Has Hu Jintao Decided to Inherit the Blame for Jiang Zemin?

I heard today that during November 16-17, while Hu Jintao was visiting Argentina as China's Chairman, Falun Gong practitioners went to peacefully appeal to Hu Jintao and the Chinese delegation and held up banners that said, "Falun Dafa is good", "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" and called for "Bringing Jiang Zemin to Justice." At several different appeal sites and almost right in front of the Chinese delegation headed by Hu Jintao, Chinese Embassy officials used violence to wrestle away and destroy the Falun Gong practitioners' banners, even using knives to cut apart the banners.

This January when Hu Jintao was visiting France, Falun Gong practitioners went to welcome him and appealed to bring Jiang Zemin to justice. The French police detained and interrogated several practitioners who had gone there to peacefully appeal and to welcome Hu. The BBC reported on January 29 that some French newspapers asked President Chirac, how much economic benefit did all of this pandering and bowing to Hu bring to France? French newspaper Le Figaro commented that President Chirac's actions to please Hu Jintao went over the line. The World Daily expressed that ignoring China's terrible human rights record is unforgivable, "Diplomacy has never been something that can be made up out of thin air but is based on concrete things, so pragmatic diplomacy cannot put a false façade on top of the fact that China tramples on human rights."

According to a report by Voice of America on June 10, 2004, Hu Jintao visited Poland on June 8. On the day of his arrival, a Polish attorney said that the "welcome team" organised by the Chinese Embassy started off by physically jostling other appealers. They then held up red "Party faithful" banners attempting to block the Tibetan flags hoisted by those appealing for a free Tibet and to block Falun Gong practitioners banners that read, "Bring Jiang Zemin to Justice" and "Falun Dafa Is Good". The attorney said, "They were very aggressive. One of the drivers for the welcome team jumped out of the car and started to assault a Falun Gong practitioner, but was stopped by the Polish police." The unique "welcome" provided by the Chinese Embassy prompted strong reactions from Polish society.

So far we have not seen Hu Jintao take any public position himself regarding the many incidents of Chinese diplomatic delegations trampling on human rights and violating laws in the countries they are stationed at, nor have we seen any attempts to hold the perpetrators responsible.

During this trip to four Latin America countries by Hu Jintao, even though he only stayed in Argentina for two days, incidents of peacefully appealing Falun Gong practitioners being assaulted right in front of him have happened repeatedly. As China's paramount leader, his silence towards the Chinese diplomatic mission and their cohorts' vicious acts constitutes acknowledgement and encouragement.

It has been more than two years since Hu Jintao ascended to the position of the country's Chairman. The persecution of Falun Gong in China is still continuing. Everyday many practitioners are continuing to be subjected to senseless, illegal and brutal persecution, and some areas have seen escalated and even more cases of torture. In these more than two years, countless practitioners have been illegally detained, brainwashed, illegally sentenced, murdered, and countless practitioners have had their families ruined and torn apart.

On November 18 alone, while the violent incidents in Argentina were taking place, we could see that the Minghui website published nearly 20 articles documenting persecution cases in China, which is now under Hu Jintao's leadership.

One of these cases details Jilin Province's Number 2 Prison officials stabbing Falun Gong practitioners with needles, shocking them with electric batons, hanging them up and scalding them with boiling water, forcing them to sit on ridged stools for 24 hours a day except for eating and going to the bathroom, and other forms of torture. For those who refused to give up Falun Gong, they are forced onto the "stretching bed". The practitioners' limbs are immobilised by four rings on the bed, which are then pulled hard. As the rings get pulled harder and harder, the victim's body arches and is elevated from the bed, stretching the arms and legs and causing the joints and tendons to be torn and dislocated. The victims' arms and legs are handicapped to the point where they cannot even crawl or put on clothing by themselves.

Another example is the Zhengzhou Shibalihe Forced Labour Camp in Henan Province, which was constructed under Jiang Zemin's direction. This particular forced labour camp's officials directed thugs to torture female practitioners by pulling on their breasts and stabbing their vaginas with screwdrivers.

Recently, people who exposed the tragedy in Chongqing, where Chongqing University's third-year Master's student in High Voltage Power Transmission Wei Xingyan was raped by police, were targets of reprisals from the police. These people upheld the basic rights granted to them and their friends by the Constitution and tried to safeguard a noble belief and morality. They did not receive encouragement and support from Hu Jintao's administration, but instead they were illegally sentenced and subjected to torture.

In the past two years, how many people have been tortured to death, how many had to leave their homes or had their families torn apart, how many had their homes ransacked or were subjected to huge fines, how many families were illegally detained for persecution and had the elderly and children deprived of incomes to cover their living expenses? How many people and work units were forcibly implicated because of relatives and colleagues practising Falun Gong? All of these cases put together are in excess of 100 million. This persecution has created countless social problems, and the persecution cases over the last two years are just the tip of the iceberg.

Facing these facts, how can Hu Jintao, as China's Chairman, deny responsibility?

In the two years since Hu took the position of China's Chairman, Jiang Zemin's faction has superseded the law with individual desires, and has continued to ruthlessly trample China's Constitution and deprive all of the Falun Gong practitioners' rights. These actions have not been judged by law at all, but instead have received Hu Jintao's tacit consent.

A Chinese saying goes, "Every injustice has a source, and every debt has someone who needs to repay it." Falun Gong practitioners have no interest in any political power, government or political party, and hold no position towards any of these things. But we will pursue all of those individuals and groups responsible for this persecution, and we will pursue this till the end. This is for the sake of our noble fellows who gave their lives in the course of upholding their beliefs and to help people position "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" correctly in their hearts, thereby helping more Chinese people reestablish the right moral baseline. A country that tells its people to reject and even hate "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" cannot possibly have social stability or a bright outlook for its future.

Jiang Zemin, because of his unilateral decision to persecute Falun Gong, is sure to go down in shame in the annals of history. In the near future, he will assuredly meet his due when judged by the laws of the world and be condemned by the public. The overseas Falun Gong practitioners' activities to hold public trials and bring lawsuits against Jiang and other perpetrators are merely a prologue to what will happen in China. This is an inevitability of history.

We would like to ask, based on this incident in Argentina, is Hu Jintao making a choice between Jiang Zemin and Falun Gong? Does Hu Jintao want to shoulder the criminal responsibility for this persecution alongside Jiang Zemin?

I hope that Hu Jintao will wake up immediately and carry out his responsibilities based on his conscience.

(Commentary by Clearwisdom correspondent Qingshan)