Wall Street Journal: China's New Falun Dafa Policy Puts Country in Harsh Light

BEIJING -- China's efforts to press home its new advantage in its war with the banned spiritual group Falun Dafa is spilling into the international arena. The effort to crush Falun Dafa gained momentum last month when five purported adherents set themselves ablaze in downtown Beijing. The dramatic action, caught on videotape and broadcast widely throughout China, has been used to buttress the government's claims that the group, which is also known as Falun Gong, is a [Chinese government's slanderous word] that must be stamped out at all costs. The footage has energized the government's efforts against Falun Dafa, which it banned in 1999 after the group protested in front of the Communist Party's leadership headquarters. Except for a few die-hard activists, few Chinese had been much interested in the battle between the government, which has detained thousands of adherents without trial, and the group, which continues to mount regular protests in the Chinese capital. But in pressing its advantage, the government may be taking its case to an extreme, thus angering some foreign countries. "Understatement is not their strong point," says Richard Baum, a professor at the University of California, San Diego. "When they react, they overreact." Harsh Phase The new, harsher phase to the campaign has affected Canada, Europe, Hong Kong and threatens to complicate plans of the new Bush administration and even China's efforts to land the 2008 Olympics. The Bush administration, for example, has considered dropping Washington's annual efforts to censure China at a United Nations' human-rights forum in Geneva. Now, however, pressure is growing to continue the efforts. Amnesty International, for example, says in a report due to be released Monday that Falun Dafa members have been abused and killed in prison, part of a "growing scourge" of torture spreading across China. The influential human-rights group says the new Bush team must "state clearly and soon its intention to sponsor a resolution condemning China's dismal and deteriorating human-rights record." Such claims could influence members of the International Olympic Committee, who are due in Beijing next week for a four-day visit. Chinese officials running the bid have been at pains to show that there should be no connection between the bid and Falun Dafa. Other countries are being drawn into the fray as well. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, for example, is visiting Beijing this week for what was supposed to be mainly a trade mission. Now, however, he has pledged to make human rights a chief topic with his hosts after a Canadian citizen who practices Falun Dafa was incarcerated in China last year and allowed to leave only after he signed a confession that he later said was forced out of him under torture. In addition, Mr. Chretien's government has said it is investigating reports that Chinese diplomats in Toronto and other Canadian cities have harassed Falun Dafa adherents staging rallies in Canada. Europe has also felt the fallout. A Dutch delegation canceled a trip to Hong Kong this month after China said it shouldn't meet local Falun Dafa members. The demand outraged the Dutch, although in some ways China's stance reflects the way it treats foreigners' attitudes toward Taiwan. China insists that foreigners recognize its claim over the island or be denied normal relations. Hong Kong Concerns Another trend seems to be Beijing's willingness to compromise Hong Kong's autonomy, stirring Western countries' fears that the former British colony will lose its status as a "special administrative region" of China free from Beijing's direct control. Pro-Beijing officials have warned Hong Kong chapters of Falun Dafa to cut their ties with the mainland. On Sunday, Hong Kong Justice Secretary Elsie Leung said she has no plan to enact a law against the meditation group. Ms. Leung said she "hasn't received any instruction" from the government to establish any law to restrict the group. Her comments follow a statement by the city's chief executive, Tung Chee Hwa, who on Thursday called the group a "[Chinese government's slanderous word]" and said the Hong Kong government would monitor Falun Dafa's activities. "We're watching the situation in Hong Kong very closely," said a Western diplomat based in Beijing. "China seems to be saying that it has drawn the line with Falun Dafa and Hong Kong isn't exempt."