Forced to "Guard the Poles," Changchun Policemen Express Resentment Towards the Gestapo Like 610 Office System

Before July 1999, police officers in Changchun City of China took turns being on duty during holidays. However, after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started to persecute Falun Gong in July of 1999, holidays suddenly become "sensitive days" for the CCP and the "day of hard labour" for police.

During 2006, there were seven consecutive holidays after October 1st. Most people looked forward to it. However, the policemen of Changchun City felt the opposite. They cursed the 610 Office system. Why? Because they had to perform guard duty during the holidays. (the 610 Office was created with the sole aim of persecuting Falun Gong who have power over normal law)

After Falun Gong practitioners successfully tapped into the cable TV network in 2002, a policeman stood under the cable TV poles outside the Changchun Cable TV station during the holidays around the clock. The duty of the policeman is to guard the cable TV poles, to prevent anyone from climbing up and tapping into the cable TV again because Jiang Zemin said four years ago, "If this cable TV was tapped into again, all of the provincial and municipal officials will be fired."

This year, the duty of "guarding the poles" is different from previous years. Their superiors ordered that the policemen must "guard the poles" well. It seemed that guarding poles is more important than guard duty while the country's president visits Changchun City. Guard duty for the president lasts only a few hours, while guarding poles requires standing for 24 hours.

Because of the hot weather during the seven days, a lot of people stayed outside playing chess or card games. Right outside my home, I chatted with the person who was guarding cable TV poles. The young guy was a policeman from the local police station. He wore plain clothes and looked bored. Since we talked very congenially, he told me the reason for his duty. The Public Security Bureau sent a notice that some equipment for tapping into cable TV was transported from overseas into Jilin Province.

Government officials were scared. In order to prevent the incident from happening again, they immediately arranged policemen to "strictly monitor and guard with their lives" all the cable TV poles in Jilin Province during the holiday period. In order to make sure the order was executed, policemen needed to guard the poles themselves. Hiring other people to perform the duty was not allowed. The duty required eight hour shifts around the clock. In addition, the policemen who were in charge of guarding the posts were monitored and checked by their local police station, 610 Office, and the National Security Group of the city.

This policeman told me that he and his colleagues despised people from the 610 Office, since they only knew how to persecute Falun Gong, instead of having real police skills. In addition, rather than guarding the posts themselves, they monitored and checked the policemen who were on duty. He felt angry about the arrangement. He also told me that most of his colleagues did not understand the purpose of the duty. They thought if the Falun Gong problem was not fully solved, they were unwilling to guard the poles forever. They also cursed those 610 Officers. They weren't righteous in any way, they were simply after money.

I asked him what his thoughts were about Falun Gong. He said that he has talked to many Falun Gong practitioners, and felt they were benign, common people. In addition, Falun Gong was widespread in foreign countries. He wished that the problem would be solved as soon as possible so that people can get back to their lives.

Falun Gong originated in Changchun. Under the long-term persecution, Falun Gong practitioners of Changchun City put their lives in jeopardy to clarify the truth. Many people, including a majority of the policemen, have changed their ideas about Falun Gong. Currently, this policeman totally understands that the 610 Office cannot do anything good. Isn't this a huge change?