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Clearwisdom Commentary: Gunmen in South Africa and Police With Permission to Open Fire in China By Su Jing
(Clearwisdom.net)
Zeng Qinghong and Bo Xilai, who closely follow Jiang's lead in persecuting
Falun Gong, arrived in South Africa on the evening of June 26th, 2004, to
conduct a four-day visit. On June 28th, nine Australian Falun Gong practitioners
arrived at the Johannesburg International Airport in South Africa. Together with
South African Falun Gong practitioners, the Australians intended to serve legal
papers on Zeng and Bo, who are responsible for a great deal of persecution of
Falun Gong practitioners. The practitioners had also planned a peaceful appeal.
However, while driving towards the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria (the
capital of South Africa) in two cars, these practitioners were attacked by
gunmen. One of the practitioners was shot, shattering the bones in his foot. One
of the cars was severely damaged. The case has drawn immediate worldwide
attention amidst much speculation that the gunmen were hired to attack the
practitioners.
These are the first gunshots fired at overseas Falun Gong practitioners by
Jiang's followers, who have been using all possible means in persecuting Falun
Gong practitioners. Looking at what has been happening in mainland China, one
will find that shooting freely has been one of the many ways the Jiang regime
has been persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. This incident in South Africa is
most likely just an extension of the Jiang group's state sponsored terrorism to
overseas countries.
Giving the Order to "Shoot to Kill"
According to Clearwisdom.net, shortly before the Spring Festival in February
2002, a main accomplice of Jiang's persecution of Falun Gong, the head of the
central "610 Office" (1) Liu Jing presided over a meeting at the Nanhu Hotel in
Jilin Province to organize efforts to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. An
angry Liu Jing criticized officials from Jilin Province for being ineffective
and gave the order to "thoroughly eradicate" Falun Gong. It was at this meeting
that the order to "shoot to kill" Falun Gong practitioners was given.
After the meeting, terror reigned in Changchun City. Shortly before the
Spring Festival, the Changchun Public Security Bureau went on a rampage for
several days, rounding up Falun Gong practitioners. The order was given that
police could shoot Falun Gong practitioners to death if they were found posting
flyers or hanging banners. Clearwisdom.net also reported incidents of Falun Gong
practitioners being shot in Mishan City, Heilongjiang Province, and Anshan City,
Liaoning Province. On February 16, 2002, Anshan City police shot Falun Gong
practitioners with a handgun in their attempt to abduct three practitioners. A
policeman fired four shots and one hit the leg of a practitioner. In Mishan
City, on Chinese New Year's Day, around 2 a.m., a policeman named Du Yongshan
shot practitioner Jiang Honglu in the leg when he was posting information about
Falun Gong. Mr. Jiang's leg was broken and he was later sentenced to 14 years'
imprisonment.
Two Shots Fired at Liu Chengjun After He Was Already Handcuffed and Shackled
On March 5, 2002, after Falun Gong practitioners successfully tapped into the
local TV cable system and broadcast the "Falun Dafa Spreading Around the World"
and "Self-immolation or Hoax?" documentaries in Changchun City and Songyuan
City, a shocked and hysterical Jiang Zemin ordered the police to "kill with no
pardon." The police around the country even wrote out death lists. The head of
the central "610 Office," Liu Jing, went to Changchun City to impose a deadline
for finding those responsible. Numerous Falun Gong practitioners were illegally
seized. According to sources, in Changchun City alone more than 5000
practitioners were abducted. During the abduction and interrogation, several
practitioners were beaten to death. Those who were directly involved in tapping
the cable network and caught were tortured and sentenced to prison for as long
as 20 years. Mr. Liu Chengjun, who was a main participant in the broadcast, was
shot twice in his leg even after he was handcuffed and shackled. Mr. Liu was
sentenced and jailed in Jilin Prison, where he was tortured and abused until he
died, after 21 months, on December 26, 2003.
The Shooting of Falun Gong Practitioners Takes Place in Many Different Cities
and Provinces in China
According to the Falun Dafa Information Center, after the police in Changchun
City, Jilin Province received orders in February 2002, allowing them to open
fire on Falun Gong practitioners, police in Jinzhou City of Liaoning Province
also received secret orders at the end of June, telling them that they could
open fire on practitioners who distributed truth-clarifying materials at night.
Even in May, violence took place in Shandong, one of the provinces where
practitioners are most severely persecuted, such that the police opened fire on
practitioners.
According to news from Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, police of Jinzhou
City learned the gist of the secret meetings held by high-level officials around
June 27 and 28, 2002. They were to arrest practitioners one by one or put them
under close surveillance. If they found practitioners distributing
truth-clarifying materials about Falun Gong, they could shoot them dead on the
spot. When a reporter called a police station in Jinzhou City to verify this,
the head of the police station told him, "If you want to know about that
shooting incident, those who don't know you will not have the courage to tell
you the truth. "
According to news from Shandong Province, on the night of May 12, 2002, the
police in Dianbu Town of Laixi City, opened fire on practitioners Zhang Xiaochen
and Zhang Bo in order to arrest them. A witness said that the two practitioners
were discovered by police waiting there while they were hanging Falun Gong
banners. The police chased their motorcycle and shot at them. They deliberately
hit their motorcycle with the police car. As a result, the two practitioners
fell into the ditch with their motorcycle. Blood flowed from Zhang Xiaochen's
mouth and nose and he was arrested on the spot. Zhang Bo escaped and went to a
practitioner's home in another town. But the next morning, that practitioner's
home was searched and Zhang Bo was arrested, as well.
According to news from Clearwisdom Net, on May 25, 2003, police opened fire
on practitioner Liu Dejun from Panjin City of Liaoning Province and another
practitioner in Liu's home. The police shot Liu 4 to 5 times. Liu Dejun was sent
to a labor camp for three years after that and was tortured to death on July 11
of the same year.
Orders from the "610 Office": Practitioners Can Be Shot at Will
According to a report on June 30, 2003 on Clearwisdom Net, some reliable
resources verified that in early April of 2003, the headquarters of the "610
Office" issued some new regulations to its subordinate offices. In those
regulations, it stated that the police can shoot practitioners who are
distributing truth-clarifying materials or congregating without any warning
shots if they resist arrest. The old regulation said that the police had to give
some warning shots first, and the police could shoot at the practitioners only
if they still did not submit to the arrest. The new regulation means that the
people from the "610 Office" can shoot practitioners at will. All they need to
do afterwards is to say that the practitioners resisted arrest.
From these shooting cases taking place in China, it can be seen that Jiang's
group has never abided by the law in dealing with Falun Gong practitioners. They
have always employed state terrorism. What the perpetrators fear most in China
is practitioners' revealing the truth about the persecution. That's why they
open fire on practitioners at will. While outside China, what they fear most is
being sued by practitioners. That's why it's not unreasonable to speculate that
they hired gunmen to shoot practitioners. Yet all this despicable conduct can
only make people see clearly the nature of Jiang's group and oppose this brutal
and irrational persecution.
Notes:
(1) The "610 Office": a bureau specifically created by the Chinese
government to persecute Falun Gong. It has absolute power over each level of
administration in the Party, as well as over the political and judiciary
branches. Posting date: 6/30/2004 |