|
Trying to Understand A US-Based Chinese Student's Animosity Toward Falun Gong By A Chinese Living In the United States
(Clearwisdom.net)
A Taiwanese student who attends George Washington University told me a true
story about one of her friends. Once, her friend and roommate, a student from
Mainland China, drove past a square in Washington, DC. where they saw an elderly
woman distributing flyers on the side of the street. The student from Mainland
China said angrily, "She must be another Falun Gong practitioner. I'll give
her a piece of my mind." He asked the friend to drive up to the woman. When
he got out of the car, he grabbed a pile of leaflets, planning to tear them up
in front of the woman. He found out, though, that she was advocating
Christianity and not Falun Gong. The animosity this young man showed toward
Falun Gong greatly surprised his Taiwanese roommate.
I believe this story, and I'd like to try and explain my understanding of why
things are this way here. One of my colleagues from Taiwan lives in America in a
neighborhood with many Chinese people. He said to me that he can't understand
why some of his Chinese neighbors hate Falun Gong so much. I have a similar
neighbor myself. He has been in the States for many years, yet he not only hates
Falun Gong, but also curses any newspapers that supports it.
Where does this strange and irrational hatred come from? Did they hate Falun
Gong before Jiang launched the persecution in July 1999?
Ever since its appearance in China, qigong has been controversial. Qigong has
traditionally been practiced for improving fitness and health yet, Falun Gong, a
qigong discipline that was brought to the public in 1992, introduced the
additional concept of cultivation, which created quite a bit of discussion in
society.
Although tens of millions of people were attracted to Falun Gong, with
China's population of 1.3 billion and the dominant belief system being atheism,
the majority of Chinese people did not practice Falun Gong. The majority of the
population didn't believe in it, or they didn't find it appealing to them. This
is people's right of course, but a very important point to consider is this: At
that time, people certainly didn't express hatred toward Falun Gong. They simply
liked what they liked, and didn't like what they didn't like. This is the normal
state of things.
Among Chinese people abroad, even prior to the onset of the persecution,
Falun Gong had existed for several years. At that time, Falun Gong practitioners
often promoted Falun Gong in Chinese communities and they frequently ran into
Chinese consular officials. They got along with each other, because the Chinese
consular officials wanted people to promote traditional Chinese culture in
foreign countries.
The 1999 persecution changed everything.
Falun Gong remains the same, but many people's attitude toward Falun Gong has
changed dramatically. But why? The reason for the change is the propaganda that
the Chinese government spread vociferously to every corner of the earth it could
reach.
People all talk about how evil the Cultural Revolution was, yet its effects
were felt for the most part, only inside Mainland China. Compared to now,
overseas Chinese consulates were very weak and pro-Party organizations outside
of China were not that prevalent. The Cultural Revolution barely affected
overseas Chinese people. They could clearly see the absurdity of it. But that
was then. This is now.
Today's persecution of Falun Gong is, in many ways, much like "another
Cultural Revolution." The difference now is that China has become a great
power in the world, controlling a large number of diplomats abroad and numerous
pro-Party organizations that have taken root in overseas Chinese communities.
The Chinese government has purchased and controls a large percentage of
Chinese-language media, not only in China but in virtually all countries around
the world. The CCTV and Xinhua Party mouthpieces now have a direct channel into
the living rooms of Chinese speakers living in a multitude of foreign countries.
Falun Gong-slandering programs that were published and aired in Mainland China
have appeared in all corners of the world at almost the same time. Thus, the
people who were deceived include not only the people in China, but Chinese
people all around the world.
This alone illustrates why Jiang exceeds all dictators in the past in terms
of deceiving the public and instigating hatred.
Some people say the people in Mainland China couldn't learn the truth because
of the information blockade. Chinese people overseas, though, do not have the
problem of an information blockade. So why is it that many of them do not know
the truth? It's because they are not willing to learn the truth.
Behind their unwillingness are all the lies they've heard about Falun Gong
that planted seeds of hatred in their hearts. Why would people look at or listen
to things they have been told over and over again to hate?
Many people from Mainland China are highly educated and intelligent and have
the ability to think independently and critically. Why would they act this way
on the issue of Falun Gong? It's because of the extreme campaign of slander
ordered by Jiang.
Some Chinese people may not have liked qigong originally, so Jiang tells
them, "Qigong practitioners kill people and have mental problems."
This immediately fits their perception of qigong so it's easy for them to accept
and to believe.
Some Chinese people don't have any strong opinions about Falun Gong, they
just hate politics. Jiang tells them that "Falun Gong practitioners as a
group attacked Zhongnanhai and Falun Gong is the tool of anti-China forces. They
are involved in politics." This fits their dislike of politics and makes
them hate Falun Gong.
Some came to a foreign country and the thing they wanted most to see is China
become powerful and prosperous. Jiang says "Falun Gong is staining China's
reputation by distributing flyers and exposing human rights violations in
China." Jiang intentionally appeals to these people's feelings of
patriotism to turn them against Falun Gong.
Others believe in science, but not religion or god. To them, Jiang says,
"Falun Gong is anti-science and they want to commit suicide so they can go
to heaven."
Many overseas Chinese people are Christians. Jiang lies and says that Falun
Gong's founder claims he is Jesus reincarnate. Thus, these people are turned
against Falun Gong.
Even for people who are neutral, some might still think, "The
persecution has been going on for so many years, so maybe not all the rumors the
Jiang regime spreads are lies. It doesn't affect me, really, so maybe I'll just
go along with it." So for these people, their neutrality in the whole
affair is twisted into the seeds of hatred.
All people have something they don't like. Jiang takes advantage of this and
creates every type of lie to feed their notions. Lies like this, appealing to
people's likes and dislikes, are the most powerful and deceptive. They lead
people to accept the lies as truth without even realizing it, and strengthens
prejudice against Falun Gong, so that people don't even want to hear the truth.
If people truly think about why they are against Falun Gong, they can find
the reason for it in Jiang's lies. Such well thought out methods, contriving
false propaganda conforming to people's various types of notions, are the most
powerful evidence showing just how evil Jiang Zemin is.
Historically, dictators who blocked information to prevent people from
learning the truth were considered evil. Today, Jiang Zemin has built a wall in
many people's hearts and minds that makes them unwilling to learn the truth. The
duration of the lies and number of people who have been deceived makes Jiang the
greatest evildoer in history.
Falun Gong practitioners clarify the truth with perseverance, despite the
odds against them, so more and more people can learn the truth and realize
Jiang's evilness, which make these practitioners all the more admirable.
From the Epoch Times Posting date: 9/26/2003 |