On January 8, the People's Daily published an article criticizing Falun Gong, launching another round of attack on this banned practice.
I came back from China one and a half months ago when many foreign media were paying close attention to Falun Gong's disclosure of the truth. Yet the media in China did not mention anything about Falun Gong, and some uninformed Chinese citizens were even under the impression that Falun Gong had been eliminated. The Chinese government has been arresting and beating Falun Gong practitioners every day. At the same time, it has strictly censored all media channels in an attempt to mislead the public into thinking that everything is under control and China is "in the best period of human rights in history."
However, the article in People's Daily makes it obvious that the Chinese government is still facing enormous resistance from Falun Gong practitioners and can not sustain the crackdown much longer.
The article called on people to "expose the malicious political ambition of Li Hongzhi and his Falun Gong." Apart from replaying the familiar tune used to attack "The Gang of Four Rebels" during the "Great Cultural Revolution", I failed to see the intent of this "important" article until I reached the last paragraph. Below is an excerpt of the last paragraph:
"The battle between us and Li Hongzhi and his Falun Gong is an extremely serious and fierce political battle. We are not fussing over nothing. All the [ ] Party members, especially the cadre members at various levels, should realize the importance, the ramifications, the long-term nature, and the difficulties of this war; and should try to overcome the inclination for battle-weariness and mental fatigue. We must hang on till the end as the outcome of this battle is critical to the future of our country, socialist modernization, and economic reform."
The article revealed to me that, "the majority of Party members, especially those cadre members at various levels" viewed Jiang Zemin's suppression of Falun Gong as causing a storm in a teacup. They have the "inclination for battle-weariness". More and more people have come to realize Jiang Zemin's mistake and refused to take him seriously. All seemed to have been fed up with Jiang's obsession with Falun Gong and were passively resisting the order. Some even went against it.
People's Daily is and has always been the voice of the Chinese government and its critics are like its advocates. In July 1999 when Jiang's government openly began its campaign against Falun Gong, they were arrogant, confident that they could destroy Falun Gong in no time. The entire country was showered with heaps of rumors, slander, and criticism of Falun Gong by the abetting media; the campaign reached frenzy reminiscent of the era of the horrifying "Great Cultural Revolution". However, Falun Gong was not crushed. There was not a single day when Falun Gong practitioners stopped peacefully appealing for justice. Therefore, at the start of 2000, the Chinese government's propaganda machine launched another round of vicious attacks on Falun Gong. The media had to rephrase their sentiments regarding this "war", changing from "We have won great victory" to "We must realize the difficulty of winning this campaign". One year later, Falun Gong practitioners are still telling the truth to the public undaunted, and Jiang Zemin's crimes have been further exposed to the world. In a last ditch effort to resuscitate the failing campaign, Jiang Zemin ordered the People's Daily to once again raise the flag for the "political battle", repeat the style of the "Great Cultural Revolution", and " be persistent". It's obvious that Jiang Zemin has reached the end of his wits.
This article contrasts sharply with what I have observed in China. Although the government controls the media and blocks all the news, many people are still able to find out the truth about Falun Gong via the Internet. Moreover, Falun Gong practitioners came from different walks of life and they all have relatives, family, and friends. Everyone knows that Falun Gong practitioners are being unjustly treated, but are hesitant to give them a hand fearing the power and influence of the Chinese government. However, if the crackdown continues, crisis will emerge sooner or later since the suppression does not resonate with the people's hearts.
At the beginning of the New Year, the People's Daily appeared to be telling the public: the persecution of Falun Gong is unsustainable.
January 10, 2001
Category: Perspective
