(Minghui.org) On the 25th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong that began in July 1999, practitioners from 44 countries submitted a new list of perpetrators to their respective governments, asking them to bar the perpetrators and their family members from entry and freeze their overseas assets according to the law.
Among the perpetrators listed was Cheng Ningning, deputy secretary-general of the China Anti-Cult Association.
Perpetrator Information
Full Name of Perpetrator: Cheng (last name) Ningning (first name)Chinese Name: 程宁宁Gender: FemaleDate/year of Birth: UnknownPlace of Birth: Unknown
Title or Position
Cheng Ningning has served as deputy director of the International Department of the China Association for Science and Technology and executive director and secretary-general of the China Women Scientists and Technologists Association (renamed as the China Women Scientists and Technologists Association in 2007). In 2003, Cheng started to work for the China Anti-Cult Association, an institution also known as China Care Association specializing in persecuting Falun Gong, and does so to this day.
The China Anti-Cult Association was established on November 13, 2000. Although it is registered as a non-governmental organization, it receives regular government funding. The main activities of the organization is to mobilize the resources of the scientific and technological community to suppress Falun Gong. It has divisions at all levels in different provinces, cities, and autonomous regions, with a top-down network covering all of China.
Since its establishment, the organization has organized exhibitions, lectures, and seminars as well as overseen the publication of reports and periodicals and the production of films and television programs, all to spread propaganda discrediting Falun Gong, both inside China and to the world at large. It also provides strategic support to other organizations directly involved in “transforming” and torturing practitioners.
Main Crimes
1) Organizing, Participating, and Directing Propaganda Campaigns to Discredit Falun Gong
At the end of 2000, the China Anti-Cult Association initiated the “One Million Signatures” petition drive targeting Falun Gong. It distributed 100 rolls of 100-meter-long scrolls to local governments and mobilized the public to sign it. The organizers claimed that they had collected more than 1.5 million signatures as of February 26, 2001.
In March 2001, Cheng and several other members of the China Anti-Cult Association attended the United Nations Human Rights Conference in Geneva and displayed the signature rolls that weighed over two thousand pounds.
From November 26 to December 5, 2003, the China Association for Science and Technology and the Central 610 Office held a 10-day photo exhibition in Beijing to defame Falun Gong. Cheng was one of the main organizers.
On May 12, 2011, accompanied by Ren Bingwen, secretary-general of the Zhejiang Anti-Cult Association, Cheng visited Zhejiang University of Commerce and Industry and spoke highly of the school’s “anti-cult” work.
2) Exporting the Persecution Overseas
In 2001, Cheng worked with the CCP’s embassies and consulates abroad to exhibit slanderous pictures of Falun Gong in Canada, Singapore, South Korea, the Netherlands, and France.
In March 2002, Cheng worked with Li Anping, the deputy secretary-general of the China Anti-Cult Association, to submit over 10,000 letters claimed to have been written by the general public to the UN Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.
These letters attempted to legitimize the CCP’s suppression of Falun Gong and demanded that the United Nations Human Rights Commission respect and support the CCP’s suppression policy. They also held press conferences and issued reports to publicly attack Falun Gong.
It was later reported that the letters submitted to United Nations were fabricated. In one case, the Beijing Anti-Cult Association gave orders to the Chongwen District Science and Technology Association to organize people who had given up practicing Falun Gong or those who were working to “transform” practitioners to write the letters.
From July 1 to 3, 2010, Cheng went to Fort Lee, New Jersey in the U.S. with Wang Wenzhong, an associate researcher at the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Chen Qingping, a professor at the Department of Psychology of Shaanxi Normal University. The three attended the annual international conference held by the International Association for the Study of Sects (ICSA), formerly known as the American Family Foundation (AFF).
In their presentations, Cheng and others described how they used the four areas of society, political power, grassroots organizations, and family influence to carry out high-pressure brainwashing tactics on Falun Gong practitioners. They also displayed their research results, following the steps of “care, ‘transformation,’ and education,” in brainwashing the practitioners. She gave examples and photos taken in the “Care Center” in the Xiaguan District of Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, which is a brainwashing center in disguise.
In an article published by the Care Center’s internal magazine in 2010, it detailed Cheng’s visit to the conference and how the Care Center’s staffers helped her prepare the materials. In fact, Cheng had applied to attend the conference for years but her applications were always rejected. She had to change her affiliations and the title of her paper before the conference organizers would accept her.
3) Participating in the Brainwashing Sessions
Cheng has personally visited the “Care Center” in the Xiaguan District many times to give directions. She commented that the Care Center is “an innovation and it’s making important contributions by exploring new [brainwashing] methods.” She also praised the work of Cheng Dongxiao, the director of the “Care Center” and also director of the Xiaguan District 610 Office.
On June 10, 2014, the China Anti-Cult Association’s Jiangsu division hosted a seminar titled “Strengthening Social Governance and Guiding a Return to Society” at the Shuangmenlou Hotel in Nanjing. The conference used the “Care Center” as a model, introducing the techniques it used over the previous five years to brainwash practitioners. The association recommended promoting its experience to other brainwashing centers throughout the country. Cheng attended the meeting and gave a speech. She praised the work by the “Care Center.”
The “Care Center,” which used to be the Xiaguan District Brainwashing Center, was established in early 2003. It was expanded and renamed the “Care Center” in May 2009. In March 2013, after the Xiaguan and Gulou districts merged, the “Care Center’s” new doorplate read “Gulou District Care Association,” headed by Cheng Dongxiao.
In 2013 and 2014, at least 35 Falun Gong practitioners in Nanjing were held in the brainwashing center. The staffers use a variety of coercive and intimidating techniques, often including corporal punishment, in attempts to force the practitioners to renounce their belief.
Ms. Zhang Benfang, a former nurse with the Nanjing City Cancer Hospital, was repeatedly arrested and held in the brainwashing center. She was deprived of sleep, forced to stand for long hours, not allowed to use the restroom, and savagely beaten. Despite her declining health, the police continued to harass her after she was released. She eventually passed away in January 2013, at the age of 55.
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