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Morality and Justice or Vested Interests--The Persecution of Falun Gong Forces People to Make Choices
From Minghui reporter Mei Jie
(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, China once more used a "no-action" motion to
block passage of a resolution introduced by the Unites States at the 60th
session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights,
criticizing China's human rights practices. Of the 53 Commission member
countries voting, 28 supported the no-action, 16 opposed it and 9 abstained.
Other countries besides the U.S.A. opposing China's no-action motion were Japan
and some of the democratic European countries.
The United States, who last year did not sponsor similar human rights
resolutions, sponsored a resolution on China's human rights again this year to
express concern about China's severe curtailing of human rights, as well as
shoddy legal procedures that continue to fall short of international norms of
due process and transparency. Furthermore, the U.S. protested the arrests and
other severe infractions against those seeking to exercise their fundamental
rights, including Falun Gong practitioners. The Chinese delegation used the
no-action motion as they had previously done to block the U.S. resolution.
This time, right after the U.S. announced sponsorship of a censuring
resolution, the Chinese authorities immediately defended themselves with a
ten-thousand-word long "white paper." In addition, China used economic
incentives to lobby certain countries to support China's no-action motion. The
Chinese delegates also distributed a pamphlet among Commission members attacking
the U.S. human rights record on the basis of poverty issues and racial matters.
So far, the U.S. has sponsored or co-sponsored ten resolutions with the
United Nations Human Rights Commission about China's human rights issues, but
China has blocked all of them. On April 15, 2004, China again blocked the
resolution criticizing China's human rights practices through their no-action
motion. Falun Gong practitioners commented that although some in the Chinese
government uphold the interests of Jiang Zemin's regime and have used deceit and
tempted others with economic interests to temporarily evade condemnation from
the international community, Falun Gong practitioners will continue to expose
the persecution.
"Human Rights in China" that Divides Spirit and Body
China's official "white paper" emphasized again and again China's economic
development and claimed that China's human rights policies are develop rapidly
and healthily. Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Chen Gang commented, "The Chinese
authorities always emphasize that human rights represents 'the right to
subsistence;' however, besides merely existing, man needs to think and to have a
spiritual life, otherwise he is not a truly significant human being. The Chinese
authorities' logic, 'if I allow you to live, you must live according to my will
and instructions; otherwise you will face the cruelest choice' boils down to
this: persistence in your belief vs. the most basic instinct -survival."
Mr. Chen Gang's home was ransacked twice for practicing Falun Gong. He had
also been illegally detained and tortured in Beijing's Tuanhe Labor Camp for 18
months. Mr. Chen Gang said, "Freedom of belief is the most important part of a
man's spiritual life; it is generally respected in civilized countries but is
treated the opposite way in Mainland China. Because I am steadfast in my belief
of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I suffered from persecution in China,
which changed my life entirely. I lost my job, my family. If one practices the
Falun Gong exercises or goes to appeal, that person will be arrested. Some are
arrested even thought they don't even go out to practice the exercise."
Another Falun Gong practitioner who was tortured in Tuanhe Labor Camp,
Qinghua University graduate Zhao Ming says, "Jiang's regime has spent huge
amounts of money and resources on the persecution of Falun Gong. They have used
all kinds of methods and means and resources in an attempt to change people's
minds and change their beliefs. This is the most impermissible thing to do and
it cannot succeed, because it targets the wonderful principles of
Truth-Compassion-Tolerance. What it destroys is mankind's most important
attribute - virtue. It is harming the Chinese nation! It is truly bringing
calamity to the country and its people."
In describing his state of mind when he suffered persecution Chen Gang says,
"When I was tortured to the brink of death, I was faced with two choices: die or
give in to my captors. To give in meant to betray my dignity and belief. The
pain this brings surpasses the pain of death itself. When a person is facing
death, he/she is often afraid and in pain. But when you choose to have to live
with humiliation, that torment will make you wish you had chosen death instead.
Because your dignity is tarnished, your soul is no longer pure. At that time one
feels that to live is worse than to have died."
Mr. Chen Gang said that not all of those who are persecuted are Falun Gong
practitioners, but every one who has participated in this persecution is
committing crimes in exchange for temporary benefits. Most of the general public
are forced to choose between morality and vested self-interest.
The price of trading human rights for economic gains
Zhao Ming said, "The Chinese market is very hot right now. Many countries
want to do business in China. Additionally, Jiang's regime has tried very hard
to spread lies that slander Falun Gong. So many countries, although they have
realized that the persecution of Falun Gong is a severe human right violation,
have not openly denounced this persecution. In fact, it will be very dangerous
if this situation cannot be corrected, that Jiang's regime dares to use people's
hard-earned money to persecute such a large group of people in mainstream
society. Under these circumstances, even though the Chinese economy has
improved, it will backfire if these profits are used to do bad things."
The investigative report from the World Organization to Investigate the
Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) cited Beijing, the capital of
China, as an example (where Dafa practitioners Zhao Ming and Chen Gang were
tortured.) In 2001 and 2002 in Beijing, the budget for capital construction
dropped dramatically. Agricultural and education expenditures also started to
drop in 2002. Expenditures for politics and law rose in expenditure rankings to
No.1 in 2002 from a previous low figure in 1998, and this 37% increase was
higher than the budget increase for any other expenditures. The year 1999, which
was the demarcation line for the expenditure changes, corresponded exactly with
the time when Jiang's regime began persecuting Falun Gong on a large scale.
After the persecution had begun, a large number of Falun Gong practitioners from
all over the country went to Beijing and to Tiananmen Square to appeal. To stop
and arrest the Falun Gong practitioners, Jiang's regime has thrown huge sums of
money and police resources into the persecution efforts. Over a period of nearly
five years, 24 Falun Gong practitioners were tortured to death in Beijing's
Tuanhe Labor Camp alone. Beijing's Female (Xin'an) Labor Camp and the detention
centers in the Beijing districts have all actively participated in the
persecution. Beijing's Female Labor Camp has relocated twice in order to better
meet the requirements of the persecution. It's spending is much higher than what
it was prior to the persecution. According to explanations from WOIPFG members,
the budget increase for politics and law indicate precisely the premeditated
nature of this persecution.
Additionally, the investigation showed further that rebuilding the Masanjia
Forced Labor Camp cost over one billion Yuan. Several thousand Falun Gong
practitioners have been unlawfully detained there.
According to what the Jinan Daily reported on September 17, 2003, in
2003 alone, the money that the different levels of the party committees and the
local governments in Jinan City invested in police stations was equivalent to
the total expenditure of the previous five years. In this city, 90.1% of all the
police stations were either newly built or rebuilt. These police stations in the
city are equipped with electronic patrol systems, while the neighborhood police
precincts are equipped with a database device [a kind of device that the
police use to get data about their targets of investigation]. According to
the data provided by Clearwisdom.net, Shandong Province is one of the provinces
where the persecution of Falun Gong is most severe. By April 15, 2004, one
hundred-and-six Falun Gong practitioners had died there from torture.
Zhao Ming also was one of those who mentioned that Jiang's regime has
invested large amounts of money and resources in the persecution of Falun Gong.
The real economic situation in China, though, is never as prosperous as the
government wants it to appear. Economist Chang Ching-Hsi discovered that bad
loans in Chinese banks range from 40% to 50%. Although the World Bank has
invested money to help clear these under-funded accounts, the situation has not
improved because the fundamental problem is not being resolved. Economist Chang
Ching-Hsi also indicated that those officials in power play a dangerous game: to
pursue highly superficial economic growth, they often seek "projects that can
show off their administration achievements" and falsify GDP [gross domestic
product] data. In 2002, for example, the percentage of increase of China's
GDPs reported from the provinces were all above the GDP increases that the
central government finally announced, which, according to statistical
fundamentals, is contradictory.
So where has Jiang's regime gotten the money that it depends on to keep the
persecution going? One representative of the WOIPFG said in his summary that a
large amount of money, which consists of Chinese people's hard-earned money and
of foreign investments have been used to persecute innocent Chinese people,
including Falun Gong practitioners. "Economic development itself will not
automatically improve the human rights situation," Zhao Ming said. "Simply
investing in and trading with China, without insisting that China improve the
worsening human rights situation is, in fact, equivalent to encouraging Jiang's
followers to continue their evil persecution." |