Deng Xiaoping left behind the "June 4th Incident," and Jiang Zemin will leave behind the suppression of Falun Gong, they say. These matters not only remain unresolved, they are matters which China will have to face eventually.

Ever since China branded the Falun Gong last year, protests at Tiananman Square have persisted. The numbers of Falun Gong members and sympathizers grow at an astonishingly rapid rate. China's mishandling of the matter has escalated its seriousness. Falun Gong is becoming a major force both within and outside China.

Why brand as an enemy something that is essentially a type of health exercise? Many are now asking, "Isn't communism also an evil religious sect?" The suppression of Falun Gong is intensifying, becoming an enormous social phenomenon. Even supposing there has been illegal conduct on the part of Falun Gong members, they should have been dealt with as isolated incidents. Branding Falun Gong a "religious [xx]" and banning it entirely is definitely unwarranted.

I think Taiwan's experience in foreclosing sorrow over a painful part of its history is certainly a worthy lesson for China. If China truly intends to seek social peace and harmony, it must abandon its outdated obsession with militaristic rule. At the very least it must rule with compassion, if not democracy. Otherwise, the resentment will one day erupt.

......

(Jin Zhong is editor in chief of the Hong Kong-based Open Magazine.)