Chen Gang - Eyewitness of the "4.25" Incident: A Great Page Has Been Recorded By History

Today is the 25th of April and once again Chen Gang comes to the Chinese embassy in Munich. He has been here countless times already with fellow practitioners to protest against the Jiang regime’s persecution of Falun Gong in China. However, on this occasion he is here as an asylum seeker in Germany. He came from Beijing to Munich for further studies in 1996, but he never expected that from May 2002, he would no longer be able to have a passport as a Chinese citizen. The Chinese embassy refused to renew his passport because he practised Falun Gong. After that he was stripped of his rights as a Chinese national unless he stopped practising Falun Gong. He began to practise Falun Gong in 1994. The reporter learnt that he had the good fortune to participate in the “4.25” peaceful appeal in Beijing. At that time, he was visiting relatives in Beijing.

On that day, he went with his mother. She started practising Falun Gong in 1996. They agreed to meet at the Central Appeals Bureau near Zhongnanhai at 9am. Unexpectedly, many Falun Gong practitioners had already gathered there. Everyone stood quietly outside Zhongnanhai in an orderly manner. Everyone had only one wish, to call for the release of practitioners detained in Tianjin. That evening, everyone left quietly because they learnt that the Tianjin practitioners would be released. Premier Zhu had reached an amicable agreement with the representatives. Chen Gang further added, “If the appeal activity was well organised just like the officials claimed, then more people would have gone. From our practice site, only a small number went, if everyone had planned properly, then many more would have gone. In actual fact, before going, we had no idea where to go. Some wanted to go to Tianjin to appeal, some wanted to go the appeals bureau. There were all kinds of thoughts, everyone made his own decision.”

However, after “4.25” the situation became tense. The practice site he usually went to was no longer allowed to be used for practice. The manager of the mall had received orders from above. Many work units started to investigate who had participated in the Zhongnanhai appeal. After he returned to Germany, he wrote a letter to the then party chairman Jiang Zemin, telling him Falun gong benefits everyone and the country should give full support, don’t crackdown on Falun Gong. He sent this letter to Beijing and had it published on Clearwisdom net. He also went to see the secretary of the Chinese embassy Boen Li Nianping and a Mr. Dong who was in charge of the education department in the Chinese embassy in Munich together with fellow practitioners. They all claimed that the Chinese government would not persecute Falun Gong and urged them not to believe in rumours. Not long after, Falun Gong was suppressed in China. “I was furious. I did not expect Jiang to be so despicable. The persecution is based on fabricated lies. No one in his right mind would make such a decision.” Chen Gang continued, “When news of Falun gong practitioners tortured to death kept coming from China, we started coming to the Chinese embassy to protest. We once again met with Li Nianping and other persons in charge. They gave us fabricated information defaming Falun Gong from China and emphasised the government’s attitude, entirely forgetting what they had said before. “ Li Nianping further published a lengthy article defiantly defaming Falun gong in a local German newspaper under the name of ‘news spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Berlin’. About thirty Falun Gong practitioners tried to sue him for slander and libel in the German courts. However because he was a foreign diplomat, he claimed immunity from the lawsuit. Chen Gang sighed, “This is how a totalitarian country manipulates and oppresses all its nation’s department apparatus. In order to obtain its benefits, it can adopt all kinds of despicable ways.”

The persecution in China is escalating, the number of deaths is increasing. Chen Gang’s mother and many practitioners continued to risk their lives going out to distribute truth-clarifying materials. She was put under surveillance by the police and regarded as an important criminal for arrest. Since 2001, she had been wandering around in hiding. Fortunately before the crackdown she had obtained a passport to go to Germany. Finally in February 2004, she came to Germany. Chen Gang told reporters that he was happy that his mother feels safe now. He also stated that after his passport was rejected for renewal, he put in a lot of effort writing letters to the German Prime Minister, The Foreign Affairs Ministry and members of parliament, hoping that they could help him obtain a passport. A member of parliament with a sense of justice personally went to the Chinese embassy to negotiate, but to no avail. Consequently, he has to report to the German immigration office every two months to obtain a temporary pass in order to continue staying in Germany. This has continued for two years. On several occasions, the German department has told him that he could not go on like this. He needs to have a passport. Not only that, because he has no identification documents, it has created many difficulties for him in his work and studies. Some members of parliament suggested that he seek refugee status. “I always wanted to have an identity as a Chinese national in a dignified manner. I was born there and my family is there. I love my country, but because I practise Truth, Compassion, Forbearance and want to be a good person, I was stripped of my rights to be a Chinese national. Finally I have only one road to take: to seek asylum. I feel sad for my country.” He gave a deep sigh.

Chen Gang’s sadness can be traced back to 4th June 1989. At that time, he was a university student. From 3rd of June night to the 4th morning, he volunteered to lead ambulances to the nearest hospitals in the shortest time possible. He saw scene after scene of unbearable images: injured students moaning in pain, bodies being crushed by tanks, he could not discern heads from toes. After the massacre, the government began to attack the student’s movement, labelling it as ‘anti-revolutionary’. Every student had to express support to ‘suppress the rebellion’. He was the only one in class who refused to sign and persisted in not signing. What he saw told him the government was lying. He had to leave college for a year; hiding at home so as to avoid being marked or else he would be immediately expelled. “Unbelievably, the Chinese government once again used lies to deceive people in its crackdown on Falun Gong. However, it adopts even more despicable ways, continuing to brutally torture and persecute Falun Gong practitioners with the objective of eliminating this group of innocent and kind hearted people physically and mentally.”

When the reporter asked him the following question: China’s newly appointed premier Wen Jiabao will visit Munich on 2nd May, how will you treat his visit personally? He answered, “I will welcome him and hope he makes a wise decision. We do not object to the government, only those who are directly responsible for the persecution. I also heard that during the 6.4 massacre, Wen accompanied the then Chinese leader Zhao Ziyang to Tiananmen to visit the students who were protesting. At that time, Zhao had lost power. As his secretary, Wen had the courage to accompany him. When he comes to Munich, we will let him see the beauty of Falun Gong and that we are peaceful, and that overseas Falun Gong practitioners have the freedom to practise. As the current Chinese Premier, he should bring out the courage he had during 6.4, make use of his position to end this persecution, thus doing a great deed for the Chinese people. The Chinese people will never forget him then.”

When the reporter asked what thoughts he had of “4.25”, he sighed, “Since the persecution of Falun Gong began, every year on this day I come to the Chinese embassy to protest peacefully. This is the fourth time. The persecution is still continuing, it should have ended earlier. However, the efforts of Falun gong practitioners will awaken the conscience of many people. When I recall April 25, 1999, I can clearly see that Falun Gong practitioners have created a remarkable example for future people. Under such a dangerous mighty political environment, so many people stepped forward willingly. When they were treated with injustice, in order to uphold justice, uphold the truth, they selflessly risked their lives to step forward, yet adopting such peaceful and rational means. They opened a peaceful path for future people. History has recorded such a great page!”