Stop the repression of Falun Gong practitioners and dissidents!                  Zhang Kai


      The repression of Falun Gong practitioners in China has continued since mid July 1999 when massive arrests were made and over 30,000 practitioners in over 30 cities were spurred to protests on the street.

      On 26 Nov 1999, it is reported that in a report to a convention of 3,000 officials, Li Nanqing, member of the Standing Committee of the CCP Political Bureau and deputy minister of the State Council, announced that from July 20 to Oct 30, at least 35,000 Falun Gong practitioners petitioning in Beijing were arrested. Not one day passed in calm, arrests were made every day, and Li expressed that the struggle against the Falun Gong was a long-term, arduous and complex battle.

      On the same day, the People's Daily in Beijing and the New China News Agency published commentator's articles saying that the struggle against the Falun Gong must be carried through to the end, since this had put the Party's future at stake.

      Qian Xiaoqian, Head of the Information Bureau of the State Council, explained on Dec 2 to four media presses, that "the so-called 35,790 Falun Gong practitioners may refer to the people who were attempting illegal gathering and were either persuaded to leave or brought away from public places in Beijing." Qian also disclosed that the key members of the Falun Gong Study Association, including Li Chang (Head of the Computer Department of the Ministry of Public Security), Wang Zhiwen (engineer of Headquarters, Railway Supplies), Ji Liewu (general manager of a mainland metal company in Hong Kong), Yao Jie (head of the Party office of an estates company in Beijing), had been prosecuted and had, respectively, been sentenced to 18, 16, 12 and 7 years in jail on the criminal charge of sabotaging the implementation and organization of state law, and inducing deaths using religious sects. He said that on 25 April 1999, Li Chang and others organized and incited over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners in and outside Beijing to illegally gather for a sit-in protest in the vicinity of the Zhongnanhai [central government headquarters in Beijing].

      It is reported that during their detention, large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners were tortured. Up till mid April 2000, at least 15 have been reported to have died as a consequence of the torture. Dozens have conducted hunger strikes in jail. Many have been sent to mental hospitals. It is reported that since early December 1999, about 50 practitioners had been sent to the Zhoukoudian Mental Hospital in Beijing. According to a letter smuggled out of jail by Li Qun, instructor at the Academy of Communication Engineering of the People's Liberation Army, she was sent to the Nanjing Mental Hospital for her insistence on practising Falun Gong, and she was compelled to take drugs that were damaging to the brain.

      Continuous arrests have not deterred the wave of protests. During the Chinese New Year of 2000, at least 500 people were arrested for practising Falun Gong at the Tiananmen Square. Throughout China, in about 40 cities, mass practice of Falun Gong took place, and over 2,000 people were arrested. After the New Year, over 5,000 Falun Gong practitioners all over China were sentenced to education through labour, over 10,000 were detained for a short period, and 300 were sentenced to jail.

      On March 1, Jiang Zemin reportedly attended a joint meeting of the police, the prosecution and the judiciary, and condemned the police for not having made a serious effort in containing the Falun Gong, which caused the Party Central to continue to be worried.

      On April 13, five days before the United Nations Human Rights Commission was to vote on a US motion to condemn China's human rights record, several hundred Falun Gong practitioners again staged a mass demonstration at Tiananmen Square, and were all taken away by the police after being beaten up. On the anniversary of the April 25 Falun Gong demonstration at Zhongnanhai, over a hundred practitioners broke through the cordon of the Tiananmen Square, staged a demonstration and were then taken away.

      According to many senior or retired people who practice Falun Gong, their practice cured them of disease and improved their health. Among these people were many high ranking intellectuals or professionals. 22 professors and others in Guangdong Province had signed a joint statement on 1 Jan 1999 on their positive appraisal of Falun Gong as a health practice. General Yu Changxin, a 74-year old retired professor of the Airforce Command Academy, was sentenced to 17 years in jail on 6 Jan 2000 for his insistence on the practice. Wu Shaozu, Director of the State Sports Bureau, was also an advocate of Falun Gong and was dismissed from his position on April 19.

      After the 25 April 1999 siege of Zhongnanhai by Falun Gong practitioners, in the initial first weeks, Party members and state officials were prohibited from practising Falun Gong. On July 25, Falun Gong was denounced as an illegal organization. On Oct 15, the repression further escalated and it was denounced as a religious sect. Up to now, 15 religious groups have been categorized as religious sects, including 14 christian groups and one buddhist group. Their membership is estimated to be around 5 million.

      Around the same time, a qigong group named "Chinese life-nurturing and intellect-developing qigong" (CLIQ) was banned as "illegal". The group claimed to have a membership of 38 million. In its petition to the National People's Congress (NPC) this March, CLIQ said that all its 3,000 institutions held lawful industrial and commercial licences, yet with an order from the party and government central authorities, all operating licences were taken back by the government, the institutions were closed down, huge amounts of assets were confiscated. All these were blatant violations of the Constitution. The petition called on NPC delegates to look into the question of Party leaders always overriding the Constitution and the law, and urged the government to revoke its decision to ban 3,000 CLIQ institutions, return the right of livelihood to the 400,000 staff and their families, and set free 600 CLIQ leaders including Yan Shanjuan, former delegate of the Beijing People's Congress. Several other qigong organizations claiming membership of tens of millions were also banned, such as "Society to Study Supernatural Talents in China". Some were placed under strict monitoring, publications were banned and public practice prohibited.

      Apart from the above, many other civil society organizations also came under attack and were declared illegal. According to Liu Baocheng, Head of the Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, up to the end of November 1999, 80 "illegal civil society groups" were uncovered in Beijing, a 42% increase compared to 1998; among them, 62.5% were detrimental to national interest, and disruptive of social stability and economic order. In the 13 years since 1986, a total of 467 illegal civil society groups in Beijing had been uncovered and handled. (Hong Kong's Ming Pao, 17 Jan 2000)

      The repression of dissidents continues. More members of the Chinese Democratic Party continue to be persecuted and given lengthy sentences. Bulletin for Chinese Cultural Renaissance, launched in December last year, was banned in January and its four leaders, Xiong Jinren, Chen Hui, Hu Jin and Wang Yiliang, were arrested. In the academic circle, four scholars advocating "economic liberalization" were being criticized or dismissed; they were Li Shenzhi, Mao Yushi, Fan Gang, and Liu Junning,

      The repression of dissidents and clampdown on civil society activities illustrate the fears of the rulers about their inability to control. To counter the wave of repression, the demand for the immediate release of all dissidents in political or religious beliefs and all political prisoners in China should be prioritized.

28 April 2000