(Clearwisdom.net)
(Editor's Note: We are greatly saddened and troubled by the large-scale loss of life and property in China due to the raging floods. Even though China's state controlled television programs are repetitiously chanting empty political slogans while various levels of government officials put on a show of "disaster relief," we see clearly that Jiang and his corrupt officials at each level of government are concentrating their efforts on embezzlement, fraud, bitter power struggles, and persecuting innocent people. Each year there are disastrous floods, followed by "disaster relief efforts" that are too little, too late. Yet these tragedies have been turned into opportunities by Jiang and his cronies to glorify and promote themselves. If they had a shred of a sense of responsibility for the welfare of the common folk and the future of the Chinese people, then the tragedies occurring as a result of the floods in Hunan could have been avoided to a large degree.
The ancients in China emphasized the relationship between man and the heavens, and often drew a direct correlation between a despotic regime and natural disasters. Whenever large-scale disasters occurred, it was commonly believed to be caused by the ruler's greed and atrocities, and the rulers themselves were often forced to admit their culpability, at least in name, to the heavens and to the people. Over the past three years, the disastrous floods in Mainland China have become more and more severe. Meanwhile, over the same period of time the Jiang regime's persecution of the kind people who cultivate "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" has become more and more vicious -- Jiang's political group has exhausted great amounts of the country's and the people's resources in order to persecute Falun Gong practitioners, creating countless bloody tragedies. Can this be a coincidence? The widespread suffering caused by the floods in China can certainly be attributed to the corruption and incompetence of Jiang's regime, but the deeper reason may well be the persecution being carried out by this evil gang against innocent Falun Gong practitioners. While the dictator is desecrating the laws of heaven, it is the people under him that suffer as a direct consequence.
No matter from what angle, it is clear that under Jiang's despotic rule, the victims are not just limited to Falun Gong practitioners but all innocent people, inside China or abroad, that are within his reach. For the sake of our collective future, let us stop the violence being perpetrated by Jiang's regime together.)
- The water level of the second largest fresh water lake in China, Dongting Lake, has surpassed the flood security line. More than 800,000 residents and 8,000 soldiers in different regions of Hunan Province are competing with time, trying to prevent the flood from bursting the dikes as the water level rapidly rises in Dongting Lake and the Xiang River. If they do not succeed, the surrounding cities and farmlands will be inundated.
- The Yangtze River's water level has been constantly rising. On Aug.17, the Canal Management Department of the Yangtze River ordered a stop to all the ships that moved down the river. At present, no break has been found along the Yangtze River's dikes. However, in several places, the water level has gotten dangerously close to the flood security line.
- The last time the Yangtze River's overflowed the dike was in 1998. A total of 4,000 lives were lost. The heavy rain in recent weeks has made the water level of Dongting Lake rise to the present level of 34.45 meters, thus passing the flood security line by two and half meters, and approaching the level in 1998 when Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River overflowed their dikes.
- The Xiang River's water level will reach 38.5 meters by 2:00 a.m. on Aug. 22 at Changsha. Dongting Lake's water level will pass 35 meters by 8:00 a.m. on Aug. 25 at Chenglingji. According to the flood forecast by the Hydrographic Department, in the coming days, truly high flood water levels will appear in Hunan Province.
- Officials from the International Red Cross have warned that more than 100 million residents' lives and property are threatened. Local government officials have declared a flood emergency throughout the province.
