(Minghui.org) While many people believe in karmic retribution, some may question whether it’s real, since such a law is operating beyond the human realm.
Things can be foggier when the consequence comes at a much later time or in a way not directly related to the original action.
However, to many people, after opening their hearts and minds, they can see the link between a later consequence and someone’s earlier action.
Here we will share the stories and endings of three top Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials who orchestrated the arrest of Falun Gong practitioners in Tianjin in April 1999, which triggered the persecution of Falun Gong three months later.
The Tianjin Incident
Falun Gong, a spiritual and body exercise, was widely spreading in China in the late 1990s. It guides students to higher morality by following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
The communist regime used to have a positive attitude towards Falun Gong during its early stages of public introduction. But the regime gradually changed its position, after Falun Gong gained more popularity, especially among Party members and military officers.
He Zuoxiu, a CCP loyal “scientist,” started to attack Falun Gong in 1999. He is a nuclear physicist, member of the Chinese Academy of Science, as well as a Marxism theorist.
He once wrote an article titled, “I Am Not in Favor of Young People Practicing Falun Gong,” which was published in the Youth Magazine on April 11, 1999. The article contained untruthful statements defaming Falun Gong.
Practitioners from Tianjin wrote letters, explaining the facts about Falun Gong to the Chief Editor of Tianjin Education Institute, which owns the magazine. Many went to the institute on April 22, 1999, intending to further clarify the misunderstandings.
Song Pingshun, Party Secretary of the Tianjin Political and Legal Affairs Committee and director of the Tianjin Public Security Bureau, went to the Tianjin Education Institute to inspect the situation.
After Song left, local police, ordered by Song and Wu Changshun, the deputy director of Tianjin Public Security Bureau, charged into the campus, waving their batons to drive the practitioners out of the institute. Forty-five practitioners were arrested on charges of “disrupting public order.”
Practitioners went to the Tianjin government to report the arrests. Government officials under Zhang Lichang, the Tianjin Municipal Party Secretary, said that they couldn’t do anything and asked the practitioners to go to Beijing to appeal to the central government.
As a result, tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners from around the country went to Beijing on April 25, 1999. The then Premier received three practitioner representatives, promising to give the practitioners a free environment to practice their faith and instructing the Tianjin authorities to release the arrested practitioners.
However, this gave Jiang Zemin, then CCP top leader, an excuse to persecute Falun Gong. He claimed that the practitioners besieged the central government compound during their appeal and were trying to overthrow the government. Jiang launched a nationwide campaign to eradicate Falun Gong on July 20, 1999.
The Ending of the Three Officials
Song Pingshun, Wu Changshun, and Zhang Lichang, the three key officials involved in the Tianjin incident, also actively took part in the subsequent persecution. Just like many other officials actively involved in the persecution who have been taken down from their positions or met with various mishaps, the three officials in Tianjin all had similar tragic endings, although their role in the persecution of Falun Gong never appeared on their convictions, which remains the biggest taboo under the communist regime.
Song Pingshun Committed Suicide
Song Pingshun ruled the Tianjin police and legal system for near 20 years. He was the key person who orchestrated the Tianjin incident. After the persecution started months later, he also directed the local police to arrest and torture Falun Gong practitioners in the following years. He also attended local conferences and activities to smear Falun Gong.
Song was found dead in his office in Tianjin Municipal Party Committee Building on June 3, 2007. The CCP official statement said Song “committed suicide for fear of his crimes;” and listed his crimes as moral corruption, keeping a mistress, abuse of power, and seeking huge improper financial gains for his mistress.
Zhang Lichang Died of Illness Shortly After Retirement
During the Tianjin incident in 1999, the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee, chaired by Zhang Lichang, insisted that they wouldn’t apologize to Falun Gong practitioners regarding the smearing article about their faith. Instead, Zhang took the “decisive measure” to arrest dozens of Falun Gong practitioners, which led to the subsequent practitioners’ petition in Beijing.
After over two decades in office in the Tianjin government, Zhang earned himself a bad reputation among locals and was called “Liar Zhang.”
After Song Pingshun’s death in 2007, Zhang retired from office. He died of illness shortly after, on January 10, 2008. When the news came out, people lit fireworks on the streets to celebrate.
Wu Changshun Imprisoned
Wu Changshun was the main police executor during the Tianjin Incident. He led the persecution of Falun Gong for many years.
After Song Pingshun’s death, a rumor of Wu being arrested was widely spread in Tianjin. But he managed to survive and even took over Song’s position, since Jiang Zemin’s loyalists continued to support him.
Wu’s retribution came after seven more years. He was put under investigation on July 20, 2014 – on the anniversary day of the onset of persecution. His crimes included moral corruption, having affairs, corruption, bribery, misappropriation of public funds, and abuse of power.
Wu received the death sentence for embezzlement, with two years suspension, on May 27, 2017. After serving two years in prison, he was given life imprisonment without commutation or parole.
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Category: News Commentary
