(Minghui.org) In China over the last 3 years, a large scale anti-corruption campaign, commonly known as “beating the tigers,” has weeded out hundreds of high-ranking communist party and government officials.
According to government data, from December 2012 to November 2015, nearly 800 high ranking “tigers” have been indicted for corruption, including 133 at the provincial and ministerial levels and 656 at lower levels.
What has rarely been mentioned in the mainstream media, either inside or outside of China, is that almost all of these fallen “tigers” have been, to varying degrees, involved in the 16-year persecution of Falun Gong.
The fall of these tigers, who are all followers of former president Jiang Zemin and his persecution policies, is the prelude to bringing the “ultimate tiger” – Jiang himself – to justice.
Of Persecution and Corruption
Nearly 4,000 Falun Gong practitioners have been confirmed tortured to death since the persecution began in July 1999 – though due to the difficulty of getting information out of China, the actual number is likely much higher. More than 10,000 practitioners have been sentenced to prison, and more than 100,000 sent to forced labor camps. Several hundred thousand practitioners have been tortured in China's notorious brainwashing centers. The Party has used over 100 methods of torture to try to force practitioners to renounce Falun Gong. The most egregious crime of this astonishingly brutal persecution is the harvesting of organs from living practitioners for profit, an atrocity that has been called “a new form of evil yet to be seen on this planet.”
The persecution policies have been systematically carried out by each level of government. To maintain the momentum of the persecution, Jiang Zemin, who personally launched this suppression, and his followers encouraged an environment of corruption as a way to entice officials to comply.
Many officials saw opportunities for promotion and financial reward by following the persecution policies. By persecuting Falun Gong, they increased their political power and had more opportunities to acquire illicit gains. Securing a promotion by arresting and torturing Falun Gong practitioners became an accepted career path.
Now these officials are being prosecuted for financial corruption.
There is a common understanding at the grassroots level in China: officials who persecute Falun Gong are all corrupt, and their fall today is punishment for their participation in the persecution.
In the wake of these “fallen tigers,” the fall of Jiang seems just a matter of time. Since May of last year, 203,000 Falun Gong practitioners have filed criminal complaints with the Chinese Supreme Court and Supreme Procuratorate against Jiang for his role in the persecution. The lawsuits have received massive support from all walks of life in China.
Who Are the Fallen Tigers?
This report briefly reviews some 106 officials at the provincial and ministerial levels or above, who have fallen from power. Each one was actively engaged in the persecution of Falun Gong.
National Level Officials
1. Zhou Yongkang
Zhou Yongkang, former head of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, is a typical example of the opportunists who jumped on the persecution bandwagon. Because of his active participation in the persecution of Falun Gong, he was rapidly promoted all the way to the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Party's Central Committee, the heart of power in China. As head of the national Political and Legal Affairs Committee, Zhou also took the role as head of the national 610 Office, a gestapo-like organization and driving force in the persecution, especially the forced organ harvesting.
Zhou was prosecuted in July 2014 for bribery, abuse of power, and leaking state secrets, and sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2014. His followers in places where he was in power for long stretches of time, namely, the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, the petroleum industry, and Sichuan Province, were also brought down.
2. Guo Boxiong
Guo Boxiong – the biggest “tiger” in the military – was an admiral, a member of the Political Bureau of the Party's Central Committee, and the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. Guo was Jiang's major follower in the military and a driving force in the persecution within the military.
He was arrested in April 2015, and his case was transferred to the military procuratorate in July.
3. Xu Caihou
Similar to Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou was an admiral, a member of the Political Bureau of the Party's Central Committee, and the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. Together with Guo, Xu promoted the persecution and the forced organ harvesting within the military organizations.
Xu was investigated in March 2014. In June of that year, he was prosecuted by the military procuratorate. At the end of 2014, the major Chinese military newspaper called him the “most evil man in the nation.” (On March 15, 2015, Xu died of cancer.)
4. Bo Xilai
Bo Xilai was a major player in the development and implementation of the forced organ harvesting scheme. He was a member of the Political Bureau of the Party's Central Committee and the secretary of the municipal Party committee in Chongqing, a municipality directly under the Central Government.
When Bo was in charge in Liaoning Province, he actively directed the persecution of Falun Gong and was the prime mover in the forced organ harvesting. In Dalian City, Liaoning Province, he established a "corpse factory," where bodies were “plastinated” for the popular international “bodies” exhibitions. Most of the corpses are believed to be murdered Falun Gong practitioners.
Bo was investigated on charges of corruption in March 2012, and in October of the same year, he was prosecuted. In September 2013, Bo was sentenced to life imprisonment.
5. Ling Jihua
Ling Jihua was the vice chairman of the Political Consultative Conference and the head of the United Front Work Department of the Party's Central Committee. In the latter role, Ling extended the persecution policy outside of China. He controlled agencies that attacked Falun Gong in America, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Ling was investigated at the end of 2014 and was arrested for bribery in July 2015.
6. Chen Liangyu
Chen Liangyu was a member of the Political Bureau of the Party's Central Committee and was secretary of the Party Committee in Shanghai. As a member of Jiang's inner circle, Chen actively directed the persecution of Falun Gong in Shanghai.
Chen was prosecuted for bribery and abuse of power in September 2006. In April 2008, he was sentenced to 18 years.
7. Su Rong
Su Rong, vice chairman of the Political Consultative Conference, actively carried out the persecution when he was the head of Jilin and Gansu Provinces. He was the head of the provincial 610 Office and personally directed the brainwashing centers in Jilin. In November 2004, he was sued by Falun Gong practitioners when he visited Zambia.
In June 2014, Su Rong was investigated, and in February 2014 he was prosecuted for bribery.
To be continued.
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Category: Evil Meets with Evil
