Taiwan: Press Conference Exposes the Xinhua News Agency's Slander of Falun Gong

At 2:00pm on October 19th, 2004, Taiwan Falun Dafa Association held a press conference in Kaohsiung, Taiwan to lodge a formal complaint about the Xinhua News Agency's slander of Falun Gong. A written protest was delivered to Xinhua Deputy Director Xu Xi'an and others, exposing their crimes of polluting the university campus and disseminating and inciting hatred. Local practitioner Ying Xiangmao is going to file a lawsuit against Deputy Director Xu Xi'an and others. The lawsuit holds the parties responsible for verbal assaults against Mr Ying Xiangmao on October 17th at Sun Moon Lake in Taizhong.

Falun Gong practitioner Mr Ying Xiangmao rings the bell at Kaohsiung Prosecutor's Office to lodge complaint about the Xinhua News Agency's slander

Falun Dafa Association Secretary Hung Chi-hung exposes Xinhua News Agency's fabrication of false news

Xinhua News Agency endlessly fabricates false news as part of Jiang Zemin's propaganda campaign to demonise Falun Gong

A Xinhua News Agency visiting delegation of nine people from the Mainland began their ten-day visit to Taiwan on October 11th, 2004 at the invitation of Taiwan's Union Newspaper Culture Foundation. Taiwan Falun Dafa Association Secretary Mr Hung Chi-hung pointed out that Deputy Director Xu Xi'an, once compiled a book named "School Campuses Refuse Evil Cult" when he worked as a Standing Committee member of Beijing Municipal Party Committee, Secretary of Education and Labour Commission and Director of Beijing Education Commission. The book aims to slander and attack Falun Gong. It has been issued and promoted in schools of all levels in China to incite students' hatred of Falun Gong. At the same time, Xu Xi'an has also actively promoted various activities against Falun Gong.

Another Xinhua News Agency journalist, Li Jingchen, has been publishing articles opposing Falun Gong for a long time. He described Falun Gong practitioners as criminals who commit suicide and murder others. The contents of his articles completely deviate from the truth.

During the press conference, a film about the staged Tiananmen Self-immolation incident on January 23rd, 2001 was played. Falun Dafa Association (South Branch) spokesperson Mr Yu pointed out the flaws in the self-immolation incident, showing how the incident had been staged as a propaganda stunt.

Mr Liu, representing the Association for Rescue of Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners, mentioned that the number of Falun Gong practitioners who have died as a result of persecution in China has currently reached 1078. There are still hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners who have been illegally sentenced to prison, forced labour and subjected to torture. Among them, 51.4% are women practitioners, 47.7% are male practitioners. Their average age is 45 years old. On average, 17 practitioners have died from persecution per month. Their families are broken up. Mr Liu called for an immediate end to the persecution and return of Falun Gong's reputation.

Mr Chen, spokesperson for the Falun Gong Society in universities and collages expressed his regret and sorrow for young students in China who have been deceived by the media's false reports and whose minds have been instilled with lies and rumours. He called upon Chinese Youth to break through Internet blockage to learn more about facts.

Falun Gong practitioners accuse the Xinhua News Agency delegation members of blatant verbal abuse

Falun Gong practitioner Mr Ying Xiangmao explained that on October 16th, 2004, when he kindly spoke to Xu Xi'an at Sun Moon Lake in hopes that the Xinhua News Agency would be honest and fair in its reporting, Xu blatantly insulted him. Mr Ying Xiangmao decided to ring the bell to Kaohsiung Prosecutor's Office on October 19th to accuse Xu, and would deliver a written protest to the hotel where the Xinhua News Agency delegation stayed later in the day.

History repeats itself

Mr Yu took as an example the crimes that the German Army committed during WWII against the Jewish people. At the time, a magazine named Der Sturmer, which was anti-semitic, depicted the Jewish people as the enemy of the country, criminals and murderers who attempted to control and seize the German power, and who used pseudoscience. Later the chief editor of the magazine Julius Streicher was charged with crimes against humanity and sentenced to death at the Nuremberg trials after the war.

During the Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Gong, Falun Gong practitioners have also been labelled as, amongst other things, "enemies, criminals and murderers who attempt to seize power, use pseudoscience and superstition". Xu Xi'an and others from the Xinhua News Agency have been continuously slandering and smearing Falun Gong in the past five years, and fabricating false news to incite hatred. The crimes they have committed are as severe as those of Julius Streicher. They will be held accountable for those crimes.

Finally, Falun Gong practitioners called upon Xu Xi'an and others in the Xinhua News Agency to immediately stop slandering Falun Gong and stop inciting hatred. Mr Hung expressed that filing a suit is not the purpose, the purpose is to let all people in the world learn about the slander and smear imposed upon Falun Gong, and the fact that Xinhua News Agency and other official media in China have aggravated the persecution by fabricating false news. We call upon the media to make fair and just reports, uphold justice and help end the persecution.