Falun Gong practitioner Chen Gang from New Jersey recounts his painful
experience in the Tuanhe Labor Camp in Beijing from June 2000 to
December 2001, where he was subjected to forced brainwashing. He also
exposed the Party's means of brainwashing.
(Clearwisdom.net) The American Family Foundation (AFF) held an international forum titled "Understanding Cults and New Religious Movements" in Enfield, Connecticut on October 18. In the afternoon, a special-topic discussion was held regarding Falun Gong. Attendees included scholars in religious study, human rights activists, lawyers, doctors, victims of cults and their families from around the world. During this conference, "Fang Zhouzi," an overseas website sponsor wrote an article to slander Falun Gong in the name of AFF and was exposed.
AFF is a non-profit organization that studies evil cults and psychological manipulation. In June 2003, AFF held a conference in Orange County, California, and Falun Gong practitioners were invited for the first time to speak at the meeting. After Falun Gong practitioners clarified the truth about the persecution against Falun Gong in China to AFF associates and other attendees, Herbert Rosedale, the president of AFF wrote a letter to Falun Gong practitioners in which he solemnly pointed out, "AFF has never considered Falun Gong as an evil cult."
Mr. Rosedale also said to the practitioners, "You have our authorization to represent AFF and expose any lies that claim AFF lists Falun Gong as an evil cult."
In mid October 2003, after the AFF meeting, some Chinese media in the US reported in detail the Xinhua News Agency conspiring with Qiao Bao to make up slanderous news reports and publicizing them in Mainland China:
First, Qiao Bao, which is controlled by the Party, published a false report written by Fang Zhouzi. On July 28, 2001, an article titled "Fang Shimin (Fang Zhouzi) and Deng Zixian help US mainstream society to recognize Falun Gong's true nature; AFF lists Falun Gong as an evil cult." This was published in Qiao Bao.
Then, Xinhua News Agency published the report inside Mainland China. The same article was reprinted on many Chinese websites, which created the impression of "The whole world opposes Falun Gong."
Numerous copies of this article were made by the "610 Office*" in China and they were used to forcibly "reform" incarcerated Falun Gong practitioners.
Falun Gong practitioner Chen Gang, who is currently living in New Jersey, said he saw documents claiming AFF listing Falun Gong as an evil cult while he was detained in Tuanhe Labor Camp in China. Regarding this, the president of AFF said, "AFF has never considered Falun Gong as an evil cult."
It was learned that the victimized organization (AFF) is planning to report the incident to the FBI and call for attention to the falsifying of news in overseas media controlled by the Chinese government. The Chinese government then spreads the reports in Mainland China to incite the Chinese people's hatred toward certain organizations and the Western world. Chinese people are forced to read this kind of slanderous news because of the information blockade, and they are forced to live in a world that is built on lies.
Xie Tian, assistant professor of Marketing from Drexel University presented his opinion
On the afternoon of October 18 during the discussion on Falun Gong, Xie Tian, an assistant professor of Marketing from Drexel University gave a speech titled "Ancient wisdom solution to current crisis? Facts and lies about Falun Gong and how Falun Gong helps victims of evil cults." He elaborated on what Falun Gong is, why Falun Gong is persecuted in China, why Falun Gong can help people who are victimized by evil cults, and the limitations of studying qigong with practical experiments. He also showed a brief videotape about the persecution of Falun Gong in China.
Falun Gong practitioner Chen Gang from New Jersey tearfully recounted his painful experience in the Tuanhe Labor Camp in Beijing from June 2000 to December 2001, where he was subjected to forced brainwashing. He also exposed the Party's various means of brainwashing. The audience gave strong feedback. In the end, Chen Gang called for the experts at AFF to help Falun Gong practitioners who are being persecuted in China.
Wan Yanhai, who is visiting Yale University and Deng Zixian, a graduate student of political science at University of North Texas also gave speeches on Falun Gong. Wan Yanhai was arrested once by the National Security Bureau for putting online an internal document on the spread of AIDS in Henan Province. He admitted the Chinese government's handling of Falun Gong issue is "inappropriate," but he also said there are times when Falun Gong violated the law.
One person in the audience asked, "Please give an example to your knowledge of the damages Falun Gong practitioners have done to themselves or to society." Wan Yanhai looked away and digressed. When pressed by the audience and the host, he admitted he doesn't have any examples. He said the 10,000-people appeal on April 25, 1999 "violated the law of the country," but he could not explain why the large-scale arrest and persecution of Falun Gong happened three months later instead of right when the "violation" took place.
One person in the audience pointed out that Chinese citizens have the right to appeal, and you cannot say it's illegal simply because a lot of people appealed.
AFF is an anti-evil cult organization. At this annual meeting, attendees analyzed some of the common traits of evil cults, such as collecting money, violence, and the brainwashing of cult members. Some people who once joined evil cults recounted the troubles they went through. One person from Mainland China said, "Today, I suddenly realized the nature of the Party exactly fits the category of an evil cult. Before, I was a member of this evil cult, I was instilled with the Party's propaganda ever since I was young, and I have lost myself. I would be in trepidation whenever I thought about politics. I slowly awakened only after I came to a free society."
Dan Fefferman, the administrative director of the Coalition for Religious Freedom said, "This annual conference is very meaningful because Falun Gong practitioners were allowed to show themselves in a positive light. It means AFF is making progress." In the past conferences, only anti-Falun Gong words could be heard. At the 2000 meeting in Seattle, Yang Xiaozhong, the Chinese consul in San Francisco even showed an anti-Falun Gong movie.
Michael Langone, the AFF coordinator and conference host said Yang's movie was a stomach churning propaganda piece, so after that AFF no longer invited any Party officials and only talked to civil organizations and individuals who study Falun Gong.
Falun Gong practitioners who attended the meeting said, "AFF doesn't understand that civil organizations and individuals who study Falun Gong in China all serve the Party's purpose of persecuting Falun Gong."
According to a report on Renminbao, the China Anti-cult Association announced its goal of "hoping to fight Falun Gong with power among the people" at its founding meeting in November 2000. Wang Wenzhong, a member of the Institute of Psychology of Chinese Academy of Sciences spoke at several AFF annual meetings. According to a report on the website of Institute of Psychology, "'Beijing Anti-cult Association' wrote a letter to the Party committee of the Institute of Psychology, thanking Wang Wenzhong and the Association's 'active contribution' in the brainwashing work of Falun Gong practitioners, which is sponsored by 'Preventing and Dealing with evil cult issue office in Beijing' "610 office ." "
Mr. Langone said, "This year, the invited Chinese representative group could not make the trip twice because of various reasons. Nancy O'Meara of "Cult Awareness Network" with its headquarter in California encourages freedom of belief and has always asked AFF to listen to the voice of Falun Gong practitioners. She thinks the Chinese group represents the government's persecution of Falun Gong, so AFF should not invite it to the US.
In October 1999, three months after the Chinese government began persecuting Falun Gong, Jiang mentioned Falun Gong for the first time when interviewed by Le Figaro, in France. He attacked and slandered Falun Gong. On October 26, major mouthpiece media in China published Jiang's speech. On October 27, Xinhua News Agency published an anonymous special commentator's article from People's Daily with the same title. This article repeatedly quoted the slanderous words from an article published on July 22 in People's Daily in a Cultural Revolution style to prove Jiang's speech was "based on a rational ground." Three days later, on October 30, 1999, the rubberstamp National People's Congress Standing Committee passed the "Decision on Banning Heretical Cult Organizations, Preventing and Punishing Cult Activities."
At the same time, the Chinese government also began spreading propaganda in anti-evil cult organizations in developed countries. AFF was one of the targets. Beginning in 2000, the Chinese government and several individuals in overseas countries who tried to earn fame and fortune through slandering Falun Gong began spreading propaganda within the organization, in hopes that AFF would oppose Falun Gong together with the Chinese government. Chen Gang hoped that AFF would realize that the US government may see the "academic exchanges" between AFF and the Chinese government as acknowledging the persecution, and this exchange itself could be used by the Party to elevate the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners.
* The "610 Office" is a bureau specifically created by the Chinese government to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party, as well all other political and judiciary systems.
Category: Perspective
