By Zhong Yan

(Clearwisdom.net) Two news stories broke out in China in November. One was called a "benevolent lie," while the other was two malevolent rapes in broad daylight. It is worth exploring how different these two events truly are in nature.

A report by Radio Free Asia said that when the Harbin government first shut off the city's water supply on November 21, it lied about the reason of the shut-off and issued a statement that the water main needed to be maintained and repaired. Zhang Zuoji, governor of Heilongjiang Province, called the statement a "benevolent lie." Zhang told reporters that the reason for this statement was because the government was worried that "the public couldn't deal with such a sudden disaster."

According to a Time Magazine report (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1136504,00.html), Zhang informed provincial officials about the decision to keep secret the benzene spill at a closed-door meeting on November 22 at the Peace Village Hotel in Harbin. Zhang's reasons for the lie were somewhat absurd. Zhang reportedly said, "There were three reasons. First, the pollution had not yet entered our province. Second, we had not received direct data. Third, the Xinhua news agency had just reported that there was no pollution."

The provincial governor of Heilongjiang needed to follow Xinhua news agency to see if he could publicize the news about a pollution spill in his province. Obviously, it was not the provincial governor who made up this "benevolent lie."

Radio Free Asia published commentaries from legal experts in China. Attorney Li Heping said, "In the public domain, there is not a concept of a 'benevolent lie.' Government officials need to protect citizens' right to know. This is a mandate of the government. Such a sudden, large-scale environmental disaster affects millions of lives and interests in many different areas."

Professor He Weifang of Peking University Law School said that the "benevolence" in the "benevolent lie" could only be from government officials to their superiors, but not towards the common public. Mr. He said, "Such a lie could gain a favorable impression from the superiors; but to millions or even more people, how could this be benevolence? I think this is a very peculiar way to put it." He continued, "This so-called benevolence is actually harmful to the common citizens."

When the governor of Heilongjiang deceived the people, he at least used a "benevolent lie" as a disguise. Several days later, when policeman He Xuejian from Dongchengfang Township, Zhuozhou City, Hebei Province raped two female Falun Gong practitioners who were of similar ages to his mother, there was no attempt to hide the malevolence. It showed that under the Chinese Communist Party's permission and harboring, the local "law enforcement officials" are harming citizens, totally disregarding laws and morals.

None of these are isolated incidents. From hiding the truth about SARS and bird flu to the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners (including sexual abuse of female Falun Gong practitioners) in the last six years; from provincial-level officials' lies to local police's beastly violence, it reveals how the CCP denatures its members and uses lies and violence to take human lives at will. It is no surprise that some scholars call the CCP the largest criminal gang in China.

Posting date: 12/12/2005
Original article date: 12/12/2005
Category: Open Forum
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/12/8/116066.html

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