Clarifying the Truth to Western Media

(Editor's note: This is a letter written by a practitioner in response to a report on AP on April 2, 2002 entitled "Arrests Reported Over Falun Gong TV." The writer used this opportunity to clarify the truth to the media outlet.)

This article reports inaccuracies and defamation uncritically. Conditions in China may make it difficult to check facts and consult more than one source, but difficult conditions there should not be sufficient for AP to stray from its typically high standards in such matters, as this article does.

The TV broadcast in question was 40-50 minutes, not 10. All previously published accounts agree on this. As for treating Westerners who traveled to Beijing "humanely," there is documented evidence of black eyes, smashed eyeglasses, and broken bones resulting from their detention. There are numerous accounts of such so-called "humane" treatment over the past few months.

On March 15, Amnesty International issued an urgent action request for Falun Gong practitioners in Changchun City regarding the "Fear for safety/Fear of torture or ill-treatment" by police, yet this has yet to be reported. Falun Gong spokespersons are available by phone in Hong Kong, New York, and London--why didn't we hear from them? All the sources quoted for this article were from various Chinese government-controlled outlets, and all of them are watched closely or directly controlled by the special extra-constitutional "6-10" Office in China, which was given the charter by the president to "eradicate" Falun Gong.

Is it any wonder that the police spokesperson quoted refused to give his name, given the fabrications and outlandish statements made? The story of one person setting fire to a shack and then "suddenly attacking" policemen is a typical, unverified "official" statement from government spokespersons calculated to smear the image of Falun Gong. Falun Gong practitioners are non-violent, without exception. The immolation incident of January 2001, hyped up by the Chinese government to tar the image of Falun Gong in China, has been exposed by careful analysis as a probable set-up. The Chinese government does have a track record, a well-established track record of bending the facts. Why would their spokespersons' statements be quoted without skepticism?

It is not just the apprehended individuals who are being accused of wrongdoing, but the entire practice of Falun Gong, which has practitioners in more than 50 countries. Shouldn't the accused be given an opportunity to speak, also? They cannot speak inside China, but outside China there are spokespersons who know the facts and who can speak.

This is an important story and I am glad to see AP and the Star Tribune cover it. I look forward to more accurate and complete future stories on Falun Gong.

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