under such conditions?

The Conditions in Modern Day China Under Jiang Zemin's Regime

"We have learned from history that in the face of evil, we must speak out regardless of the consequences. Silence only encourages tyranny." -- Dr. Shiyu Zhou, Falun Gong practitioner

In the middle of the night on July 20, 1999, volunteers in cities throughout the country who organized Falun Gong practice sites in their local parks were rounded up by police -- many taken from their beds and families.

Some were never heard from again.

Over the next two days, tens of thousands of practitioners of Falun Gong were rounded up and detained in detention centers and stadiums in China's larger cities as people spontaneously gathered to peacefully appeal for an end to the sudden crackdown.

Since that time, reports of Falun Gong practitioners being tortured to death in police custody have surfaced almost every day. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labor camps, typically without trial.

Many practitioners of Falun Gong have been fired from their jobs, expelled from schools, had their homes ransacked by Chinese police, their businesses interrupted and their property confiscated.

And it continues to this very day.

According to a December 27 CNN report, China's new police chief Zhou Yongkang said China's "police and para-military People's Armed Police must target the Falun Gong spiritual movement" in addition to other groups deemed by Jiang's regime to be dangerous or "destabilizing."

With Chinese government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong before July 1999, this persecution targets nearly 1 out of every 12 people in China -- not including family members of Falun Gong practitioners who have also been targeted since July 1999.

History in the Re-Making?

Like Dr. Joseph Goebbels' Ministry of Propaganda, Jiang Zemin's state propaganda apparatus is a finely tuned machine, capable of covering up and deceiving on a massive scale. One of the biggest mistakes we could make today is to assume that -- in this era of sophisticated media analysis and communication channels -- it is not possible for us to be caught unawares and lulled into complacency by such a machine. Many details of the persecution of Falun Gong remain hidden. Many lies and slanders about Falun Gong have usurped fact.

Yesterday, eight individuals were reportedly imprisoned for their peaceful attempts to expose the atrocities of this persecution and to expose the lies and slander about Falun Gong that saturates the propaganda of Jiang's regime.

It is the responsibility of the international community to peacefully enact an end to this reign of terror. Let us not wait for history to make this clear.

Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." It is a practice that was taught in private for thousands of years before being made public in 1992 by Mr. Li Hongzhi. Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture, but it is distinct and separate from other practices such as the religions of Buddhism and Taoism. Since its introduction in 1992, it quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China, and is now practiced in over 50 countries.

With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, China's President Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report), fearful of anything touching the hearts and minds of more citizens than the Communist Party. Unable to crush the spirit of millions who had experienced improved health and positive life changes from Falun Gong, Jiang's regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while quietly imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it.

The Falun Dafa Information Center has verified details of 535 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. Government officials inside China, however, report that the actual death toll is well over 1,600, while expert sources estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labour camps, typically without trial.