Maastricht, May 28th 2003 – How the Chinese government was informed about the performance of the [Falun Gong] organisation, is still a riddle to Peter Houben. “I presume that they have infiltrators who pass on information to the Chinese authorities”, says the Dutchman from Maastricht who is chairman of the Falun Gong Association. “But it’s also possible they got the information from the local paper, in which our event was announced.”
Falun Gong is a movement that was made public in China in 1992 by Li Hongzhi and strives to improve physical and mental health through exercises and meditation. In China the movement has been banned since July 1999 and its adherents are severely persecuted [...].
Houben’s presumption that the Chinese government’s interference abroad has gone so far as to use spies in The Netherlands, is confirmed by the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD). [...]
A PR spokesperson said that the Chinese authorities first contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the Landgraaf activities. They questioned whether the Falun Gong performance could be prohibited. “But here in The Netherlands, we have freedom of speech and that also goes for Falun Gong. After that the Chinese authorities have tried sending faxes to Landgraaf theme park. The director of Mondo Verde called us and we told him the same thing.” The PR spokesperson said these incidents are not isolated cases.
[...]
The most recent example is the failed attempt of the Chinese authorities to cancel the Falun Gong demonstration in Landgraaf. Organiser Jan Nonneman did not give in to Chinese pressure. In the end, Falun Gong practitioners quietly meditated in Landgraaf during the past two weekends.
In China, the interference goes much further. According to Peter Houben, the Chinese authorities have already attempted to justify the persecution of Falun Gong by using lies and deception for the past 4 years. The most remarkable example of this was a ‘self-immolation’ incident on January 23rd 2001. Five people poured gasoline on themselves on Tiananmen Square in Beijing and set themselves on fire. This was reported by the Chinese state media at that time. A woman lost her life during the incident.
“Chinese state television broadcasted footage on a daily basis of the people involved giving interviews shortly after the incident”, states Houben via friends who have regular contact with people in China. “The five wounded and disfigured people stated that they had been driven by Falun Gong to set themselves on fire. But these images are fake. This is a well known form of Chinese propaganda”, states Houben.
Directly after the publication of news about the self-immolation, Falun Gong disassociated itself from the incident. Houben said; “Suicide is completely against our principles.”
A speech laboratory at the Taiwan University has analysed the speech patterns and concluded that one of the victims is ‘played’ by two different people. The Chinese authorities’ story contains many more contradictions. The incident was filmed by security cameras on Tiananmen Square. These cameras are static, whereas the film shows zoomed footage of several locations of the square. “Apart from this, one of the victims was given a tracheotomy in order to breathe. To speak shortly after such an operation is medically impossible”, says Houben.
The Chinese embassy refused to comment.
http://www.limburger.nl/Index
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