The Chinese Government Never Officially "Banned" Falun Gong, Part 3

After July 20, 1999, media or even scholarly works outside of China have often used the words, "The Chinese government has banned Falun Gong since July of 1999." It is my belief that the Chinese Communist Party has never had a legal basis for its eleven-year persecution of Falun Gong, because the Chinese government never officially banned Falun Gong. I won't delve into the subject of the current Chinese government's legitimacy itself since its inception in 1949 for now, but even according to the Chinese government's own laws, the persecution by the CCP and Jiang Zemin's gang is illegal.

The first cause of most people's confusion is seeing the "CCP" and the "Chinese government" as being interchangeable, or even mixing up the head of the CCP with China the country or the Chinese government as an entity. The second cause is that the CCP intentionally uses this term in its propaganda to confuse public opinion. A third cause is their lack of understanding of what it means to ban something in a legal sense.

III. The Persecution of Falun Gong Was Initiated by Jiang Zemin's Illegal, Personal Decision, and a Political Movement Resulting from Attempts by Jiang Zemin, the CCP, and the Chinese Government to Use Each Other. It Is Anything But the Implementation of Law.

The below are excerpts from internal CCP documents, speeches, and correspondence, illustrating the fact that the persecution resulted from Jiang and the CCP using and helping each other to their own ends.

A. On April 27, 1999, the Secretariat's Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party issued a secret document entitled, "Notice regarding printing and distributing the the letter from comrade Jiang Zemin to the Standing Committee of the Politburo and other senior leaders." The notice required CCP members to study the letter written by Jiang on the evening of April 25, one that is filled with jealousy, paranoia, and vicious lies. The notice required that all CCP members study the contents, implement them, and report back to the Central Committee. Based on this notice, Jiang was the person who turned the truth upside down regarding the Falun Gong practitioners peaceful, legitimate appeal on April 25. The letter itself and this notice also implied that his will was imposed upon the higher levels of the Chinese government, as the request was not for commentary or feedback, but rather to study and implement the content.

B. By looking at the content of Jiang's letter, we can find several striking mistruths that served as alarming signs of an impending political movement.

* "Do they have some kind of relationship with forces outside of China, specifically the West, and is there a 'hidden master' controlling things behind the scenes?" - A baseless accusation that is to lend an excuse for the persecution.

* "Could it be that the Marxism that is common to all of us Communists, and the materialism and atheism that we believe in, cannot defeat that bunch of stuff that Falun Gong is propagating? If that were really the case, wouldn't that be the biggest joke!" - The basis for the ideological side of the persecution that Jiang intends to start.

* "This incident points out the extent to which the political-ideological work and the work with the masses have fallen in certain places and departments. We must educate the broader cadres and the masses with the correct world view, life view, and value system... It is high time that the leaders at each level, especially the senior level leaders, wake up!" This is a sign that the persecution was started without the initial backing of the high-level officials and a decision made by Jiang, and therefore it was necessary to "educate the broader cadres" and to have the senior leaders "wake up."

C. A second secret document was also issued by the Secretariat's Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, this time requiring CCP members to "Study and implement comrade Jiang's speech during the Central Committee Politburo meeting regarding the urgent handling and resolution of the 'Falun Gong problem'". This document was issued on June 7, 1999, and the direct result of this speech was the establishment of the {610 Office} three days later. Jiang said in his speech, "The Falun Gong problem has a deep socio-political background, even a complex international background. This is the most severe incident since that political crisis in 1989. We must face it seriously, look into it deeply, and implement forceful countermeasures." The fact that Jiang places the "Falun Gong problem" in the context of the 1989 June 4 Tiananmen Massacre is another indication that a full-fledged, nationwide persecution is about to commence.

D. This speech further stated, "The Central Committee has agreed to establish a special task force to deal with the 'Falun Gong problem', to be headed up by comrade Li Lanqing. Comrade Li Lanqing will serve as the task force leader, with comrades Ding Guangen and Luo Gan serving as deputy leaders, and the comrades responsible for the relevant departments serving as task force members, thereby centrally determining the specific steps, methods, and means to deal with the 'Falun Gong problem.' The Central Committee and government organs, ministries, and commissions at each province, autonomous region, and directly controlled municipalities must cooperate closely with this effort." The task force mentioned here is the predecessor to the "Leadership Group for the Chinese Communist Central Committee in Dealing with the Falun Gong Problem", and its subordinate organization "Office of the Leadership Group for the Chinese Communist Central Committee in Dealing with the Falun Gong Problem."

This office also became known as the "610 Office" based on the date on which it was established. This Gestapo-like organization reached every province and city and permeated the government at each level, using the people's hard-earned money to persecute kind people and committing a litany of crimes over the past eleven years. There are a couple of points to be made here. One is that the 610 Office was established based on Jiang's personal decision. Usually, the "Central Committee" refers to the the "Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party" or the "Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party", in other words, a reference to the CCP rather than the Chinese government. In this case, Jiang's speech about the formation of the "leadership task force" was made to the Politburo, informing them of the decision, rather than bringing up an agenda item. If this decision by the "Central Committee" were made at a previous meeting, then there would be no need for Jiang to inform the same committee of its earlier decision, so the only logical explanation is that Jiang made the decision on behalf of the committee and then informed them of "their" decision. In other words, the "decision by the central committee" was in reality a decision by Jiang as an individual. In allowing this to come to pass and thus the long-term political movement that is the persecution of Falun Gong, the current party bosses of the CCP have an undeniable responsibility.

E. The pronouncement of "the Central Committee and government organs, ministries, and commissions at each province, autonomous region, and directly controlled municipalities must cooperate closely with this effort" in effect gave the 610 Office power to supersede the existing political infrastructure in accomplishing its goals. Even though the government at all levels were to cooperate with that organization, it was accountable only to Jiang himself. Before Jiang stepped down, it was a persecution tool at Jiang's direct disposal.

F. This speech also required the leadership group to gather information about the situation of past and present Falun Gong practitioners, yet these "situations" were predetermined. Soon after this speech, false allegations of Falun Gong practitioners "suffering psychosis, committing suicide, 1,400 deaths due to not taking medicine" quickly sprung up as a result of the 610 Office's baseless charges.

G. Another document was issued in between the above two notices, "Notice from the the Secretariat's Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Regarding Distributing the Notice by Comrade Jiang to the Central Committee Politburo, Secretariat, and Military Commission". This was issued around May 25, immediately preceding the provincial Communist Standing Committee meetings held on May 28. Currently, we do not have a copy of this document. Judging from a provincial-level document "Notice Regarding Seriously Implementing the Spirit of Document 19" issued by the Hebei Province Communist Committee Secretariat, the content of that notice was to secretly prepare for the persecution of Falun Gong. This document was discovered by the Hebei Provincial government General Affairs Agency's Human Resources Deputy Section Chief Xu Xinmu. The Shijiazhuang Falun Gong Assistance Centre assistant Duan Rongxin and Xu Xinmu were sentenced to five and four years in prison, respectively, for this document getting out.

H. On June 14, 1999, major Chinese media reported on "Key Points Regarding Appeals Office Leadership Receiving Falun Gong Appellants". These reports refuted rumours regarding an impending persecution, and reiterated the theme of those who spoke with Falun Gong representatives on April 25, "The government at various levels have never banned any normal qigong exercises that strengthens health; people have the freedom of belief and to practice a given qigong, as well as to disbelieve a given qigong. It is normal to have differing views or criticisms, and they may reflect their views through normal channels and formats." So Jiang's secret documents either countermanded the public policy of the Communist Party and the government, or these reports were part of his own plan.

I. At the APEC meetings held in New Zealand during September, 1999, Jiang did something highly unusual and unseemly to his role. He gave booklets demonizing Falun Gong to various state leaders, including then U.S. President Bill Clinton. This is another sign of how personal this was for Jiang

J. On October 25, 1999, immediate prior to a state visit to France, Jiang gave a written interview to French newspaper Le Figaro. Again Jiang slandered Falun Gong, and prior to any CCP documents or media did so, and branded it a "cult." This is another sign of Jiang's personal obsession with the persecution and his role as the driving force behind it.

Two days later, the CCP-run People's Daily ran a special editorial entitled "Falun Gong is a Cult." On October 30, the National People's Congress Standing Committee ratified "Decision Regarding Banning Cult Organizations, and Being on Guard Against and Punishing Cult Activities." This decision was latter illegitimately called the "anti-cult law." Despite that, the decision never referenced Falun Gong, the unconstitutional nature of the decision notwithstanding.

In summary, the persecution initiated against Falun Gong on July 1999 was initiated by CCP leader Jiang Zemin's letters, speeches, directives, followed by a series of CCP-issued documents. These were the driving force behind this political, persecutory movement, accompanied by the overwhelming slander and smear campaign by the CCP propaganda machine. This persecution is not a case of a legitimate government enforcing its laws. Of course, a government has no right to persecute its people this way, or it would be, in the process of doing so, removing its own legitimacy. The responsibility for the continuation of this persecution after Jiang stepped down, however, falls squarely on the shoulders of the current CCP leadership.