(Clearwisdom.net) Editors' Note: In both Western and Chinese culture, the principle of karmic retribution, that is, being held ultimately accountable for one's own actions, is widely accepted. The fundamental teaching of Falun Gong is the characteristic of the universe, "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." The universe will reward actions that are in harmony with this principle, while actions such as beating, torturing and murdering people will incur karmic retribution. Stated another way, good deeds will be rewarded with good, while evildoings will meet due retribution. Articles such as this one are meant as a compassionate reminder of this principle to those who would commit wrongdoing. While many of those who persecute Falun Gong are merely "following orders," the universal law requires that they, too, be held responsible for their actions, and that only by reversing their course of wrongdoing may they escape retribution.

On January 10, 2008, Zhang Lichang, among those officials primarily responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong in Tianjin City, and the former secretary of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee, died at the age of 68. The Xinwen website, run by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), claimed that he died of illness after medical treatment failed.

From 1997 to 2007, Zhang Lichang was the secretary of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee. Closely following Jiang's regime and the CCP, he directed the relevant departments in Tianjin City to persecute innocent Falun Gong practitioners, causing the deaths of many of them. In April 1999, he ordered the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee to arrest and beat several dozen practitioners who went to the Tianjin Education Institute to clarify the truth about Falun Gong. This directly led to the "April 25" Zhongnanhai incident, which Jiang Zemin used as the excuse to start the systematic persecution of Falun Gong. After July 20, 1999, Zhang Lichang announced in the People's Daily that he supported the CCP's torture policy against Falun Gong. During Tianjin Municipal Party Committee conferences and on many other public occasions, he repeatedly ordered "vigorous attacks" on Falun Gong and wrote articles slandering Falun Gong. He supported the "million signatures" campaign and photo exhibit that aimed to defame Falun Gong. He ordered and incited the brainwashing of Falun Gong practitioners and sent practitioners who appealed in Beijing to forced labor camps.

Many of those involved in persecuting Falun Gong in Tianjin have suffered karmic retribution. Besides Zhang Lichang, the former secretary of the Tianjin Politics and Law Committee; the director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau; and the political chamber chairperson, Song Pingshun, have committed suicide. The former chief prosecutor of the Tianjin People's Procuratorate; the deputy secretary of the Tianjin Politics and Law Committee, Li Baojin; as well as the former director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, Wu Changshun, have been under house arrest. Their crimes have been documented on the "International Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong" website.