On April 25, over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners showed up in neat order at Zhong-Nan-Hai, the Chinese Government leadership compound in Beijing. In a very peaceful manner, they pleaded with the government to provide a free and legitimate cultivation environment. Since it happened at Zhong-Nan-Hai, people refer to it as the Zhong-Nan-Hai incident. This incident became an instant focus for the whole world because it happened at the most sensitive place in China, and because of the unusually calm and peaceful manner the Falun Gong practitioners maintained throughout this incident. As Falun Gong practitioners, we feel it is important to present the truth of the entire incident, so that people will not be misled by the biased propaganda campaign launched by the Chinese government.
I. Sequence of Events
Based on gathered information, we are grouping all events as follows:
- April 25 is the beginning of the events
- April 25 to July 20 is the period of fabricating evidence
- the time after July 20 is the period of nationwide persecution
1. April 25 - Beginning of the Event
The Falun Gong practitioners showed up at Zhong-Nan-Hai because the PSB in Tianjin had recently and unlawfully detained 45 practitioners. Since Falun Gong has indeed helped people to improve their physical and mental health, the number of its practitioners has increased rapidly in Mainland China, approaching tens of millions in number. This has caused the Chinese government to consider it a potential political threat. Some government officials took advantage of this situation to gain political credit by creating problems. Thus, news agencies controlled by the government have been constantly publishing untrue stories and articles that attack Falun Gong.
The Zhong-Nan-Hai incident was triggered by the Tianjin incident, where He Zuoxiu from the Chinese Science Academy published an article titled I do not agree with adolescents practicing Qigong, in Science Magazine (published by Tianjin Education College). In the article, He fabricated stories about Falun Gong leading to mental illness, and implied that Falun Gong could become an organization similar to the Boxers, who led a rebellion in the 19th century that destroyed the nation. His false accusations hurt the feelings of many Falun Gong practitioners. With no alternatives, some practitioners used the government-approved approach of appealing to related organizations to correct the false accusations. They went to Tianjin Education College and other related offices, on April 18 to report the true situation of Falun Gong. We will explain later in this article why there was no other way to report such false accusations.
It was totally unexpected when the Tianjin PSB (PSB) showed up. They refused to communicate with practitioners appropriately. Instead, they sent people to beat some of the practitioners. On April 23, they started to disperse and detain people, which eventually blocked the only channel Falun Gong practitioners had for reporting the truth to the government. Practitioners turned to Beijing on April 25 to plead to a higher authority. They asked for the release of innocent people, for a legitimate and free exercising environment, and to ease the pressure that had been put on Falun Gong practitioners for a long time.
Initially, practitioners gathered around Zhong-Nan-Hai. Later, several policemen told them that one place was not safe, or that another place was out of bounds. Following these rules, the practitioners divided into two groups that circled Zhong-Nan-Hai. Later, He Zuoxiu showed up during the day trying to disturb the practitioners; but no one responded to him.
According to a witness, on the evening of April 24, some practitioners working in the public security department had already submitted their name cards to Zhong-Nan-Hai, asking for a chance to report the situation. There was no response. At 9 p.m., practitioners started to gather on Fuyou Street near Zhong-Nan-Hai, some with luggage, some with meditation pads. Most of them were from cities outside of Beijing.
At 6 am on April 25, a witness went to the north entrance of Fuyou Street, and discovered that policemen were blocking the way to Zhong-Nan-Hai. None of the practitioners attempted to force their way through. But they witnessed an astonishing scene. Police first led the practitioners from the east side of the street to the west side, and then directed them to march south towards Zhong-Nan-Hai. Meanwhile, another group came from the opposite direction, and both groups met right outside the main entrance of Zhong-Nan-Hai. According to the media, there were over 10,000 practitioners gathered outside Zhong-Nan-Hai.
Soon there were practitioners approaching from all directions. They filled all the sidewalks outside of Zhong-Nan-Hai. But the traffic was not blocked at all, even the route for the handicapped people remained clear. There were 70- and 80-year-old elderly people, pregnant women who were close to delivering, and mothers holding their newborn babies. Many of them hardly ate any food or drank any water to reduce the time needed to use the toilet. No one knew where others came from. They "came from nowhere, disappear to nowhere" (see eyewitness report at www.minghui.ca).
Practitioners did not wander on the streets, did not have any slogans, and did not start any fights. In China, pleading to the government does not require a permit from the PSB. Every practitioner only represented himself. They came to report the mistreatment that they and their friends had been experiencing. They did not violate any laws or regulations. Since practitioners thought that they had achieved the goal of expressing their concerns and seeking understanding and support from the g Mr. Li repeatedly explained to the government that Falun Gong would not interfere with politics now or in the future, they still believe that that if it were allowed to continue, it would form a strong force against the government.
The preceding information has also been mentioned by official media and by government officials. For example, an editorial in the Peoples Daily stated that the government believes Falun Gong is fighting with them for people, and Falun Gong has penetrated into the Party and political institutions including key departments, attempting to develop a force against the Chinese government. Wang Zhao Guo, Minister of the Chinese United Front Line, and Hu Jintao, Vice President of China, believe that the creation and penetration of Falun Gong is a political struggle with the Communist Party fighting for people.
The central authority might have realized that in the event of a crisis, they would have no effective way to deal with it. All kinds of serious economic problems that have surfaced in China are not only unresolved, but also aggravated. This shows that the Party has lost the capability of dealing with critical issues. Therefore, the Party does not feel secure with any social group that could possibly have a large-scale social influence. They cannot even tolerate its existence.
IV. Summary
The Zhong-Nan-Hai incident originated from a legal appeal to a government agency. Why was there such a tragic result? It was not expected by those benevolent Falun Gong practitioners, including those who went to the appealing offices. If we hadn't read through so much information and tried to find clues, we wouldn't be able to identify the causes of such an incident. The Zhong-Nan-Hai incident was not planned by Mr. Li Hongzhi or by any other genuine Falun Dafa practitioner. Since the central authority has worried about the large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners, and they have refused to believe that Falun Gong wont cause any political problems, they obviously sought a way to eliminate Falun Gong. It was an opportunity for the central authority to suppress and prosecute Falun Gong. The Zhong-Nan-Hai incident created the perfect place for the execution of their plans.
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Category: Perspectives
