Press Statement: WHAT'S THE REAL STORY?

New York Falun Dafa InfoCenter

For Immediate Release

January 30, 2001

Press Statement

Once again, the Chinese state-run media has made a mockery of itself by producing a so- called Falun Gong suicide story.

The Chinese press has run a story on some unidentified persons who claim that they are among those five so-called Falun Gong practitioners who attempted self-immolation on Tiananmen Square last week. After a week of preparation, the Chinese Government has now added two more persons to the group, bringing the total to seven. They are now claiming that one of those involved was a 12 year-old girl. CNN eyewitness reports had said that there were only five people involved, in which one woman was known to have died from her injuries. What is the real story?

There is no proof that these people in this Xinhua News report are Falun Gong practitioners. Nor is it clear that these are the same people who set themselves afire on Tiananmen Square. Those who have read books of Falun Gong will clearly see that the language used and the actions exhibited by them are foreign to genuine Falun Gong practitioners. We would like to reiterate that the teachings of Falun Gong strictly prohibit any form of killing, including suicide. We call upon the Chinese government to allow independent third-party investigation by international human rights groups, United Nations, and the world press.

It is a tragedy that those who originally set fire to themselves had been driven to such a desperate act, whether because they were so disenfranchised by Chinese society or because they had been set up by the Chinese regime. In either case, it gives us pause as to what China has come to that such a grisly incident could have occurred.