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Who Ruined the "Happy Atmosphere?" By Yan Ge
(Clearwisdom.net) Over 40 Western Falun Gong practitioners were arrested
for holding a peaceful appeal in Tiananmen Square on February 14. Xinhua News
Agency, the mouthpiece of the Chinese government, immediately published a
venomous article, accusing the Western practitioners of "ruining the happy
atmosphere of Chinese New Year."
During the past two-and-a-half years, at least 365 Falun Gong practitioners
were tortured to death in China. Tens of thousands were illegally detained in
forced labor camps and prisons, while countless more were forced into
homelessness. Here I would like to ask, "Do these practitioners and their
families get to enjoy the 'happy atmosphere?' Is the 'happy atmosphere' more
important than people's lives and welfare?" The Western practitioners
peacefully expressed their faith and exercised their freedom of speech in
Tiananmen Square. They called for help for the victims, yet the police viciously
pinned them down, beat and kicked them. Who is it really that's ruining the
"happy atmosphere?" At the inauguration ceremony of President Bush,
20,000 people went to protest, should they have been accused of ruining the
"happy atmosphere" and beaten?
The state-controlled news agency may also claim that many people in China are
against Falun Gong. The repetitive indoctrination of the news media has indeed
deluded many Chinese people. However, let's not forget that, during the
"Strike Down Right-wingers" and "Great Cultural Revolution"
movement, weren't many people actively persecuting the "right-wingers"
and the "capitalist supporters?" If we go a little further back, in
Nazi Germany during World War II, weren't many German people supporting the
persecution of the Jews? Even today, aren't many Chinese people celebrating the
"911" disaster online? This misguided madness is pulling China toward
an abyss. The Falun Gong practitioners have used all possible means to clarify
the truth, for no reason other than to save the deceived Chinese people.
Xinhua might also claim that the Western practitioners violated Chinese laws.
The Constitution of China guarantees its citizens' freedom of faith, freedom of
speech and freedom of assembly. The Chinese government has also signed the
International Human Rights Pact. Therefore, the Western practitioners were only
using their internationally recognized rights. Furthermore, their actions were
so peaceful; how could they have violated any laws? On the other hand, after the
suppression began, the rulers in China ordained many new "laws" aimed
at persecuting Falun Gong, all of which violated the Constitution. Such
trampling of the Constitution is the real crime. Falun Gong practitioners went
to the Appeals Bureau to appeal and are immediately arrested and sent to police
departments. What kind of law is this? The police and government officials can
beat the practitioners to death. What kind of law is this? Should the
anti-Semitic laws in Nazi Germany also have been followed? About the
"demonstration law" in China, it actually is not at all law that
ensures freedom of speech. Instead, it prohibits appeal, rendering the freedom
of speech meaningless. The true nature of it is that only the government is
allowed to do whatever it wants to, and the people are not allowed to appeal.
Murder is not a crime, but appealing is.
At the end of a dynasty, the dictators always put on a show of great peace
while mobilizing malicious government officials to treat people brutally. Isn't
today's China behaving this way? The truth is that the dictator's "happy
atmosphere" won't last long, for punishment will soon descend upon them.
Posting date: 2/16/2002
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