(Clearwisdom.net) On January 23, 2001, the eve of the Chinese New Year, an occurrence that shocked the world was staged in China's Tiananmen Square in Beijing. What happened appeared to be, and was widely promoted by China's state-run media, as a self-immolation in which several people, allegedly Falun Gong practitioners, set themselves on fire. In fact, the event was a pure propaganda stunt staged by China's Communist Party to turn public opinion against Falun Gong.
The Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) mouthpiece - Xinhua News Agency - broadcast its report of this incident to the whole world within two hours of the time of occurrence, claiming that the immolators were Falun Gong practitioners. The initial news report stated five people were involved, yet a week later it was reported that seven people immolated themselves, one of them a 12-year-old girl.
The official story was later proven to have significant inaccuracies and inconsistencies. The evidence supports that the incident was staged, a ploy the CCP used to incite hatred toward Falun Gong among the Chinese people, to discredit Falun Gong in the eyes of the world, and to thereby sustain and somehow justify the persecution of Falun Gong.
A little more than a week later, on February 4, 2001, The Washington Post published a stunning front-page investigative report entitled, "Human Fire Ignites Chinese Mystery - Motive for Public Burning Intensifies Fight Over Falun Gong." The Washington Post reporter Phillip Pan who wrote the story visited the Kaifeng City, Henana Province hometown of one of the women immolators, Liu Chunling, to find out more about her. Her neighbors told him they had never seen Ms. Liu practice Falun Gong.
In the weeks and months following the immolation, the official video footage of the immolation shown on the the CCTV (China Central Television Station) program Focal Point Interview, was analyzed in detail by parties outside China. In slow motion, one revealing sequence of the video shows that Liu Chunling - who in the Xinhua version supposedly died from burn injuries - actually received a sharp blow to the head with what looks like a metal bar, delivered by a man wearing an army overcoat. She is seen falling instantly to the ground and most likely died from the blow. Immolator Wang Jindong was shown to have been badly burned. Human hair burns very quickly when set on fire, and plastic melts, but his hair and the allegedly gasoline-filled plastic Sprite bottle between his legs remained miraculously intact. A policeman held a fire-extinguishing blanket up as he walked behind Wang Jindong but it seems that, as if on cue, he did not put cover Wang with it until Wang finished calling out some words implicating Falun Gong.
There are more discrepancies in the Xinhua News Agency-reported story: Police officers who patrol the Square do not normally carry fire-fighting equipment. But that day police were mysteriously patrolling Tiananmen Square with more than 20 pieces of fire-fighting equipment, held ready in two police vehicles to cope with the “unexpected incident.” The CCTV program shows clearly as the camera follows the policemen to the site where the fire began, and even zooms in and out to catch just the right details as the drama unfolds. We even see that someone takes a close-up shot of the little girl and records her shouting for mother before letting the ambulance take her to a hospital. Normally, the surveillance cameras in Tiananmen Square cover a fixed area and are unsuitable for close-up shots. But on this particular day, the camera follows the police to the scene and zooms in to focus on the incident. It seems as if this camera was set up specifically to tape the self-immolation.
Detailed analysis of the film footage revealed so many discrepancies that 3rd party experts confirmed their belief that the event was staged to frame and demonize Falun Gong. What follows are some comments on the "self-immolation" from various people from different walks of life familiar with the situation.
UK surgeon discusses the falsification of the self-immolation
I'm a surgeon. After the "Tiananmen self-immolation" incident took place, my professional sensitivity/ethics had me particularly analyze the CCTV's Focal Point Program's broadcast of the process of the self-immolation, the treatment of the injured and all coverage and pictures of the follow-up treatment. I recorded some obvious doubts on the medical treatment, for everyone to examine and think over.
Doubt No.1: Burning victims would instinctively run to release huge heat and intense pain. Wang Jindong, who was supposed to have been terribly burned just sat there, calmly.
Doubt No.2: Standard medical procedure dictates that patients with large areas of burned skin are to be placed in an isolated, sterile room, because the burned area needs to be exposed to the air. This [isolation] prevents infection and makes it easier for the nurse to apply medication and clean the wounds. Doctors and nurses treating these patients are required to wear masks and sterile clothing when entering the room. How could the reporter who didn't wear a mask, gloves, or any sterile clothing be allowed to interview the patient? Why would a patient in such critical condition with such serious burns be treated so casually?
Political and Judiciary Committee Section Chief: "We knew before it happened that the 'Self-immolation' would happen."
On September 22, 2001, Political and Judiciary Committee section chief Zhao Yunlong in Donggang City, Liaoning Province, visited one of the sessions used to brainwash Falun Gong practitioners. He told them, "We knew that the 'Self-Immolation' would happen even before it happened." He told the practitioners a more detailed account. "The 'Self-Immolation' happened on January 23rd, 2001. Actually, we received an urgent notice from the Ministry of Public Security on the 21st , saying that something big was going to happen at Tiananmen Square on the 23rd."
One of the Chinese Democratic Party leaders reveals the inside story of the self-immolation
Lin Chunshui, one of the internal leaders of the Chinese Democratic Party, revealed, "According to information provided to me on January 28th by a top official at the Ministry of Public Security, the head of this agency, Jia Chunwang, already knew by January 22nd that Wang Jindong would set himself on fire on the 23rd."
Luo Gan said words to the effect of the follwing at the conference of the Central Political-Legal Committee, “According to information in my hands, even if our Wang Jindong had not set himself on fire, there would have been a Zhang Jindong, a Li Jindong or someone else jumping out to put on a show.” [paraphrased; this is the main idea.] These early leaks about the news of the incident show that the CCP staged the Tiananmen self-immolation, with the intent of defaming Falun Gong.
Media professional: "Self-immolation" is staged
A television station professional said, "The self-immolation must be staged by the government. A reporter has to apply for permission for what is to be covered before going to Tiananmen Square. Approval is very strict. If we didn't obtain permission and carry our video cameras to go to Tiananmen Square, we would be immediately driven out. This time, the 'self-immolation' incident took about two minutes. The cameraman was right there to capture it; even the microphone was at the ready. So it is clear that it was orchestrated."
CCP's hoax exposed in the international community
United Nations International Education Development (IED) spokespersons made a statement during the fifty-third session in the sub-committee on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights on August 14, 2001. They condemned the self-immolation incident and regarded it as a form of state terrorism.
IED's statement read,
“The government, in exercise of the right to reply, attempted to justify its state terrorism against the group by calling it an '[Chinese government's slanderous words deleted] 'that has caused deaths and the break-up of families. In our investigation, the only deaths have been at the hands of the Chinese authorities; families have been broken up because family members have been killed by the regime; people have been devastated, not by Falun Gong, but by extreme torture, incarceration and brutal treatment in mental hospitals, hard labor in labor camps and other such practices.
“As was reported in the International Herald Tribune on August 6, 2001, the regime admits that it has officially sanctioned violence against practitioners in order to wipe out Falun Gong. The regime points to a supposed self-immolation incident in Tiananmen Square on January 23, 2001 as proof that Falun Gong is an '[Chinese government's slanderous words deleted]'. However, we have obtained a video of that incident that in our view proves that this event was staged by the government. We have copies of that video available for distribution.”
Faced with such solid evidence, the Chinese delegation to the UN was speechless.
Please see statement: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/9/9/13711.html