Press Statement of World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong Regarding the Tiananmen "Self-Immolation"

May 14, 2003

Since July 1999, Jiang Zemin's regime has applied state terrorism in its genocide of Falun Gong practitioners. Jiang Zemin's official policy is "Destroy their reputation, bankrupt them financially, and annihilate them physically." This has resulted in millions of Falun Gong practitioners being unlawfully persecuted to various extents and degrees, including the deaths of at least 692 practitioners.

Therefore, the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) was established on the 20th day of January 2003. The organization invites and seeks the support of individuals and institutions of global social conscience, and plays a coordinating role in the effort to investigate -- broadly, thoroughly, and systematically -- all instances of criminal conduct on the part of individuals, institutions, and organizations involved in the persecution of Falun Gong. This includes Jiang Zemin himself; all levels of the "610 Office," which is directly responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong at Jiang's orders; the National Security Bureau; the Public Security Bureau; the court justice system; forced labor camps; mental institutions involved in the persecution; the state-controlled media and its mouthpieces that spread false accusations, fabricate lies, and frame Falun Gong; and those individuals who directly or indirectly participate in the mental, physical, and financial persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and their family members. Based on factual findings, this organization shall bring the criminals to court so that justice can be served.

At 2:41 P.M., January 23rd, 2001, an alleged self-immolation incident took place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. It is common knowledge that the Chinese government's Xinhua News Agency and the Chinese Central Television Station (CCTV) typically closely guard information about this type of incident. Nevertheless, they immediately reported the case, alleging that the five individuals who committed self-immolation and two others who attempted to commit self-immolation were Falun Gong practitioners.

Falun Gong practitioners firmly deny the allegation, as the act of self-immolation is a gross violation of the principles and teachings of Falun Gong. No practitioner would so such a thing. International media and various independent institutions have also raised serious doubts about the government's allegations. Shortly after the incident, a reporter from the Washington Post visited the hometown of Liu Chunling, the woman who died in the incident, to conduct an independent investigation. In a front-page article on February 4, 2001, The Washington Post revealed that none of Liu's neighbors were under the impression that she was a Falun Gong practitioner, nor had they ever seen her practice the Falun Gong exercises. The International Education Development (IED) made an official statement at the United Nations on August 14, 2001: "...The regime points to a supposed self-immolation incident in Tiananmen Square on January 23, 2001 as proof to slander Falun Gong. However, we have obtained a video of that incident that in our view proves that this event was staged by the government."

Nevertheless, the self-immolation incident has become the most powerful propaganda tool of Jiang's regime in its attempts to demonize Falun Gong in China and around the world. The incident has effectively incited both public and official hatred of Falun Gong wherever the propaganda has been spread. Police who had previously passively resisted participating in the persecution were deceived by the propaganda and began to cooperate. This allowed Jiang to escalate the persecution to a broader scale and new heights of brutality.

Since its establishment, WOIPFG has received reports from various sources regarding the self-immolation incident. According to reliable information from inside the Chinese government and the Police Bureau, the "self-immolation" was staged to frame Falun Gong. The incident occurred after 18 months of Jiang's persecution of Falun Gong, which was consuming huge amounts of state resources. At the time, Jiang was isolated and there was increasing criticism of him inside inner Party circles. Jiang was the primary beneficiary of the incident. It has allowed Jiang to "justify" his persecution and make it seem somehow legitimate.

Based on several analyses raising questions about the truth behind the incident, the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong established the International Committee to Investigate the So-called Self-Immolation in Tiananmen Square on January 23, 2003.

The Committee asked the Speech Processing Laboratory at National Taiwan University, world-renowned in Chinese speech identification, synthesis, and verification, to conduct independent speech identification of Wang Jindong and others who appeared in three episodes of the Focus Interview program of CCTV. Wang was claimed as one of the leaders and organizers of the self-immolation incident. For this investigation, National Taiwan University Speech Processing Laboratory reached the conclusion that the "Wang Jindong" who appeared on the first Focus Interview program isn't the same person as the "Wang Jindong" who appeared on the second and third programs. This confirms the results of analyses of Wang Jindong's identity obtained by WOIPFG through other investigative channels. These other sources have revealed that Wang Jindong, an alleged participant in the self-immolation, was role-played by a commissioned military officer (whose name is currently being withheld).

A 12-year-old girl died in the self-immolation incident. The Focus Interview program on CCTV showed her singing and talking to a reporter shortly after surgery on her trachea. The true cause of her death was never disclosed.

The Committee has obtained information from medical staff who treated Liu Siying at the Jishuitan Hospital. "Liu Siying died suddenly at a time when her burns were more or less healed, her health had basically recovered, and she was ready to be discharged from the hospital. The cause of her death is very suspicious." In the days right before she died, including Friday, March 16th, 2001, one day before her death, Liu Siying's electrocardiogram (EKG) and other tests all showed normal results. Then, on Saturday, March 17th, 2001, between 11:00 A.M. and noon, doctors suddenly discovered that Liu Siying was in critical condition. She died shortly after. Hospital staff report that between 8:00 and 9:00 that same morning, the heads of the Jishuitan Hospital and the Beijing Medical Administration Division paid a visit to Liu Siying in her hospital room and talked to her for quite a long time. "At that time, Liu Siying was still quite animated and active," the staff members reported. The autopsy of Liu Siying took place at the Jishuitan Hospital, but the autopsy report was issued by the Emergency Center. The autopsy report was not disclosed to Liu Siying's doctors. The hospital released only a general statement that her death was likely due to problems with her myocardium. Another questionable part of the story is that Liu Siying was able to sing out loud for a CCTV interview, just after her trachea had been cut open. A doctor at the Jishuitan Hospital commented that, "It wasn't possible for Liu Siying's voice to be that loud and clear. It seems that CCTV did something there."

Several medical personnel at the Jishuitan Hospital have confirmed that those who committed self-immolation arrived at the hospital around 5:00 P.M, yet according to the Xinhua News Agency, the self-immolation incident took place at 2:41 P.M. The times here don't add up. It apparently took seven minutes to put out the fire. The ambulance had to travel 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) from Tiananmen Square to the Jishuitan Hospital, so they should have arrived not too long after 3:00 P.M. WOIPFG has reason to believe that the discrepancy in times covers some ulterior motives.

From the video of the self-immolation aired during the Focus Interview program on CCTV, one can see that Liu Chunling (12-year-old Liu Siying's mother) was struck hard in the head by a man wearing a military overcoat with a heavy object. She immediately collapses on the ground and throws her hands up to hold the left side of her head, which had been hit. WOPIFG believes that it is highly likely that Liu Chunling died at the scene from this assault, not from burns as government propaganda alleges.

Based on these independent, scientific findings, WOIPFG has concluded that the alleged Tiananmen Square Self-immolation is a major conspiracy. It disguises state-sanctioned murder as suicide, and labels the victims tragically coerced by the government to immolate themselves as Falun Gong practitioners, all as a means of concocting a propaganda weapon to demonize Falun Gong and to thereby "justify" Jiang's cruel persecution in the eyes of the public. The perpetrators were willing to go as far as to sacrifice the lives of innocent citizens, including a twelve-year-old girl and her mother. Roman Emperor Nero set Rome on fire to frame the Christians in a similar way two thousand years ago. The extent of the Jiang regime's lies to the world to cover up the SARS epidemic are just becoming known to the world today. Like these cases, the Tiananmen Self-Immolation resulted from a corrupt regime callously sacrificing human lives to protect its own selfish interests.

WOIPFG recognizes that this case involves a variety of parties with complicated relationships. It is possible that this crime will be directly attributed to Jiang Zemin (who at the time was the Chinese president, head of the Chinese Communist Party, and head of China's Central Military Commission). However, WOIPFG is determined to discover and expose all the facts surrounding this case. The results of the investigation will be submitted to the International Criminal Court, to international judicial and human rights organizations, and to the United Nations. We will seek to bring all participants in this crime to justice.

WOIPFG urges anyone who has information about the case to report those responsible and to submit any relevant information to the Committee. The focus of the next round of investigations will include:

The mastermind behind the alleged Tiananmen Self-immolation Incident

The man in the CCTV video who is wearing a military overcoat and who struck Liu Chunling

Those who are responsible for the sudden death of Liu Siying