This article was first published in January 2005.

(Minghui.org) Today, the truth of the persecution and the staged Tiananmen Self-Immolation Incident have become widely known in the international community. Yesterday (January 18, 2005), Xinhua.net, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party, dug out the so-called self-immolation incident that was staged four years ago on January 23, 2001, as part of yet another slanderous attack on Falun Gong. In so doing, the Party is trying to mislead people in China and overseas by repeating the same lie over and over again.

On January 23, 2001, the self-immolation was staged in Tiananmen Square. The Jiang regime used this "evidence" as a propaganda stunt to justify its persecution of Falun Gong. They hoped to "transform" the population of China and people elsewhere, by "transforming" their sympathy toward Falun Gong into hatred, and to try to also brainwash a large number of Chinese people who practiced Falun Gong. In fact, some practitioners in China had been unsure in their study and practice of Falun Gong in the face of the persecution. Under the propaganda blitz that accompanied the self-immolation, contrived by Jiang and Luo and carried out by the entire state-run media machinery, some practitioners could no longer hold on to their correct understanding of Falun Gong. The staged self-immolation incident, as presented by the state-run media, brought about the overwhelming effect desperately needed by those in power to sustain the persecution.

What the Jiang regime failed to anticipate was that this incident also fully exposed its own evil and brutal acts. January 23 has become yet another "sensitive date." More and more people have found inconsistencies in the news coverage from the Xinhua News Agency. For example, Liu Chunling, one of the victims, was not burned to death, but instead was struck on the back of her head and killed by a military police officer in the chaos. Wang Jindong, one of the self-immolators, was clearly acting during the incident, as could be told from his voice, hair (unburned), and a plastic soft drink bottle that remained in good shape after he was supposedly engulfed in flames. Nothing was more revealing to those familiar with Falun Gong, than the poorly-scripted slogans shouted by Wang, and his ill-attempted and improper way of sitting.

On August 14, 2001, the International Education and Development Organization announced to the world that the so-called "Tiananmen Self Immolation Incident" was in fact staged to frame Falun Gong, and that this was a case of astonishing conspiracy and murder. The film footage of the incident broadcast by the party's mouthpiece CCTV, under careful scrutiny, actually reveals that the event was staged, underscoring the cruel brutality of Jiang, Luo and their accomplices.

To prevent the truth about the incident from spreading, Jiang issued orders to "kill with no exception" any Falun Gong practitioners who broke into the closed-circuit TV systems to play the video program, The Truth of the Self-Immolation Incident. As a result, Mr. Liu Changjun from Changchun City, Jilin Province and many other Falun Gong practitioners were tortured to death for exposing the truth on Chinese cable TV. Indeed, many Chinese citizens have been fooled by the TV footage produced and promoted by the Communist propaganda machinery. However, countless people overseas have come to understand the severity of the persecution by watching the video footage, The Truth of the Self-Immolation Incident and the award-winning TV program, False Fire, both of which were based on a detailed analysis of the very footage produced by the state-run media. (Editor's Note: Please see the following link for more on the self-immolation incident http://clearwisdom.net/emh/special_column/self-immolation.html )

The history of the Communist Party is a history of cruel suppression accompanied by repetitive deception of the party members as well as the public. Throughout its history, Communist Party leaders in China have devoted much thought to misleading the Chinese people, in keeping with the very nature of the Party. As long as the persecution has not ended, the Jiang and Luo regime will not stop spreading their lies and slander against Falun Gong. Without all these lies, more people would clearly see the nature of the suppression, and the sooner the end would come for Jiang, Luo, their followers, and for the Communist Party itself. Just as in the late 1950s, when the Communist media went into full spin boasting of the production of over 140,000 pounds of wheat in only 1 mu (about 0.165 acres) of land, the state propaganda has been completely dedicated to the continued grasp of power by the few, with real public interest never being among their considerations.

The persecution of Falun Gong by the Jiang and Luo regime has been systematic and a part of the policy-making process even before the open crackdown began on July 20, 1999. A recent article published by Xinhua.net has also "revealed" that this report was conducted "under the arrangement of the News Office of the State Council," as it is not possible to interview any "self-immolation victims" without going through such an "arrangement." The time, location, interviewer and the scripts have all been strictly "arranged," which if properly investigated, would turn up only lies and falsehoods.

What's interesting is that this report, which has to be published verbatim by chinanews.com.cn, sina.com.cn, sohu.com.cn and other propaganda websites, was authored by Tianyu, who made his debut on Xinhua.net at the end of 2004. It is obvious how paranoid the Jiang regime has become today when it comes to the fabrication and promotion of lies, as no ordinary journalists are allowed to report such carefully "arranged" slander. It has to be done by a dedicated "specialist," such as Tianyu.

Of course, despite the fact that more and more people are becoming aware of the truth, the Communist mouthpieces are still unwilling to report to the public the facts, that Falun Gong teaches people to be compassionate, not to kill nor to commit suicide. All they can do is to continue to stir up hatred and denial against Falun Gong among unsuspecting people, by resorting to their old tricks.

It is also worth noting that four years after the exposure of the lies associated with the self-immolation incident, the Communist Party mouthpieces have no better alternatives but to rehash this same lie, the truth of which has already been revealed to the world. Is there any stronger statement that this event could make, other than to show that the Jiang regime is at the end of its wits and that the persecution has run to a complete dead end?

January 19, 2005