An Overview of Recent Lawsuits and a Look at the Consequences of Contributing to the Persecution of Falun Gong

There has been progress made recently on the overseas lawsuits against Chinese officials directly involved in the persecution of Falun Gong. The former Chinese Minister of Education and current Chinese State Councillor Chen Zhili was sued during her visit to Tanzania by a group of international human rights lawyers on the 19th of July, 2004 for crimes of murder and torture of Chinese teachers and students who practice Falun Gong. Chen is responsible for several dozen deaths and numerous torture cases against Falun Dafa practitioners, and she was called to appear in court in person. On the 3rd of August, the judge's decision at the preliminary hearing in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, concluded the civil action, clearing the way for a criminal trial.

In February of 2004, the Ontario Superior Court ruled that Pan Xinchun, the Chinese Deputy Consul-General in Toronto, was liable for slandering Canadian Falun Gong practitioner Joel Chipkar. On the 14th of July, 2004, the Ontario Superior Court filed a notice with the Bank of China to freeze the personal assets of Pan Xinchun because he refused to comply with the verdict, giving the excuse of consular immunity.

On the 14th of July, 2004, when Zhao Zhizhen was visiting New Haven, Connecticut, he received a summons issued in a U.S. Federal District Court. Zhao Zhizhen is the former Wuhan TV Station Director and the former Wuhan TV and Radio Bureau Director in Hubei Province, China. Zhao Zhizhen is being sued for making propaganda films that incite hatred, violence and genocide against Falun Gong practitioners.

All these defendants have one reaction in common: trying to escape their legal responsibilities through arguments or using governmental channels to exert pressure. In fact, if they had never committed the crimes in the first place, there would never have been any legal action taken against them. However, their actions contributing to the persecution of Falun Gong cannot be ignored.

The "59-Year-Old Phenomenon"

Recently, the "59-Year-Old Phenomenon" has appeared among Chinese officials, in which some officials who had been relatively clean all their lives used the power of their office to commit crimes, turning to corruption right before retirement (60 years old). As a result, they have ruined their own reputations and will have to be responsible for their crimes.

In one's life, bad deeds cannot be excused by the fact that one was previously responsible for doing many good things. That would be just like a murderer trying to escape his legal punishment by arguing that he had always been a good citizen before he committed the killing.

Except for Chen Zhili, who is extremely loyal to Chinese dictator and former President Jiang Zemin's persecution of Falun Gong, many others could have chosen to avoid being Jiang's accomplices in the persecution. Many successful high-ranking governmental officials have not paid enough attention to the Falun Gong issue, have failed to think independently, or have blindly believed Jiang's fabrications. They are deceived by the government-controlled propaganda. In fact, they are trapped by Jiang and his regime, have stopped thinking for themselves, and have passively followed or even actively helped contribute to the persecution in order to gain favour with higher officials and advance their own careers, thereby planting the seeds for punishment in the future.

The recent several decades of various political movements in China have led many officials into the bad habit of "going with the flow," since this strategy was used in the past as a means to achieve success in politics. Some of them do feel the situation with Falun Gong has gotten out of control when intentionally doing harm, knowing full well that the persecution is wrong. However, they ignore the fact that Jiang is damaging the Chinese Constitution and the law, and mechanically follow the "higher orders." They forget that they are being used by Jiang.

Narrow-minded Scientists Playing Politics

Although science has made great progress in the 20th Century, it is still very far from revealing all the mysteries of nature, the human body, and the universe. Actually, current research reports in physics, astronomy, cosmic science, science of the human body, etc. are enough for people to see the limitations of modern science.

There are a few scientists in China who are looking to use politics in order to make a name for themselves, instead of advancing their careers by focusing on research and trying to make breakthroughs in their fields. These people are generally very narrow-minded. They do not know the current frontiers in science, have rigid mentalities and continue to judge new phenomena with outdated theories. Because of their double identities as scientists and politicians, although they have either contributed nothing in their fields or else have stopped at their old contributions, they still can fool many people outside scientific circles.

He Zuoxiu is a typical example. Because of his "Science Academy Member" mantle and being a member of the "Political Consultation Conference," people take him to be an authority, and his slandering Falun Dafa has therefore poisoned many people's minds.

As to the fact that Falun Dafa has quickly spread far and wide across the country, these so-called scientific authorities refuse to find out the real reasons. Instead of conducting research to confirm or deny its validity, they blindly oppose Falun Dafa, basing their judgements on ignorance. They have coined the phrase "fake science" and applied it to Falun Gong in order to gain favour with Jiang and his regime. Another example is Zhao Zhizhen (male) who appeared on the "Scientific Time" TV film with fabricated materials and references attacking Falun Gong, thus supplying the dictator Jiang with a weapon to use in furthering the persecution of Falun Gong.

"One False Step Causes Eternal Regret"

These officials have committed crimes and must be held accountable. Facing the wave of lawsuits overseas, some Chinese officials started worrying about their future: "Am I going to be sued when I travel overseas?" In fact, Falun Dafa practitioners have declared many times that we are only opposing the persecution. The officials who disregard the Chinese law and Constitution by actively joining in the persecution, aiding in the torture and murder of innocent people, are the only ones who are the targets of the lawsuits.

The head criminal Jiang has been sued in Germany, Spain, South Korea, and the United States for genocide, torture, and crimes against humanity. His main helpers, Luo Gan, Zeng Qinghong, Li Lanqing, Zhou Yongkang, Liu Jing, and Bo Xilai have all been sued outside of China as well.

For those lawless officials who follow Jiang and persecute Falun Gong against their conscience for personal gain, they will not only find no escape from justice overseas, but they also cannot escape legal punishment within China itself.

In May 2004, the China Highest Procuratorate launched a yearlong investigation into State employees' human rights violations during the course of their duties. The investigation focuses on five crimes: 1) Large-scale loss of life or property caused by malfeasance; 2) Illegal detention or illegal searches; 3) Interrogation with torture, or collection of evidence by violence; 4) Election corruption, violation of citizens' democratic rights; and 5) Mistreatment of detainees. Jiang and his regime are the targets of this investigation due to their many abuses of power, violations of human rights, and total disregard of the Chinese Constitution and Criminal Law.

Many of us still remember the Cultural Revolution, when lawless people persecuted innocent citizens, including certain officials. The perpetrators were cleaned out after the Cultural Revolution, facing justice in the end. Currently, some of the lawless assistants in Jiang's persecution of Falun Gong have already died of sickness traffic accidents and other sudden causes. They are facing justice, receiving punishment by Heaven's law under which good meets with good and evil meets its due karmic retribution.

Jiang's persecution of Falun Dafa is against Heaven's law and is also losing the hearts of the people. He is quickly walking towards his end, without any way out. The truth of Falun Dafa will soon be fully revealed, and all who have joined in the persecution will be held accountable for their actions.