China Continues its Two-Year Crackdown on Falun Gong
by Lijuan Ahang, Ph.D, M.D. and Zongyi Hu, M.D.

July/August 2001
Volume 38, No. 6

In the middle of the night on July 20, 1999, police broke into the homes of hundreds of ordinary citizens and dragged them off to prison. That fateful day two years ago marked the beginning of a reign of terror in China that has since devastated the lives of millions. We must do something now before one more family is broken, before one more woman is raped by police guards, before one more innocent person is killed.

Profile of the Practice
Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, was first introduced to the public in China by its founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, in May of 1992. Literally, Falun means Law Wheel, Gong means practice and Dafa means Great Law. Falun Dafa is an ancient cultivation practice of body and mind. It is deeply rooted in the traditional Chinese culture and consists of two parts: the exercises and the principles.

The five sets of gentle exercises including meditation are elegant, smooth, peaceful, and simple. No breathing techniques or mind-intents are involved. These exercises are effective and beneficial for mental and physical well being. The exercises are designed to fit into people's busy life style. People can practice at any time and any place, either individually or with a group. Due to its effectiveness in improving people's health, raising morals, and its profound principles, Falun Gong spread quickly to over 40 countries and is practiced by more than 100 million people from all walks of life and different cultural backgrounds.

Falun Gong is based on the universal principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. These principles historically are also Taoist, Buddhist and Confucian virtues. Falun Gong practitioners will always conduct themselves according to these principles.

Falun Dafa emphasizes self-improvement and respects one's free will. Falun Dafa is apolitical. There is no political agenda. Falun Dafa is not a religion. There are no rituals or worship. Practitioners lead regular lives. All Falun Dafa activities and teachings are free of charge to the public. All practitioners are equal. There is no hierarchy among practitioners.

Falun Gong is very effective in relieving stress and in the improvement of mental and physical health. It has been reported that chronic and modern diseases gradually disappeared after practicing Falun Gong. The principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance raise the moral standard of individuals, and thus benefit society. Falun Gong also unites all ethnic groups and races because of its profound principles.

Before the crackdown, Falun Dafa was highly recognized received many awards from the Chinese government or organizations due to its great contribution to improve people's health. At the International Health Expo in Beijing in 1993, Falun Gong was given the title of "Star Qigong", the highest honor at the Expo. In the last two years, Falun Dafa and its founder have received over 550 governmental awards and proclamations worldwide. On March 14, 2001, the U.S. Freedom House human rights organization gave Mr. Li Hongzhi and the Falun Dafa Association the International Religious Freedom Award as "defenders of religious rights" in China.

The Brutal Persecution in China
A survey by the Communist Party in early 1999 revealed that the number of Falun Gong practitioners in China had grown to between 70 and 100 million, which outnumbered the Communist party members. Many Communist party members are also practicing Falun Gong. President Jiang Zemin believed the large number of Falun Gong practitioners to be a threat to the Communist rule, as such a practice encouraged independent thinking and was beyond the Communist ideology. Historically, un-elected leaders, such as President Jiang Zemin, with no direct mandate from people, fear all that is outside their control and thus perceive it as a threat to their power.

The crackdown is illegal by international standards, as well as under Chinese laws. More than 220 practitioners have died from torture while in police custody, although officially labeled as "natural causes" or "suicide." Over 500 practitioners were sentenced to prison terms of up to 18 years. More than 1,000 believers were forcibly committed to mental hospitals where they have been tortured and drugged. So far, more than 10,000 believers have been sent to labor "reeducation" camps for up to 3 years without due process. Over 50,000 practitioners were illegally detained and beaten for their practice. As part of the nationwide crackdown on Falun Gong, tens of millions of Falun Gong books, audiotapes, videotapes and other related materials have been confiscated, burned and destroyed. All Falun Dafa web sites were blocked and sabotaged. Police ransacked practitioners' homes, confiscated private possessions and demanded illegal payments. The state-run media, TV, newspapers, and radios were flooded with fabricated stories slandering Falun Gong and its founder.

On July 20, 1999, police started a nationwide arrest of Falun Gong practitioners. In order to legalize their crackdown, the Chinese legislature rushed to enact a new "anti-cult" law on Oct. 30, 1999, to criminalize Falun Gong retroactively. Falun Gong practitioners are not allowed legal representation. Agence France Presse on August 24, 1999, reports that the "Chinese Government has ordered the Chinese lawyers not to represent for Falun Gong practitioners. This order comes from the notices of Bureau of Justice to attorney's offices in major cities. The notice also asks every attorney's office to report immediately detailed information about every Falun Gong related applicant or inquirer and all answers have to match the one from the central government."

Tens of Thousands of Falun Gong practitioners in police custody suffer abuses. Many are deprived of food, sleep, not allowed to relieve themselves, and exposed to extreme hot or cold weather. They are also subjected to forced labor and force-feeding when on hunger strike. The police torture practitioners with electric batons, cigarette lighters, and use handcuffs to hold practitioners in painful positions. Women practitioners suffer the most, as they are also raped and undressed in front of other prisoners. Electric prods were used to beat female practitioners' breasts or inserted into their bodies. Some pregnant women lost their children during forced heavy labor in labor camps. In Masanjia labor camp, 18 female practitioners were stripped, thrown into cells with male inmates, and suffered gang rape.

On April 20, 2000, a headline news report in the Wall Street Journal by Ian Johnson, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, covered the story of Ms. Chen Zixiu's death entitled "Practicing Falun Gong was a Right, Ms. Chen Said, Up To Her Last Day". Ms. Chen was arrested on the street while walking. "The day before Chen Zixiu died, her captors again demanded that she renounce her faith in Falun Dafa. Barely conscious after repeated jolts from a cattle prod, the 58-year-old stubbornly shook her head. Enraged, the local officials ordered Ms. Chen to run barefoot in the snow. Two days of torture had left her legs bruised and her short black hair matted with pus and blood, said cellmates and other prisoners who witnessed the incident. She crawled outside, vomited and collapsed. She never regained consciousness, and died on Feb. 21."

Zhao Xin, a 32 year-old teacher at Beijing University of Industry and Commerce, was arrested while practicing Falun Gong exercises in a park on June 19, 2000. While in police custody, she was tortured and sent to the emergency room in handcuffs. Her 4th, 5th and 6th vertebrae were broken. She stayed in critical condition and suffered tremendously for six months. She passed away on December 11, 2000.

On Feb 19, 2001, The NY Times reported on the front page that, "Psychiatric Abuse is Reportedly Used to Repress Falun Gong" (Erik Eckholm). It states, "In the government's campaign to discredit Falun Gong, the official press here has openly suggested that believers are mentally disturbed and need treatment." Practitioners were force-injected with nerve-destructive drugs, including heroine.

On June 23, 2001, The Washington Post reported the death of Su Gang, a healthy 32 year-old software engineer who was forced into a mental hospital. He suffered nine days of inhuman "treatment" where daily injections damaged his neural system. Su Gang's body was stiff and his eyes were dull. He had no facial expression and could hardly react. He died of heart failure. In the end, the Post wrote: "The job of shedding further light on this seemingly ominous turn in China's treatment of its own people falls to international human rights organizations -- and democratic governments outside China."

The civil disobedience of practicing Falun Gong in China involves millions of people. With such a large group of people, and such large-scale persecution, no single case of practitioners fighting back or retaliating has been reported, even under the most brutal persecution. Falun Gong practitioners continue to remain peaceful, rational and non-violent under all circumstances. It is unprecedented in human history.

Please join the "Two Years Too Long: Free Falun Gong Practitioners in China" campaign in any way that you can. You can help raise funds, provide legal advice, send food and other relief items to those left destitute from this violent crackdown, provide technology support to break the Internet block by the Chinese regime, perform benefit concerts, speak out for Falun Gong and human rights in general, incorporate the name and the message of Falun Gong in your work, sponsor public Falun Gong forum or workshops, plus anything else you can think of.

For more information on Falun Gong, visit http://falundafa.org or call 1-877-FALUN-99 to get information about your local practice sites, free workshops and activities.