(Minghui.org) In early January of this year, many readers in China reported that they experienced repeated difficulties accessing websites related to Falun Gong (Minghui, for example). Anti-censorship software (like Dynaweb) was ineffective in bypassing the Chinese Communist Party's Internet blockade.
One reader wrote, “I could not access Freegate (another popular piece of anti-censorship software) for several days.”
Another one claimed that Freegate was recently blocked, and UltraReach (yet another way to circumvent China's Internet blockade) was also severely affected.
The problem was soon resolved thanks to the technical experts who created and maintain these bypass programs. Our readers are now again able to access Minghui and other websites outside China.
Through this, we realized how vital these bypass tools are because many Chinese readers (in addition to Falun Gong practitioners) depend on them to connect with the outside world.
But this also raises a question: Why does the Chinese Communist Party try so hard to block websites related to Falun Gong?
Ms. Xu Chunxia, a practitioner from Fushun City in Liaoning Province, was arrested in December 2013 for distributing Falun Gong-related materials. She was sentenced to four years of imprisonment and sent to the Liaoning Province Women's Prison on November 26, 2014.
Because of her frail health, she was sent to the No. 739 Hospital in Shenyang City the next day, where she was diagnosed with a severe intestinal blockage.
After information of her illegal arrest was published on Minghui, Chinese officials immediately threatened Ms. Xu's family and demanded to know how the information was “leaked” to Minghui – if the family did not cooperate, the officials said, they would be joining Ms. Xu in prison.
Ms. Xu died on December 2, 2014, due to her physical condition after one year of illegal detention.
But Ms. Xu's situation is not unique. Minghui reports that a number of practitioners were sent to this hospital to perish after severe torture in prison.
Officials seemed to know they were violating the laws when mistreating practitioners – otherwise, why keep everything from being known?
And since the persecution is driven by the massive machinery of the Chinese Communist Party, the suppression of Falun Gong can get dangerously cruel.
A practitioner from Weifang City, Shandong Province went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong in November 1999. She was arrested and returned to Weifang. Local Party secretary Zhao Jie ordered thugs to force-feed her and other practitioners with human waste. She was then stripped naked, tied up to a tree, and left outdoors at night in the freezing winter.
One police officer who heard how she had been tortured told her, “We know you are all good people, but we can't do anything about it. We have to follow the orders from our superiors.”
Such information would not be available without Minghui or the tools that overcome the Great Firewall of China (as the Internet blockade is known) because the Party is afraid of the truth being spread overseas. By blocking such websites, they are hoping to evade punishment for their actions.
As more and more officials have been taken down in recent years for persecuting Falun Gong, the domino effect will continue – eventually, everyone will have to pay for what they have done.
As an old saying goes, “You reap what you sow.”