(Clearwisdom.net) The report entitled "Change of heart or brainwashing? In Chinese jail, a New Yorker renounces Falun Gong," can be said to be very objective, and the author drew no conclusion in his article to the question raised in the title of the report. However, the facts described in the report have given me a ghastly feeling. In my opinion, it is obvious that Ms. Teng is in a state of "change of heart after brainwashing." During the past year and a half that Ms. Teng has been imprisoned, the government has had total control of her surroundings, and what has been instilled in her has been completely one-sided. Just imagine. In a free environment, a TV advertisement can influence the audience a lot within only tens of seconds. Then, in a prison environment filled with violence, it would be no surprise at all that Ms. Teng was overwhelmed by the war of psychological attacks under the name of "political thinking reform," a longstanding forte of the Chinese government.
Ms. Teng is innocent. What she did was no more than collecting information on those Falun Gong practitioners detained and persecuted in mental hospitals. This was a noble deed. The information she offered obviously did not contain state secrets. However, in yesterday's interview, Ms. Teng asserted that her action did bring harm to the "country" and society. Moreover, when the reporter asked her if she was counting the days until the time for her release, it is really blood-chilling that she replied, "I really don't. I cherish every single day here."
In a free society, no matter how great a jail is, it cannot make an innocent prisoner love it so much that she doesn't hope for regaining her freedom and reunion with her husband and parents. The AP's reporter pointed out in the reports that questions for the interview had to be submitted in advance to the prison officials, and the interview was monitored by prison, foreign affairs, and public security officials. Obviously, there was a rehearsal before the interview. As for whether Ms. Teng was speaking insincerely, the reporter called it difficult to judge.
In order to force Falun Gong practitioners to give up their beliefs, Jiang's political gang has set up many brainwashing classes throughout the country and forced Falun Gong practitioners to be flooded with propaganda. Those who are detained in jails and forced labor camps would bear the brunt of this. Under such circumstances, no matter how "sincere" the brainwashed person's speech is, it cannot cover up the fact that they have been brainwashed. In fact, the more sincere the speech is, the more prominently displayed is the depth of the brainwashing.
The AP report also gave a description of Ms. Teng Chunyan's appearance: "As the pseudonymous Hannah Li, Teng wore her hair long and was elegantly dressed and made up. Now her hair was cut to collar length and looked greasy or gelled. She had rouged cheeks, lipstick, thinly plucked eyebrows and looked plumper, even a little puffy, around the face. The New York chic that made Hannah Li stand out in Beijing was gone. "
Gone with the wind were not only the New York chic, but also the basic judgment and spark of independent thought possessed by people living in any civilized society. The interview with Teng Chunyan has told people beyond doubt that she has been deprived of not only her personal freedom, but also her freedom of thought. She is a victim of both physical and spiritual injury.
I hope all of us will make further efforts to strive for Ms. Teng's release as soon as possible. In a free society, Ms. Teng surely can retrieve quickly everything she has lost. Let's hope that we can soon see the elegant New York lady regaining her inspiring intelligence of a free life.
Category: Perspective
