(Minghui.org) “In faith, there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t,” wrote French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal. To me, one such an example is the peaceful appeal by Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing on April 25, 1999.
Within just a few years after being introduced to the public in 1992, Falun Gong improved the bodies and minds of about 100 million people. With its track record of brutality and lies, however, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could not tolerate so many people deviating from the Party line. When dozens of innocent practitioners were arrested in Tianjin, other practitioners went to Beijing and peacefully appealed at the State Council’s Central Appealing Office on April 25, 1999.
These practitioners were familiar with the CCP’s violence. Many of them had been victims of or witnessed its political campaigns such as the Anti-Rightist Campaign and the Cultural Revolution. The Tiananmen Square Massacre 10 years before was still fresh in the minds of many. But these practitioners did not waver. They believed in the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. They knew that justice will prevail.
But the totalitarian CCP regime did not stop there. Three months later, it launched a systematic suppression targeting Falun Gong nationwide. Many practitioners were arrested, detained, and tortured for their belief. Similar to previous political campaigns, the CCP fabricated countless lies to slander Falun Gong. It labeled patients with mental disorders “Falun Gong practitioners” to defame the practice.
Because the CCP controlled the news media, practitioners were forced to appeal again and tell the facts, remarked Ms. Zhao Yumin, who now lives in Australia. Like many other practitioners, she knew the persecution was wrong and she felt obliged to tell people the truth about Falun Gong. That is why she went to Tiananmen Square to appeal for Falun Gong six times after the persecution started: on October 28 in 1999 and five times in 2000 (February 4, June 25, July 19, October 1, and October 6).
It requires courage to stand up for one’s conscience. “Every time I went to Tiananmen Square, I felt like I was letting go of my attachment to living and my fear of death,” Ms. Zhao said.
She was not alone. According to incomplete statistics compiled by Minghui, from 100,000 to 150,000 practitioners went to Tiananmen Square between 2000 and 2001 to speak from their hearts. The actual number could be higher.
Practitioners appeared singly and in groups, one after another, holding banners or signs or voicing their concerns as the police quickly arrested them and took them away, reported CNN back then. But soon, in another corner of the Square, another person or group stood up.
“For 18 months the spiritual movement has weathered an all-out assault, and despite the violent suppression of peaceful protests, it still gathers hundreds of followers in Beijing's Tiananmen Square to mark key dates,” reported AFP in an article titled “China Spooked by Failure to Crush Falungong [sic]” on January 22, 2001.
It was estimated that around 10,000 practitioners had been sent to forced labor camps by then, with 50,000 detained at any one time, according to the report. But practitioners did not give in and even the CCP leadership was divided on this topic.
This was when the CCP rolled out another major hoax to defame Falun Gong, one day after the AFP report: the staged Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident. Although outrageous, such a plot was not totally unprecedented. Nearly 2,000 years ago, the emperor Nero burned buildings in 64 AD and blamed Christians for the arson as an excuse for persecuting them.
With its tight control over the news media and other communication channels, the CCP went much further. Two hours after the “incident” occurred on January 23, 2001, Xinhua News Agency reported it globally, in both Chinese and English, claiming that five Falun Gong practitioners had set themselves on fire on Tiananmen Square. This hoax and follow-up lies were then disseminated through news media, textbooks, literature, and entertainment programs over and over again, misleading people and stirring up hatred of Falun Gong.
Detailed examination of the CCTV reports on this “incident” revealed numerous inconsistencies. First of all, the young “victim” Liu Siying was able to speak and sing during an interview four days after her tracheotomy, which is, medically speaking, not possible. Second, a journalist visited the hometown of another alleged “victim,” Liu Chunling, but no one knew that she’d ever practiced Falun Gong, reported the Washington Post in a February 2001 article titled “Human Fire Ignites Chinese Mystery.”
Third, even though another participant, Wang Jindong, was burned all over, the plastic Sprite bottle containing gasoline in front of him remained intact. Also, the footage showed long and mid-range shots from stabilized cameras, which would not have been possible unless a television crew was already in place. Due to the CCP’s tight censorship, it often takes days to report news events. But Xinhua was able to release reports on this “emergency” in both English and Chinese within two hours. This was unprecedented and highly suspicious.
In fact, the Falun Gong teachings explicitly forbid killing and suicide. This was, pure and simple, hate propaganda fabricated by the CCP to defame Falun Gong. Unfortunately, many people were misled by it and turned against innocent practitioners.
When he initiated the persecution of Falun Gong back in July 1999, former CCP leader Jiang Zemin announced that the practice would be wiped out in three months. After making no headway over the next 18 months, he and his followers made up more lies, such as the hoax mentioned above, to fuel the general public's hatred of the practice and escalate the suppression. Although 26 years have now passed, Falun Gong practitioners still remain determined in their belief. Why?
This is because Falun Gong is not a political movement. Practitioners only want to be healthy individuals with high moral values. They are the hope of our world. That is why the totalitarian CCP was, and will be, unable to succeed.
Since 1999, Falun Gong’s teachings have been translated into over 50 languages and have attracted practitioners from more than 100 countries. Like the practitioners in China, they cherish the universal values of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and have benefited from the practice.
The continued persecution, along with its handling of the pandemic, has allowed people to clearly see just how vicious the CCP is. The regime’s ruthlessness has motivated nearly 450 million Chinese to separate themselves from the CCP organizations, including the Party itself, the Youth League, and the Young Pioneers.
To me, the peaceful appeal in 1999 was a wake-up call. Those who have renounced the CCP have chosen a bright future for themselves. No matter how strong the forces of evil may appear and how many accomplices have joined their ranks, the principles of the universe will ultimately hold each person accountable for his own actions.