(Clearwisdom.net)

Since 1999, the Jiang regime has persecuted Falun Gong practitioners who follow the principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." Droughts, floods and sandstorms have also been occurring all over China since that time. In some areas these anomalies have occurred for the first time in decades. Starting from April of this year, plagues of locusts have blotted out the sky in parts of China. Some 14 cities and provinces are affected, and they include Tianjin City and the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Henan, Hainan, Sichuan, Tibet, Shaanxi and Xinjiang. The afflicted areas cover 4 million mu (Chinese units of land area, 1 mu=0.16 acre) more than last year. In some severely plagued areas, there are three to ten thousand locusts in each square meter.

Reeds bent by locusts	Swarms of locusts flying in the sky

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Ancient Chinese people have summarized the laws of the relationship between natural calamities and human sins on earth according to the theories of Yin-Yang and the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth, which were held by the ancient Chinese as the elements composing the physical universe). Natural disasters were thought to result from the anger of the heavens. They are warnings to humans on the earth from the heavens. Cai Yong in Eastern Han Dynasty (A. D. 25 -- 220) said, "Locusts appear because the emperor and officials are avaricious, cruel and ferocious." (Much like locusts) Examining Chinese history, we can see that plagues of locusts appeared when the authorities were going against the laws of nature, harming and even killing ordinary people.

Many Chinese people view China's natural disasters in the 1960s and the earthquake in Tangshan City in the 1970s as warnings for the great injustices committed during the Cultural Revolution.

Today, a few top authority figures utilize the state's resources to persecute Falun Gong, a peaceful meditation group. The authorities are using contemptible, violent and unprecedented means to achieve their goals. As a result, the Divine Land (an ancient term for China) has been constantly suffering natural calamities and man-made disasters since 1999. Floods in the south, droughts in the north and repeated sandstorms are manifestations of retribution. As far as the 14 provinces and cities plagued by locusts are concerned, it is estimated that about 100 million mu of farmland are afflicted. The above reported areas that were heavily hit by the locusts are also the same areas where a small number of the top authority figures cruelly persecute Falun Gong practitioners to an extreme degree.

More than 400 Falun Gong practitioners have been verified as having died as a result of police torture and brutality. More than 1000 mentally healthy practitioners have been locked up in mental hospitals. Thousands of practitioners have been illegally sent to forced labor camps. They have been persecuted because they want to be good people. After having brought severe floods, droughts, and sand storms, the heavens are now using plagues of locusts as warnings. The ancient proverbs of "good will be rewarded with good and evil will meet with evil" and "natural calamities and man-made disasters accompany each other from the beginning to the end" are manifesting themselves in China today.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.cc/mh/articles/2002/6/27/32380.html