United Kingdom: A Letter from a Chinese National Working in the UK to the Chinese Embassy in South Africa

Dear Staff Members of the Chinese Embassy,

I am a Chinese national working in the United Kingdom. I was deeply shocked by the atrocity that occurred in South Africa. What astonished me even more is the declaration that the Chinese Embassy issued two days after the occurrence of the incident. In normal cases, the Embassy’s statement would express shock and distress of the Chinese Government toward this atrocity. It should convey the concerns and sympathy to the victim, and try the best to help him. It should also condemn the terror, and urge the government of South Africa to break through the criminal case as soon as possible. On the other hand, the Embassy should carry out effective measures to ensure that the state visit can be continued without interruption. However, neither did you express sympathy or solicitude to the victim, nor did you denounce the terrorist conduct. Contradictory to the normal practice, you baselessly charged the atrocity was a conspiracy fabricated by the victim. Such kind of declaration that goes against international practice and harms the national feeling that has made you fail to live up to the standards of diplomacy. Meanwhile, your reaction also leads people to ponder what it means behind the scenes.

You may explain it is because the victim is a Falun Gong practitioner such that the treatment is different. That would imply Falun Gong practitioners are not considered as citizens, but are enemies of the Chinese people. Regarding the notion of enemy, more people might believe in it several decades ago. It is the twenty-first century, an era in which people generally accepted that there is no class hatred between different persons. The so-called “deeply-rooted hatred” against landowners, wealthy people, anti-revolutionists, rascals and rightists in the past has been proven to be unjust. They are good people as we are. The only difference is that they were regarded as a thorn in the flesh and were persecuted consequently. When we recall such a kind of discrimination, don’t you agree that it occurred because people were deceived and manipulated?

You may know that every one of the seven senior members of the Central Political Committee had some family members practising Falun Gong. On July 20th 1999, it was Jiang Zemin’s sole decision to persecute Falun Gong. Everybody of good sense could tell why Jiang opposed Falun Gong, because of his personal jealousy. Even Jiang himself knew that Falun Gong was not against the Chinese government. According to a health survey conducted by the Chinese Physical Education Committee in 1998 on ten thousand people, more than 97% of the surveyed population enjoyed significant health improvement through practising Falun Gong. When practitioners start practising Falun Gong, they ask themselves to fulfil the standards of “truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance”. By cherishing virtue and doing good deeds, they become good people in society. In a poll conducted by the Central Communist Party School in 2000 regarding the top ten social abuses in China, degeneration and corruption was ranked number one. Falun Gong was not on the list. I believe inside your heart, you don’t agree with this political persecution, either.

Let us look back on history. Every new sovereign brings his own courtiers. There is no dynasty that could escape from the fate of being replaced. Time will eventually provide fair assessment. Falun Gong is the largest case of injustice in China’s history. It will not take long before this statement is validated. When the investigation report, “The self-immolation at Tiananmen Square was manipulated and directed by the Chinese government”, was publicised in the annual meeting of UN’s Human Rights Commission two years ago, the Chinese delegation didn’t say a single word. None of them wanted to stand up and defend Jiang. I think everyone has a yardstick or a weighing scale in his heart. Those people who want to chase the tide of politics will never have a good end.

I am sure you know much better than I do about Zeng Qinghong. In order to accomplish his tasks as a special agent, he collected the personal information of top-ranked officers in the Chinese government by every possible means. Zeng Qinghong would do whatever to please Jiang because that was the trick that gained his promotion. As a Chinese who live overseas, you should have known a lot of these facts, and have been aware that Jiang and the top officers of the “610 Office” (including Zeng) have been sued around the world. Sooner or later, they have to pay back for the wrongdoing and heinous crimes they have committed.

As a Chinese saying goes, “Never resort to extremes. Spare a route of retreat for yourself.” To maintain a long-term political stability, the best way is to implement a policy in accordance with what the citizens want. Democracy and freedom is the trend of history. Whoever follows the trend will prosper; whoever goes against it will decline. No matter whether it is the Storm Troops and the Elite Echelons loyal to Hitler during the Nazi era, the KGB loyal to Stalin or the daring revolutionists during the Cultural Revolution, whoever pledges loyalty to dictatorship doesn’t have a good end. On the contrary, gods are overseeing you and people are weighing you in their hearts. History will remember you and people will thank you if you live up to your conscience and justice, and do not participate in tyranny.

The incident in South Africa has caused you to become the focus and spotlight in the world. Innumerable pairs of eyes are looking at you. In fact, what course to take and how to choose are all within your own control. No matter how your superiors demand, there is still plenty of room for manoeuvre when you are carrying out their orders. As a matter of fact, there are so many ways for making a living. Why do you bundle yourself in with the evil regime? Even the Minister of the Business Department, Bao Xilai, acknowledged that he participated in the persecution against Falun Gong. It is because he had been a member of Jiang’s evil group, and he had no choice. I believe you are a man who knows this logic. You wouldn’t want to be a scapegoat, accompanying them down to hell.

A saying prevalent in Chinese society states that there are three levels of being honest. The highest level is having the courage to tell the truth, but the cost is very high. The second level is to keep silent, pretending to be mute and blind. The third level is to say something totally irrelevant. The subordinates can always find countermeasures against the policy set by their superiors. As long as you can find a way to react to your superiors’ order, you should not commit the evildoing with them. I don’t know you in person. The reason why I am writing this letter to you is simply to remind you how we should cherish ourselves, and plan for our own future.

All that I have written is very easy to understand. As humans, we have to think for our own future, and think for our offspring. Please imagine when the miscarriage of justice for “the June 4th event” and Falun Gong are reversed ten years form now, how will you explain to people when they ask you what you do now. Do not forget, history will remember everything.

I wish you could think thrice before you act.

Respectfully yours,