(Minghui.org) When you turn on TV in China today, the only reports you ever find about Falun Gong are censored. They consist entirely of bizarre stories right out of horror movies, even those claiming that Falun Gong practitioners set themselves on fire on Tiananmen Square.

Yet the same Falun Gong that the Chinese regime condemned in 1999 was extremely popular before the suppression.

One could not walk anywhere near a public park in any city of any size in China in the early morning without noticing at least one group of people practicing Falun Gong.

In fact, the Chinese government estimated there were some 80 - 100 million Falun Gong adherents in China, according to its census survey in 1998.

Clearly, there is a huge discrepancy here.

Why would tens of millions of Chinese people be drawn to Falun Gong if the practice is bad for their health and teaches them to set themselves on fire?

In fact, China's own State Sports Bureau conducted five health surveys on 35,000 Falun Gong practitioners in 1998. Over 98% of the subjects said their health had improved because of the practice.

How can Falun Gong be so popular amongst the Chinese people, yet resented by the Chinese regime?

It's a complex issue, with no easy answer, even for those living in the West.

But where can one even begin to find an answer in China where the media is censored and the Internet is filtered?

Who would dare to reveal the true situation when such whistle-blowing in communist China can be considered an act of treason punishable by death?

Yet one man decided to bring the truth to the public.

His name is Cheng Fengxiang. Born on July 7, 1964, Cheng is a Falun Gong practitioner from Linmingguan Town, Yongnian County, Hebei Province. It is a small town with a population of 1.3 million people.

On January 19, 2004, he and several fellow Falun Gong practitioners successfully broadcasted documentary films about Falun Gong over the local TV networks in Xingtai and Shahe, two areas of Hebei Province, via wireless A/V transmitters. One of the documentary films was “False Fire.” It analyzes the footage of the self-immolation act at Tiananmen Square in 1999, which China has repeatedly used to instigate people's resentment of Falun Gong. ( False Fire )

By doing so he signed his own death warrant.

He was arrested on January 28, 2004 by the Yongnian County police without any arrest warrant.

The police hid him in the basement of the police station and interrogated him with brutalities. Minghui.org reported the tortures Cheng faced in police custody: Hebei Police Officer Wang Kun Boasts of Having Used All Torture Methods Published on the Minghui Website

It was not until three months later that the court issued an arrest warrant. He was transferred to Qiaoxi No. 1 Detention Center on April 29, 2004. He was then sent to Handan City Forced Labor Camp on October 28, 2004 for 11 years of hard labor, but he managed to escape on November 9.

On February 23, 2005, the police received intelligence that Mr. and Mrs. Gai Xinzhong were hiding Cheng in their home and conducted a search. When the police failed to find Cheng, they arrested the elderly couple instead.

When interrogated why he harbored Cheng, Mr. Gai told the police, “He was dying from the abuse and torture. I cannot do nothing and watch him die.”

The police sent the good elderly man that saved Cheng's life to Yongnian County detention center where he faced a litany of torture and abuse. Mr. Gai went on a hunger strike to protest the abuse, but he faced escalated torture as a punishment. The physician at the detention center forced a gastric tube into him and punctured his internal organs. Gai spewed a large amount of blood and died choking on his blood.

As for Cheng, he was never seen again. Not one Falun Gong practitioner has seen or heard from him for eight years. It is speculated that he might have been arrested again. In fact, he might not be alive.

This is the price to pay for bringing the truth in China.

Prometheus gave man fire; Cheng Fengxiang gave Chinese people the truth.