Danny Schechter, author of "Falun Gong's Challenge to China," is executive editor of Mediachannel.org.

03/15/2001

ONE BY ONE, the seven men stood, and each in turn delivered a sound-alike denunciation of the Falun Gong spiritual practice. As leaders of the [...] inner circle that rules China, each used similar Party speak to lambast the "[Chinese government's slanderous word]." For good measure, this cabal also justified anew its bloody l989 massacre of pro-democracy protesters.

This orchestrated show of unity took place at an unusual February secret meeting of 2,000 officials called to paper over growing misgivings with the failed crackdown launched l9 months ago, with no end in sight. In July 1999, when China's president, Jiang Zemin vowed to crush Falun Gong, most experts thought the campaign would succeed easily. After all, the regime wiped out the student movement in days, even if it used tanks to do it. Why not this latest challenge? Since the banning of this spiritual movement, which synthesizes the traditional Chinese qigong exercise system with [other] ideas, the government has hit hard while avoiding a conspicuous show of force that might trigger international sanctions. The repression is low-key but systematic.

According to human-rights groups, more than 150 practitioners have died under questionable circumstances in police custody, more than 50,000 have been detained, and thousands more have been tossed into labor camps and mental hospitals. There are secret trials daily with no due process or defense allowed. Once arrested, it is like picking up that Monopoly card: Go Directly to Jail." In a throwback to the cultural revolution, China's state-run media has cranked up a one-sided propaganda campaign. Neighbors are asked to inform on neighbors doing their distinctive physical exercises and meditation ... that have attracted as many as l00 million Chinese to Falun Gong, according to one government survey. Once in custody, practitioners are routinely tortured to confess and disavow their belief system centered around "truth, compassion and tolerance." Recently, there's been an escalation of both brutal force and rhetoric, including the baseless claim that Falun Gong is financed by the U.S. Congress.

Falun Gong denies it, insisting on their independence and commitment to standing up against illegal abuses. In a statement titled "Coercion Cannot Change People's Hearts," posted this March on a Falun Gong Web site, founder Li Hongzhi, declared, "Never in history has someone who persecuted those with upright faiths ever succeeded." Why is China marshalling its forces to eliminate a non-violent and apolitical force? What does Falun Gong want? What role should the U.S.

government and our media play? China's rulers may be using this issue to divert attention from far more vital economic crises as well as an increase in corruption and an upsurge in unrest tied to unemployment. Like religious zealots themselves, their hard-line ideology seems to preclude flexibility or even reason. They feel threatened for four reasons: Falun Gong has won the hearts and minds of millions ... There reportedly are more Falun Gong practitioners than party members, even as many see no conflict between party loyalty and their spiritual practice. [...]

Falun Gong is publicly and bravely fighting for its rights and winning support. It demands legalization.

These are factors that China's commissars cannot will or order away. The regime has no attractive alternatives to offer and few solutions to growing problems. It can't easily contain Falun Gong because the movement has now spread worldwide to 40 countries and l04 town and cities in America, including New York.

The Bush Administration has called on China to stop abusing Falun Gong.

But, so far, no U.S. corporations doing business in China, freed of all human-rights restraints thanks to the passage of the China trade bill, have spoken up. And the UN is unlikely to take firm action unless Washington leads the way more aggressively. Colin Powell says he will be vocal.

The worry is that China may resort to even more violence than it did in l989 unless there is outside pressure. A third party initiative to promote talks and a peaceful resolution of the crisis is urgently needed. Last but not least, our media has to do more to explain this story better, instead of using pejorative language such as "cult" and "sect," which only distances Americans who would care more if they knew more.