(Clearwisdom.net) Recently some overseas Chinese media, such as Singtao Daily and Sino-Dutch Business, reported a murder case by a person of Chinese descent in Holland. This was originally reported as a tragic murder carried out by a person with mental illness. However, the reports from the above Chinese media, from the titles to the content, deliberately connected this tragedy with Falun Gong, and even misled readers by indicating that practicing Falun Gong would lead to mental problems. This report adopted very similar slanderous methods to those used by the Chinese Communist regime in its persecution of Falun Gong. Moreover, these reports gave readers the false impression that the Dutch media had reported the incident in the same fashion.
What are the facts? A reporter interviewed Peter Houben, President of the Dutch Falun Gong Association:
Reporter: Recently, some Chinese media reported a murder case that occurred in Holland. These reports gave people the impression that the suspect became mentally ill and committed a murder because he practiced Falun Gong. How do you view this incident?
Houben: Falun Gong teaches people to follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance and to always consider others first. Killing seriously violates these principles. It is totally impossible that Falun Gong would allow people to commit this terrible evil.
Everything about Falun Gong is open. All Falun Gong teachings can be freely downloaded from the Internet. I sincerely invite people to come learn more about Falun Gong and see for themselves if Falun Gong could make people become cold criminals.
Reporter: As a Dutch national, you must have read the reports by the Dutch media. Could you describe to me how the Dutch media reported this incident?
Houben: In the reports by the Dutch media, one point is extremely clear--that the suspect has serious mental problems. All reports, without exception, indicated that expert examination concluded that the suspect is schizophrenic and chronically paranoid. It is clear that this has absolutely nothing to do with Falun Gong's teachings.
Reporter: In the reports by some Chinese media, the deliberate linking between the killing and Falun Gong seemed to come from the Dutch media. However, you said that the Dutch media are very clear that the incident has nothing to do with Falun Gong. Could you tell me why there are such differences in the reports?
Houben: Almost all the Dutch media obtained this news from ANP (a government news organization in Holland). ANP initially reported that the suspect was a Falun Gong practitioner. When we learned this, we immediately contacted ANP and cleared up the situation. We explained that although the suspect claimed to be a Falun Gong practitioner, it is very obvious that he did not follow any Falun Gong teachings. Therefore, it is not correct to call him a Falun Gong practitioner. When ANP learned this, they corrected their initial report. The corrected report was issued a few hours later. The Dutch media used the corrected report, clearly pointing out that the suspect himself claimed to practice Falun Gong. Medical experts said that his actions have no connection with Falun Gong.
Additionally, we issued a statement on June 10 in the name of the Dutch Falun Dafa Association, clarifying that this suspect is not a Falun Gong practitioner and this case has nothing to do with Falun Gong. Some Dutch media printed our statement.
Reporter: Did the first ANP report suggest in any way that practicing Falun Gong led the suspect to have mental problem and even to kill people?
Houben: The first ANP report never made such a misleading statement. It merely copied the suspect's own statement of claiming to practice Falun Gong. It is very obvious that he did not follow the principles of Falun Gong.
Reporter: What do you want to say to these irresponsible Chinese media?
Houben: I don't understand the reason behind their fabricating the story, and using this terrible way to defame and slander Falun Gong. I hope they will correct their reports after learning the facts.
Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200706/40086.html
Category: Perspective
