FGM-TV English News
for December 18th, 2001
Falun
Gong is freely practiced in more than 50 countries around the world, but
relentlessly persecuted in China. The peaceful courage of practitioners there
has shocked their oppressors and moved the people of the world. While China
continues to block all information, FGMTV brings you the stories you may not
hear anywhere else.
Hello,
and welcome to FGMTV on Thursday, December 18th, 2001.
I’m
Susan Mitchell.
Our
top story this week:
A reliable source inside China revealed late Saturday
night, December 15th that Chinese President, Jiang Zemin is planning
a "suicide" plot to frame Falun Gong in yet another attempt to bend
popular opinion against the practice
And
some of our other stories:
Chinese
media, which is state controlled, falsely reported that the Westerners who went
to Tiananmen Square did not practice Falun Gong and were paid by their governments to pretend to be Falun
Gong practitioners
Clarifying
the truth about Falun Gong in the Czech Republic – an American practitioner
returns to her homeland for a visit
Toronto
practitioners issue the world's first comprehensive report on China's notorious
610 Office
World
Falun Dafa Radio broadcasters receive letters of appreciation from around the
world
Chinese
authorities arrest a practitioner immediately upon release from illegal
detention in a labour camp, and begin making arrangements to send her to yet
another labour camp
Brief
reports from several provinces in China
Practitioners
who bravely helped extinguish a forest fire win the freedom to practice freely
in their home town
On
December 15th, the Falun Dafa Information Center in New York received
information from a reliable source inside China that starting Monday, Dec.
17th, Chinese officials will begin a propaganda initiative that frames up Falun
Gong by way of a suicide case. This is believed to be the latest initiative in
a long string of attempts to implement President Jiang's orders to
"strengthen propaganda" against Falun Gong to win support among the
Chinese people and to counter international criticism.
Dr.
Shiyu Zhou, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who has done
extensive research on China's persecution of Falun Gong, said that the number
of fabricated reports in China against Falun Gong has increased recently. Dr.
Zhou said that another key aspect of the propaganda campaign by China's
state-run media is to falsely report that Falun Gong is suppressed around the
world, as it is in China. Dr, Zhou also stated that, "This propaganda aims
to convince the Chinese people that the persecution of Falun Gong is widely
endorsed. For many Chinese, however, the appearance of the westerners in
Tiananmen Square has led them to start questioning this propaganda, and so
Chinese officials are desperately attempting to counter this trend with
increased propaganda."
In
response to the November 20th event in Tiananmen Square, the Chinese
government has told its citizens that the 36 Westerners were not Falun Gong
practitioners, and were paid to pretend to be practitioners. In the current
climate of recession, no Western government would want to upset its trade
negotiations with China by paying people to embarrass Jiang Zemin's regime, let
alone find people from twelve different countries who can sit in the lotus
position!
Recently,
an American practitioner returned to her homeland of the Czech Republic for a
visit. She told us that nearly every weekend, in various cities of the Czech
and Slovak Republics, the practitioners in the photographs you see clarify the
truth about the persecution of Falun Gong, demonstrate Falun Gong exercises,
collect signatures for SOS petitions, and distribute literature. These photos
were taken in the small towns of Policka and Moravska Trebova. Her friend,
Vladka, a practitioner from a nearby village, organized the weekend. Vladka's
young daughter is shown clarifying the Truth to Vietnamese children.
Moving now to
Toronto, Canada, where on International Human Rights Day, practitioners
released the world's first comprehensive report on China's notorious 610
Office.
The
6.10 office was established by Chinese President Jiang Zemin specifically to
persecute Falun Gong practitioners, both in China and abroad. "6.10"
refers to the date of its creation, June 10th, 1999.
The
office, now said to have bureau status in China, utilizes torture,
brainwashing, and defaming propaganda with the ultimate goal of eradicating
Falun Gong, both inside China and abroad.
The
"6.10" acts above all legal, judicial and governmental bodies and
infiltrates every facet of society including schools, communities and
workplaces.
Family
members of practitioners are also coerced through intimidation, threats and
extortion to aid in the persecution of their loved ones.
Students
who will not slander Falun Gong in university entrance exams are refused
admittance.
And in Hong
Kong on International Human Rights Day, around 100 practitioners held a
peaceful demonstration. They displayed posters showing the various methods of
torture used against fellow practitioners in China. These methods include long
periods of time locked in cages only 4 feet high with hands cuffed and locked
to the bars so the person can neither sit down nor stand up; standing for
extended periods of time in extremely uncomfortable positions and even hanging
practitioners up by handcuffs that were locked with the person's hands behind
their back – high enough that their feet don't touch the floor. One person in
Nanchang city of Jianxi province was hung this way for four days recently.
Miraculously, he survived. But it is said that his hands are now deformed.
·Within two to three days after the 36
Westerners meditated in Tiananmen Square, approximately 20
practitioners from Changchun city and other regions rented a vehicle to drive
to Bejing. They were stopped by police in Yutian county, Hebei province, and
all were detained. In an attempt to force the practitioners to curse the
practice and its Founder, and to give out their home addresses, police used
electric batons to shock and beat the practitioners continually for 2 hours.
One 19 year old male died on the spot from injuries sustained.
From
its first broadcast in Chinese on July 1, 2000, World Falun Dafa Radio has
overcome numerous obstacles to spread the voice of Falun Dafa throughout China
and in other countries around the world.
Beginning
on September 1, 2001, World Falun Dafa Radio began transmitting to audiences in
Europe. Since transmission began, numerous letters have been received from
people all over the world, including Italy, Japan, Spain, Australia, and the
USA, expressing appreciation for the programs and enthusiastically asking for
souvenir cards from the station. Their kindness and friendship has deeply moved
and also encouraged the practitioners who are volunteering their time to
provide this service.
The
station is planning to broadcast in other languages in the near future.
The City of Columbus, Ohio in the USA recently issued a Resolution of Expression, appreciating the
practice of Falun Dafa, and calling on the government of China to cease its
persecution of Falun Gong practitioners immediately. They stated that
"This Council believes that exercising the fundamental rights to
self-expression, freedom of thought and choice of religion are basic human rights
and the unjust treatment of innocent people exercising such rights under any
circumstances is intolerable."
The return of 2 French practitioners from Tiananmen
Square provided a great opportunity to practice and teach the exercises at the
Eiffel Tower in Paris recently.
And
in Germany, At the beginning of this winter semester, a new research course
called, "Falun Gong," was offered by the Department of Theology at
Goettingen University. The course is presently being offered two hours per
week, and has attracted many students. Students in the class are required to
read through Zhuan Falun the main
text of Falun Gong teachings, and to familiarize themselves with the Falun Gong
websites. The students are also asked to analyze the negative propaganda
materials from Chinese government authorities. The goal of this course is to
reach a conclusion based on their research, as to whether Falun Gong is a
religion, a philosophy, a spiritual movement, or any other theory. The host
professor of this course has also contacted Falun Dafa practitioners and asked
them to prepare a symposium next month, to help students better understand the
practice and the principles outlined in Zhuan
Falun.
Attempts
by Jiang Zemin's regime to prevent a Falun Dafa float from being in a Christmas
parade backfire:
Practitioners
of Falun Dafa in Hamilton, New Zealand, were almost cancelled out of the
Christmas parade because officials from the Chinese Embassy were pressuring the
Mayor and parade organizers. Luckily, the parade had to be postponed for one
week because of rain. This gave the local newspaper the opportunity to
interview practitioners and print not just one, but two front page articles.
One article detailed the unfair treatment and attempts by Jiang Zemin's regime
to interfere in New Zealand affairs, and the other presented interviews with
the practitioners explaining the benefits that Falun Dafa had bestowed on their
lives.
The
parade permit was granted, and local people along the route called out in
appreciation, "Falun Gong," "Falun Dafa," "I support
you," "You are doing well," and "Wonderful!"
And
in this week's update from China:
The number of
practitioners known to have died while in police custody is 326 as of today.
However, reliable government sources inside China say the number is actually 1,600.
One
out of every six Falun Gong deaths in China occurs in Shandong Province.
Shandong was thrust onto the world stage when it was chronicled in a Pulitzer
Prize–winning series of articles by Mr. Ian Johnson of the Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Johnson’s articles focused on the stories of people like Chen Zixiu, a
58-year-old woman tortured to death in this room at a police facility. The
articles also profiled the persecution of Falun Gong in the city of Weifang, an
"unremarkable Chinese city" in every respect but one: "local
police regularly torture residents to death."
It
was recently reported that Wanjia Labour Camp was releasing practitioners when
their illegal terms were over. However, FGMtv has learned that the freedom is
short-lived:
Ms.
Xiuyun Zuo from Jiamusi City was arrested immediately after she was released.
She is currently being held at the Jiamusi Custodial Center and police are
planning to send her to a labor camp once again.
In
Hunan province, Ms. Zhang Li, in her thirties, was recently illegally sentenced
to one year in prison by Xihu District Court in Nanchang City. In the court,
she solemnly said, "Falun Dafa is good," and as a result, her
sentence was extended to three years.
In
Hainan province, practitioners in both Shangongli Male and Female Forced Labor
Camps have not been allowed to meet with their families for four months. The
camps do not allow practitioners' families to send them clothes, even though
the weather is already very cold. All information regarding the practitioners
is tightly blocked, so their families do not know if their loved ones are still
alive.
In
Jianyang City of Sichuan province, two practitioners have been given prison
terms, seven sent to labor camps, and 97 others have been repeatedly detained for
total of 138 times. Four practitioners have been expelled from the Communist
party, five have been dismissed from their civil jobs, and six have had their
pensions suspended. 39 practitioners have been extorted out of more than
200,000 Yuan. Seven practitioners have been detained for long periods of time
without legal procedures.
And finally, a
very short story from a village in China: One day last May, a fire broke
out on the side of a road in a mountainous area of northeastern China. As the
area was heavily wooded, the fire quickly spread out of control. All of the
village officials and people of the township rushed to the scene and tried to
organize the villagers to put it out. (We aren't able to bring you a photo from
China, but Ken Roberts, a firefighter from Arizona, took this photo that will
give you an idea of just how difficult it is to extinguish a forest fire)
Several
Falun Gong practitioners participated in the fire fighting and were always the
ones who rushed to the very front. Wherever the fire was burning the hottest,
there they were. By the time the fire was finally put out, all of their clothes
were charred. At that point, the head of the township approached a Falun Gong
practitioner and asked him, "Are you still practicing Falun Gong?"
The practitioner firmly replied, "This practice is so good. How is it
possible for me not to practice it? Do you know why we were so brave today?
That is the mighty power of Dafa. We start from being good people and try to be
kind in everything that we do. If everyone were like this, how wonderful this
world would be!" The general secretary of the township's branch of the
government Party declared in front of everyone, "Today, you proved with
your own actions how kind you are. From this moment on, I will make it legal
for you to go ahead and continue practicing Falun Gong within the township. I
will not interfere with your practice. This is one thing that I can
guarantee." Another official said, "Next time you go to Beijing to
appeal for Falun Gong, I will drive a car to Beijing myself to bring you
back."
Thanks for watching FGMTV, dedicated to breaking through China's information blockade, revealing propaganda, and bringing you the truth of Falun Gong.