What If a Clearwisdom Reporter Were Allowed to Interview the Participants of the Staged "Self-Immolation Incident?"

After the follow up interview of the participants of the staged "Self Immolation Incident" that took place in April 2002, the former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin and his group repeated the same deception in January 2005 by inviting reporters from inside and outside of China to interview the victims in a strictly controlled setting.

In order to reveal the truth, it is first necessary to let reporters that truly want to find the truth conduct the interview. Let's assume that a Clearwisdom (Clearwisdom is a Falun Gong related website) reporter were asked to interview the participants of the "Self Immolation." What kind of questions would the reporter ask, and what would be his or her requirements?

1. Why is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) silent about Liu Chunling and her daughter?

Liu Chunling and her daughter Liu Siying died as a result of the staged "Self Immolation." They were both used as key figures in the propaganda designed to instigate hatred against Falun Gong--so why have we not heard about them in the follow up reports?

One reason might be because Liu was not burned to death on Tiananmen Square as claimed, but was killed on the spot by a man wearing an overcoat. When the video is played in slow motion, this fact is obvious, and it has become a big problem for Jiang and his followers. As a result, in the video shown later, the state controlled media edited this section out. There are many suspicious points in the staged "Self Immolation," and the CCP has tried to cover up their old lies by making new lies (for example, by doing follow up interviews with participants like Wang Jindong), yet it has been totally silent regarding Liu Chunling and her daughter.

Of course, when interviewing the participants, a Clearwisdom reporter would first play the videos for them in slow motion. We wonder what the participants like Wang Jindong would think after watching Liu Chunling being struck and killed from behind?

2. Interviewing the man who killed Liu Chunling is required

From the slow motion video of the "Focal Point Interviews," a man wearing an overcoat can be seen using a heavy object to hit Liu Chunling's head from behind, resulting in Liu's death. After the fire on Liu's body had long since been extinguished, the policemen continued to spray her with the fire extinguisher, while the killer turned around and left in the middle of the fog. Through the video and other policemen present, it should be very easy to find out who the killer was, and it would be a reasonable request from the Clearwisdom reporter to interview him.

3. If there were no persecution, would there have been a staged "Self Immolation Incident?"

After the incident, the CCP's propaganda about the incident sounded like this: "Before the 'Self Immolation,' people had not realised the harmfulness of Falun Gong. Now everyone is clear about that." This comment is revealing, because it shows how the Jiang group badly needed to create the "Self Immolation Incident" in order to instigate hatred toward Falun Gong.

In all the CCP's reports about the incident, one important question has never been answered: Where in Falun Gong's teachings does it ask people to commit suicide by setting themselves on fire?

As a cultivation system, Falun Gong talks about "Consummation." This cultivation term is used in both the Buddha school and Dao school, and it refers to a cultivator reaching a selfless, lofty realm, obtaining great wisdom, and being able to understand the principles of the cosmos and human life. It is also called "reaching enlightenment." "Consummation" has nothing to do with death. In fact, Falun Gong teachings clearly prohibit killing and committing suicide, and consider both of these two actions grave sins.

When Wang Jindong, who claimed to have cultivated Falun Gong for many years, was asked whether Falun Gong taught him to "Self Immolate," his reply was "No." In fact, he never committed "Self Immolation" before the persecution started. Falun Gong was made public in 1992. As of January 2001, almost 10 years had passed, and out of the tens of millions of practitioners, no one had committed "Self Immolation." Then, why did a "Self Immolation" take place just 18 months after Jiang and his followers started to persecute Falun Gong, and were having a hard time sustaining the persecution?

According to reports from the Xinhua News Agency, Liu Yunfang, who never ignited herself, was the most important "organiser" of the incident. Liu clearly did what she did against the teachings of Falun Gong, but because Liu used the name of Falun Gong, the CCP has used that as an excuse to persecute Falun Gong. Following the same logic, if a criminal who instigated others to do bad deeds had read scriptures of Buddhism and the Bible, should Buddhism and Christianity then be eliminated? The CCP has created thousands of corrupt officials--who should be responsible for that? Who has given the Xinhua News Agency the right to use such a double standard?

4. Requesting an interview with the photographer

According to CCTV (Central China Television), the "Self Immolation Incident" was sudden and unexpected, yet the photographer recorded Wang Jindong's loud shouts, detailed pictures of Wang's face and entire body, as well as policemen slowly walking in front of him. Technically, the recordings are the result of a lot of careful preparation, not scenes captured in a hurry.

Who is the photographer? He is also a witness to this incident. CCTV had access to the films, so they certainly should be able to find the photographer, and it would be reasonable for a Clearwisdom reporter to ask to interview him.

5. Requesting to interview the "Wang Jindong" who was present at the "Self Immolation Incident"

Three different men representing "Wang Jindong" appear in the reports of the state run media. The "Wang Jindong" interviewed recently looks very different from the one present at the original incident. Voice analysis (by a voice analysis lab in Taiwan University) of the recently interviewed "Wang Jindong" and the initial "Wang Jindong" proved conclusively that they are two different persons.

If we were to ask the recently appearing "Wang Jindong" why he could not even sit in the proper cross-legged position, why his words were not something a Falun Gong practitioner would say, and why the plastic bottle full of gasoline did not catch fire, how would he reply? Also, why, after the staged "Self Immolation Incident," was "Wang Jindong" transferred quickly to another hospital and isolated from the outside world.

Who is the "Wang Jindong" on Tiananmen Square? It would be perfectly reasonable for the Clearwisdom reporter to request an interview with him.

6. Requesting to interview the doctors in Jishuitan Hospital

The reporter would also ask a few basic medical questions while interviewing the doctors who "treated" the victims: "Why were the burned patients covered up with gauze? Why were the reporters from CCTV not wearing masks and isolation clothes?" Four days after a tracheotomy, Liu Siying was able to speak and sing loudly, which would seem impossible according to common medical knowledge. Liu Siying was in good condition and ready to leave the hospital. Why did she die suddenly?

7. Requesting to interview related personnel in the Xinhua News Agency and CCTV

In their propaganda related to the "Self Immolation Incident," the Xinhua News Agency and CCTV have always claimed that the participants were Falun Gong practitioners, and thus the "Self Immolation" was the result of practising Falun Gong. In the interview with these media workers, a Clearwisdom reporter might want to ask them this question: If people such as Wang Jindong, Chen Guo, and Liu Yunfang were really practitioners, then they would know about the principles that Falun Dafa practitioners should not kill or commit suicide. Their irrational actions were completely against the teachings of Falun Gong. Is it reasonable to blame Falun Gong for these people's actions?

8. What is the true motive behind the "Self Immolation?"

The fundamental question surrounding this incident has to do with the purpose of the "Self Immolation," the motive. About that, CCP's media have given really confusing explanations.

Once they said that it was because of a dream of an old woman from Northeast China; another time they said it was a feeling of Liu Yunfang; yet another time they said it was from something implied in one of Teacher's articles (whether or not the article was truly written by the founder of Falun Gong, Mr Li Hongzhi is another story); finally they said it was about "stepping forward to clarify the truth." (thus mixing "Self Immolation" with concept of "clarifying the truth.")

All of the above so called "motives" cannot cover up the real purpose: When the Jiang group could no longer sustain their persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, they desperately needed a tragic incident through which they could deceive people and demonise Falun Gong. Thus, Jiang and his group both staged and benefited from the "Self Immolation Incident."