FDI: Falun Gong TV Programs Broadcast for 70 Minutes Around Baoding City and Beijing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 4, 2002 [ http://www.faluninfo.net/ ]

NEW YORK, September 4, 2002 (Falun Dafa Information Center) -- Falun Gong practitioners in China have once again turned the tables on one of the Chinese leader's most potent weapons for spreading propaganda about Falun Gong -- state-run television.

On August 23 and 27, video programs at least 70 minutes long were broadcasted on prime time television over a wide area in and around Baoding City, Hebei Province. Witnesses in the Fangshan area in Beijing say they saw similar videos on local TV stations earlier in the month.

The videos -- entitled "Witness and Testimonies" and "Falun Dafa Around the World" -- expose the human rights abuses suffered by practitioners of Falun Gong under Jiang Zemin's regime as well as report on the support of the practice worldwide.

These broadcasts mark the ninth incident to be verified by the Falun Dafa Information Center since January, 2002, when practitioners of Falun Gong in China first attempted to have their voice heard over television airwaves.

"With mass media under the tight control of China's leader," explains Falun Dafa Information Center spokesperson Erping Zhang, "Falun Gong practitioners in China have used more creative methods to break through the propaganda campaign against them, such as overriding television broadcasts, broadcasting radio programs from speakers placed in hard-to-reach areas, distributing flyers and leaflets, etc."

Mr. Zhang continued, "The regime uses its money and power to mislead the public into thinking that Falun Gong is bad, and the persecution campaign doesn't exist. Practitioners of Falun Gong, on the other hand, are using their hearts to let the people know Falun Gong is good, and that people are being persecuted horribly for their beliefs."

Round-up of Falun Gong Practitioners

Sources in China report that authorities quickly mobilized a strike force and declared martial law from August 27-30 in Xushi County and neighboring areas in an attempt to round-up those responsible for the broadcast. One source reports that a mini-van containing three Falun Gong practitioners was fired upon and rammed three times by local police. One practitioner in the van was arrested while two others managed to escape, this source says.

After the second broadcast on August 27, officials from Baoding City and surrounding counties set up a 24-hour patrol of their broadcasting facilities, sources in China say. Meanwhile, as in Changchun and other areas where Falun Gong videos were successfully broadcast, police began indiscriminately rounding up practitioners and harassing their family members.

Debunking Jiang's Propaganda Machine

The content of the videos debunk many of the propaganda news stories that are broadcast regularly by the state-run media in China. The state-run broadcasts typically slander and distort the teachings of Falun Gong and falsely depict Falun Gong practitioners being treated "humanely" while in police custody. The propaganda also depicts Falun Gong as a small group within China that is either non-existent or repressed in countries outside China.

The video "Falun Dafa Around the World," however, presents quite a different picture -- that Falun Gong is practiced in over 50 countries around the world, and that Falun Gong and its founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, have received over 600 awards and proclamations in North America alone for contributions the practice has made to local communities and public health.

Mr. Li is a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee.

Before Falun Gong practitioners began overriding television signals in January, 2002, to broadcast these types of programs, none of these facts had ever been broadcast publicly in China.

Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, 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, 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 467 deaths 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. Over 100,000 have been detained, with more than 20,000 being sentenced to forced labor camps without trial.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTRE- Contacts: Gail Rachlin 917-501-4441, Erping Zhang 646-533-6147, Levi Browde 914-720-0963, or Feng Yuan 646-523-5676. Email: faluninfoctr@nycmail.com, Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/

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