There is a saying that "being a government official, one must make decisions for the benefit of the people." However, Jiang Zemin doesn't think this way. He subscribes to "stability over everything" and talks about how "all unstable elements need to be nipped in the bud." As such, so-called "stability" can take precedence over justice, take precedence over conscience, and take precedence over humanity. This "stability" is not the stability of the society but the stability of his personal "power and position." Thus, there is nowhere to go to protest or appeal, moral values are in shambles, and greed and corruption are allowed to overrun the great land of China. Even anti-corruption itself has become one of Jiang Zemin's tactics to get rid of those who have fallen out of his favor. What sincerity does he have about doing anything for the benefit of the people?
Falun Gong's 10,000 person appeal in Zhongnanhai was originally a form of trust in the government. The Premier came out and met with them, and when the issues were resolved, everyone just dispersed on their own, and perhaps they even went home with gratitude in their hearts towards the government. Unfortunately, Jiang Zemin had his own malicious intentions and wanted to completely destroy Falun Gong. At first he thought it was just a trivial matter -- I, President Jiang, with the strength of China behind me, will be able to accomplish it in just two or three months and then I'll be able to make a great sacrificial offering on the 50 year anniversary National Day. However, things didn't quite go according to plan.
After his initial attacks didn't go well, Jiang Zemin had to find other outlets for his venom. When being interviewed by Le Figaro, one of the largest newspapers in France, he suddenly said that Falun Gong was a "X ('evil religion')." The government mouthpieces within China weren't far behind. The People's Daily, using the outrageous tone of voice employed during the Cultural Revolution, ran a special editorial piece entitled "Falun Gong is a X." The People's Congress then worked overtime to promulgate a "X Law" in which the definitions of the terms hadn't even been made clear, draping Jiang Zemin's lack of scruples in a set of modern-day legislative 'Emperor's new clothes.' In just a few short days, they had upgraded Falun Gong from an 'illegal organization' to slandering it as a 'X.'
How that came to be was revealed by the so-called 'scientist', He Zuoxiu, when he was being interviewed in California. He said that after Falun Gong was labeled an 'illegal organization,' it still wouldn't give up, so then they had no choice but to call it a X. It just goes to show that whether or not someone is actually evil or not really isn't important. There's no need to actually know. As long as you don't surrender, they can just slap on all sorts of labels to attack you. These words of He Zuoxiu can't really be seen as revealing state secrets, either, because Jiang Zemin himself said similar things to representatives in the People's Congress. He said that he didn't know before they started denouncing Falun Gong, but now that they were denouncing it, they were finding that it really was a big threat! Jiang Zemin had probably intended to dispel the confusion in the representatives' minds, but instead he also let it slip that when he had originally wanted to persecute Falun Gong, he didn't actually know if there was anything wrong with it! If he didn't know whether it was good or bad, then why would he want to persecute it? He could only rely on slander and spreading false rumors far and wide to defend himself.
Having nowhere to appeal, Falun Gong practitioners could only go to Tiananmen Square
Jiang Zemin once vehemently said: "I just can't believe that Falun Gong can't be dealt with." So he took it upon himself to go fight it out around the world. When he met with the U.S. president, he eagerly handed him a booklet filled with bloody pictures slandering Falun Gong, treating it like it were a national treasure. But it just left the U.S. president puzzled, not knowing what was going on. Five thousand years of a great civilization -- can't we even find something decent to present to someone? Knowing full well that the persecution was wrong, Jiang Zemin must have wanted to present his side of the story first, thereby extending the battle lines overseas.
Jiang Zemin also met with the head of Japan and told him he'd never heard of 'Falun Gong' before the April 25th Incident. In 1998, because many people were writing letters to them about how Public Security officers were illegally mistreating large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners, a group of retired members of the People's Congress did a detailed investigation of Falun Gong and came up with the conclusion that "Falun Gong only greatly benefits the people of the nation and does no harm." At the end of that year, they submitted the report to the Political Bureau, which is headed by Jiang Zemin. The government-run National Sports Commission estimated that there were 70 to 100 million Falun Gong practitioners. If, as the leader of the country, Jiang Zemin didn't know about something so huge, then wouldn't one suspect him of neglecting his duties? Do you mean to say that everyday he just bathes in the ocean, plays music, combs his hair, hums a few bars of a Yangzhou folk song, recites a section of the Declaration of Independence, tosses off a couple of sentences in English, and waxes nostalgic for the National Theater? On the other hand, even if he really was too busy having fun and performing to hear about Falun Gong, then what sense is there in suppressing and trying to destroy it as soon as he heard about it? The ancients left us a lesson: "if you don't investigate and research something, then you have no right to speak." But Jiang embodies all the traits of those small-minded people who go a little berserk when they wield too much power.
Falun Gong practitioners fear nothing, they are steadfast in their faith, and their non-violent global appeal for peace continues on. But there is a saying: "go where there is no noise to roar and thunder." And so Jiang is there acting like a man possessed, redoubling his attacks and spewing out venom.
Jiang Zemin recently met with the interviewer on CBS' 60 Minutes TV show. When speaking about Falun Gong, he departed from the script and his improvisations were so far from the truth as to be laughable. First he said that the founder of Falun Gong calls himself "a reincarnation of Sakyamuni (Siddhartha Buddha)." But then seeing that he was speaking to a Westerner who might not have known who Sakyamuni was, he hurriedly added that the founder of Falun Gong calls himself "a reincarnation of Jesus Christ" as a way to raise the ire of Westerners and sow discord. Jiang Zemin wanted to deceive people, but why didn't he stop and think for a second: how can one person be the reincarnation of two completely unrelated enlightened beings? Then, seeing that the interviewer had no reaction to this statement, he became agitated and said that Falun Gong had caused thousands of people to commit suicide. Really! Chinese officials had had to expend so many resources and so much effort before they finally managed to fabricate 1,400 cases of harm or death being caused. How could the number of people Jiang personally has to his own knowledge that committed suicide be in the thousands? If Jiang had such important information, shouldn't he have first revealed it to his beloved generals in the "Denounce Falun Gong Committee" instead of telling this Westerner whom he didn't know at all? Isn't this kind of trying to curry favor with foreigners -an embarrassment to the nation? No wonder when they broadcast this program within China, this Falun Gong section had to be deleted because it was just too ludicrous.
Jiang Zemin has inhumanely cracked down upon Falun Gong for more than a year now. Both the heavens and the people are against it. How many innocent citizens have been captured, beaten, put into 'labor reform,' sentenced to jail, and tortured to death? How many innocent citizens have been fired from their jobs, expelled from school, and their families ruined? It's just scene after scene of a brutal tragedy. In all of China, there is nowhere for ordinary citizens to go to appeal against injustice. Look at our history; when have there ever been tens of millions of compassionate and forbearing "enemies" who never fight back? After more than 20 years of economic growth, Jiang Zemin doesn't even care if he has to dip into his final resources and start up all of the nation's machinery to fight this war that has no enemy!
How can the leader of a nation not be laughed at when he goes all over the world spreading rumors and fabrications? Isn't it damaging China's reputation? Isn't it plunging the people into misery, treating them as the enemy, and then not allowing them to use peaceful and lawful methods to seek justice?
China's true unstable element isn't the ordinary citizens who are seeking their most basic of human rights, but the person currently in power who cares not whether the people live or die.
Er shui 9/15/00 Washington DC
