Alleged "Self-Immolation" on Nanchang Street Shows that Chinese Communist Party Is on Its Last Legs

On November 3rd, 2005, ChinaNews.com and Beijing Daily published a report that a woman set herself on fire at about 9:00 a.m. on November 2nd on the sidewalk at the southern end of Beijing's Nanchang Street. The report further said, "This woman was Li Xiaoying, a Falun Gong practitioner from Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province."

The report said that the police "detected the self-immolation and took rescue action immediately. [The woman] was sent to the hospital for emergency care and died there." Actually, with the exception of very vicious and serious criminal cases, the police are not usually present during accidents involving one individual. Perhaps the following similar cases can shed light on the peculiar circumstances in this case.

I can recall two other instances where the police were present and "took care" of a self-immolation or burning victim.

The first was the afternoon of January 23rd, 2001, when several people set themselves on fire on Tiananmen Square. According to Beijing Evening News, "there were three or four policemen around each self-immolator, putting out the fire." The report said that the police brought out fire distinguisher's and fire blankets from the police van. The fire was put out in less than a minute. The "self-immolators" were taken to the hospital for "emergency care." But video evidence later suggested that, while the police were putting out fire, one of the "self-immolators," Liu Chunling, was hit in the head with a heavy object and died from the injury (see the top right captions highlighting the strike in the below picture). Her daughter Liu Siying was taken to the hospital, and later died of an unexplained cause.

International Education Development (IED), an NGO recognised by the United Nations, during the 53rd Session of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights on August 14th, 2001 stated: "In our investigation, the only deaths have been at the hands of the Chinese authorities." IED further said, "[T]his event was staged by the government." The Chinese delegation did not respond when presented with the evidence. The statement is now part of the UN's official records.

The second instance was the burning of a live person in Macheng City, Hubei Province on April 18th, 2001. Central News Agency reported on April 22nd, 2001 that police in Hubei Province burned a person to death. At 1:30 p.m. on April 18th, 2001, the entire city was under martial law, and no vehicles could pass through. The next day, the new reports said that a Falun Gong practitioner set herself on fire on Jinyuan Square in front of City Hall. Her face was burned beyond recognition. Later, it was verified that the victim was Falun Gong practitioner Wang Huajun.

Practitioner Wang Huajun

However, eyewitnesses told a different story. They said that Ms. Wang was lying on the ground when the fire started. When the fire started to burn, she moved, trying to get up. The police officers at the scene panicked because they were afraid she would call out the truth. But by this time Ms. Wang was so exhausted from the severe torture she endured that she could no longer stand up. Finally, when the fire had gone out completely, it was found that the front of her body was burned while her back did not have any signs of burning. Moreover, there were deep knife wounds on her throat and the back of her head.

Ms. Wang was only 35 years old. During the initial period when the local police and hired thugs massively persecuted Falun Gong, Ms. Wang was sent to the Houzishan Seniors Home for detention and brainwashing. After her release, because she made a public statement to nullify what she signed during the brainwashing session, she was sent to the Macheng City Public Security Bureau again, where she suffered all kinds of torture and was almost beaten to death.

Clearwisdom.net reported that Ms. Li Xiaoying, a Falun Gong practitioner from Shijiazhuang City, was illegally detained and tortured at the Shijiazhuang City No. 2 Prison. She was still not released after her term was over. Instead, the police imposed fines of over 10,000 yuan (Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China) on her and sent her to the Hebei Province Legal System Education Centre (actually a brainwashing class) for additional persecution. Furthermore, Shijiazhuang City No. 2 Women's Prison authorities did not allow Falun Gong practitioners to be released on bail for medical treatment.

Due to the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP's) tight censorship of information on the truth of the persecution of Falun Gong, the details of Li Xiaoying's persecution are yet to be known and verified. However, the countless bloody facts and malicious ploys of the CCP and the group led by Jiang in this genocide against Falun Gong leave no doubt that this so-called "self-immolation" on Nanchang Street is another evil act orchestrated by the CCP.

At a time when Jiang's persecution policy was losing public support, the staged "self-immolation" incident on Tiananmen Square in 2001 served to instigate hatred among the Chinese people who didn't know the truth, and was used to "justify" the evil persecution. The recent "self-immolation" on Nanchang Street, however, occurred at a time when the persecution is widely known and condemned, when Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance is being cherished by people the world over, when Falun Gong is well respected and praised, when the lawsuits and trials of the criminals who have committed crimes against humanity are progressing, and when the wicked Party is on the brink of collapse. The incident cannot save the CCP and the group led by Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, and Zeng Qinghong.