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Why is Jiang Zemin Persecuting Falun Gong?
 
Why is the Chinese Government Persecuting Falun Gong Although Falun Gong is a peaceful, spiritual practice without any formal organization, property or membership, Chinese President Jiang Zemin banned the practice in China on July 20th, 1999. What has followed over the last five years is the violent persecution of millions of Chinese citizens. Why did Jiang Zemin launch the ban and direct the persecution over the last five years?
The Short Answer...

Most analysts and China watchers have identified four factors that have lead to the unwarranted crackdown on Falun Gong in China:

1. Supression of Beliefs in the Chinese Communist State is Widespread.

The Chinese Communist Party has, since it first took power in 1949, consistantly supressed spiritual and religious beliefs among the people. Officially atheist, the Chinese Communist government has forced many in China, including Catholics, Christians and other religions that are not 'registered' with the State to practice their beliefs in hiding and on the run.

2. Resentment from China's then-top leader, Jiang Zemin.

Fearing that Falun Gong‘s widespread popularity was overshadowing his own legacy, Jiang Zemin ordered the traditional Chinese practice “eradicated.” According to a 1999 Washington Post article, “Communist Party sources said that the standing committee of the Politburo did not unanimously endorse the crackdown and that Jiang alone decided that Falun Gong must be eliminated” in order to solidify his power base. As China scholar Andrew Nathan notes, “[Ultimately, Communism is] a system built on monopoly of power and [Falun Gong] is something essential, which can’t be compromised.”

3. The popularity of the practice: Falun Gong practitioners outnumbered the Chinese Communist Party.

Falun Gong was first introduced to the public on May 13, 1992. By the end of 1998, by the Chinese government's own estimate, there were 70 - 100 million people in China who had taken up the practice. Falun Gong had become "the largest voluntary organization in China, larger even than the Communist party." (U.S. News and World Report February 1999 issue)

4. Party officials scapegoat Falun Gong to gain politically

As economic and technological developments have become top priorities for China as a nation, many government officials who specialize in political propaganda and ideological battles will engender political unrest to provide them with a "cause" to gain political power. Falun Gong was made a scapegoat for this purpose. The propaganda was released through government-run media to defame Falun Gong and its founder from June 1996, and escalated to the mobilization of police and the use of physical violence in Tianjin on April 23, 1999. The development and escalation of the Falun Gong persecution actually happened over a period of three or four years.

As CNN's Willy Lam reported a Communist Party veteran providing his analysis: "By unleashing a Mao-style movement [against Falun Gong], Jiang is forcing senior cadres to pledge allegiance to his line. This will boost Jiang's authority-and may give him enough momentum to enable him to dictate events at the pivotal 16th Communist Party congress next year."

 

The April 25th Papers
Read "the April 25th Papers" - a detailed study of the peaceful gathering of 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing on April 25, 1999, by the people who were there...
The Truth Behind the April 25 Incident

An In-depth Look at the Persecution
         
Special Reports
 
In the Media

Why Persecute Falun Gong?

by Shiyu Zhou, Ph.D.

On April 25, 1999, more than ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners held a peaceful gathering on Fuyou Street in Beijing to appeal to the Chinese State Council Appeal Office for the release of 45 practitioners arbitrarily detained by the police in Tianjin during the previous two days.

This incident at once received international attention, for Fuyou Street is right next to the Communist Party leadership compound Zhongnanhai, and was portrayed by many as the “besieging” of the Chinese leadership compound. The incident was later utilized by the Chinese Government as a major charge against Falun Gong to justify the persecution and was also mistakenly considered by many to be the direct cause of the crackdown.

Why the April 25th incident? And why the crackdown? This article explores some possible answers to these important questions. It includes some crucial comments made by Chinese President Jiang Zemin in two classified documents (based on information recently revealed by high level officials in the Chinese Communist Party) that Jiang issued as he decided to crackdown on Falun Gong, and is provided as reference for those who are interested in getting to the bottom of the most frequently asked question about Falun Gong: “Why is the Chinese government doing this?”

Read the full article

Historical, Social and Political Analysis of the Reasons Behind the Persecution of Falun Gong in China

According to statements in the July 27, 1999, edition of The People’s Daily and quotes from many officials, the conflict between Falun Gong and Communism is seen by Party leaders as a struggle between theism and atheism, superstition and science, and idealism and materialism. These dichotomies are in fact grossly inaccurate. Regardless, these ideological issues are not the true reasons for banning Falun Gong. Falun Gong does not talk about superstitions or idealism, and it is by no means against Communism. Were Falun Gong “against” communism or the Government, this would mean that millions of practitioners were “against” themselves: millions of practitioners were Chinese Communist Party members before the ban, and this includes many high-ranking officials. This whole matter has been thoroughly explained in practitioners’ “Ten Thousand-Word letter” to the Central Government. We offer here several reasons behind the central authority’s suppression of Falun Gong.

Read the full article

"Yet the most severe criticism leveled at Jiang's handling of the Falun Gong is that he seems to be using the mass movement to promote allegiance to himself."

"According to a party veteran, Jiang might want a public show of support for himself if only because the Politburo had divergent views on what to do with the Falun Gong."

""By unleashing a Mao-style movement, Jiang is forcing senior cadres to pledge allegiance to his line," said the party veteran. "This will boost Jiang's authority-and may give him enough momentum to enable him to dictate events at the pivotal 16th Communist Party congress next year.""

"...the revival of Maoist norms-including using para-military forces against an apparently non-violent religious group, and promoting unthinking loyalty to the president-would seem to indicate Jiang and company are putting their vested interests before the reforms."

From the CNN Article "China's sect suppression carries a high price"
By Willy Wo-Lap Lam, February 9, 2001

Read the full article

 

 

Tony Auth, The Philadelphia Inquirer

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

Mr Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa, released a statement on July 22, 1999, in response to the Chinese government's announcement of a nation-wide crackdown on Falun Gong. Here it is in its entirety:

A Brief Statement of Mine

"Falun Gong is simply a popular qigong activity. It does not have any particular organization, let alone any political objectives. We have never been involved in any anti-government activities. I am a cultivator myself, and I have never been destined to be involved in political power. I am just teaching people how to practice cultivation. If one wants to practice qigong well, he/she must be a person of high moral standards. In actuality, I have achieved this -- more than 100 million people have become good people, or be even better people. As a matter of fact, I had not intended to do this, but when the morality of cultivators is upgraded, it really has brought benefits to society.

"Some sources claim that I forbid people to take medicine. Actually, that is absolutely untrue. I have simply explained the relationship between cultivation practice and taking medication. I have enabled more than 100 million people to achieve health. Countless terminally ill patients have recovered and have become healthy. This is a fact. As for those who are critically ill or mentally ill, I have always advised them to not learn Falun Gong. Yet some people nonetheless insisted on learning it without my knowledge. In that case, is it fair to call this kind of individual who died of his own illness my disciple? I have never heard that people who are not being taken care of do not die just because they have learned a few exercise movements. Then, just because hospitals are able to treat illnesses, does that mean that there should not be anyone dying in hospitals?

"Some people spread rumors that I changed my date of birth, and this is true. During the Cultural Revolution, the government misprinted my date of birth. What I did was simply to change the misprinted date of birth to the correct one. As for the fact that Sakyamuni was also born on this day, what does that have to do with me? Many other people were also born on this day. In addition, I have never claimed that I am Sakyamuni.

"With regard to the issue of practitioners gathering at Zhongnanhai in Beijing to present the facts, I was on my way to Australia and was changing planes in Beijing. I departed without knowing at all what took place in Beijing. I always travel alone in order to avoid inconvenience. I do not get in touch with local practitioners wherever I go because there would be many people hoping to see me. As a result, I was not aware of what was going on in Beijing.

"We are not against the government now, nor will we be in the future. Other people may treat us badly, but we do not treat others badly, nor do we treat people as enemies.

"We are calling for all governments, international organizations, and people of goodwill worldwide to extend their support and assistance to us in order to resolve the present crisis that is taking place in China. At present, my mother and sister are still in Beijing, and they are in a difficult situation. It has been said that police intend to detain them. Some reports said that policemen have beaten up many people in Shenyang, Dalian, and in other areas. I am asking the Chinese government to not treat them this way. It is my hope that the Chinese government and its leadership will not treat the people who practice Falun Gong as enemies. Chinese people throughout the country have a very in-depth understanding of Falun Gong, and the consequences would cause people to lose confidence in the government and its leadership and to be disappointed in the Chinese government. "

Li Hongzhi
July 22, 1999