(Clearwisdom.net)

Ms. Teng Chunyan, a permanent U.S. resident who had been illegally detained in China for nearly three years, was released recently. In response to this, China's propaganda machine is working overtime, but has only succeeded in exposing its own hypocrisy.

The media claimed that Ms. Teng "was sentenced to three years of prison by the Beijing First Intermediate Court on December 12, 2000 for illegally collecting and providing state secrets to overseas groups." However, the media hid one important piece of information. That is, what kind of state secrets did Ms. Teng collect? We know that Ms. Teng collected information on how Jiang's regime sent mentally and physically healthy practitioners to mental hospitals to be persecuted, and that she helped to arrange some interviews with the detained practitioners. These are in fact very courageous and righteous deeds. However, Ms. Teng was incarcerated for three years. It is equivalent to a person who dialed 911 to report a robbery being sentenced to prison.

The media continued to say, "While in prison, Teng Chunyan completely broke away from the mental control by Falun Gong after she was informed of numerous facts. She resumed 'normal' thinking and exhibited model performance according to prison rules." Let's talk about the so-called "numerous facts." I would like to ask, "Did Ms. Teng have the chance to read all the facts reported on Clearwisdom.net and overseas media?" If not, then the so-called "numerous facts" are no different than forced brainwashing. We know that an advertisement that appears on TV for a minute or so could exert great influence on people under normal circumstances, not to mention the effect of forced brainwashing in the environment of a Chinese prison. It was under the prison's brainwashing that Ms. Teng "resumed normal people's thinking."

The media accused Falun Gong of mental control. I would like to ask, "Has Falun Gong ever kidnapped an innocent woman and sent her to prison? Has Falun Gong ever drilled so-called facts into people whose freedom had been taken away?" It is well known that everyone can practice Falun Gong according to his own will. Falun Gong practitioners come from all walks of life. Despite the fact that Jiang's regime is spreading rumors everywhere, Falun Gong is still being disseminated far and wide in the world. In Taiwan alone, there are over 100,000 practitioners, including professors at well-known universities. If Falun Gong is labeled as "practicing mental control," then wouldn't Buddhist temples and Christian churches also become places where "mental control" is practiced? How about elementary schools, middle schools and universities? According to the Chinese state media's logic, the fabricated propaganda instilled in people after depriving their freedom is the "truth" whereas the cultivation of mind and body is "mental control."

Speaking of Ms. Teng's "model performance" in prison, mainlanders know that during the Great Cultural Revolution, even Deng Xiaoping (the late Chinese leader who was castigated during Cultural Revolution) had written a document stating that he would never seek redress of his case. It is obvious that such "performances" are usually the results of torture and coercion.

In western society, there have been many cases where hostages defended their captors after being released. These cases have attracted serious attention of psychologists, and the general public is familiar with these cases, too. The Chinese media claimed that Jiang's regime arranged foreign reporters to wait for Teng Chunyan to step out of the prison located in a suburb of Beijing. It was an obvious attempt to put up a farce for the Western media's consumption.

Everyday on Clearwisdom.net there are many practitioners who issue solemn statements declaring null and void things they said or did under forced brainwashing. They vow to resume the cultivation of Falun Gong. We believe that once Ms. Teng comes back to a free society, she will, like many brainwashed practitioners, once again follow her belief in "Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance."