A Visit to Tiananmen Square Made Me Ask, "When did the Police Become Hoodlums?"

I am from Chenzhou in Hunan Province. On November 4th 2002, I went to Beijing. On the train, the police used the excuse of checking our tickets to request each passenger to show their IDs and to question each passenger what they were planning to do in Beijing. When the train arrived in Beijing, all passengers and their bags were searched.

I visited and toured Tiananmen Square the next day. The police stopped all rental cars and forcibly inspected and searched them.

At Tiananmen Square I saw an old couple with a benign countenance. A police officer maliciously pointed at the elderly lady and said, "You are a Falun Gong practitioner." The old lady said, "I do not practise Falun Gong." The officer said, "If not, then curse Falun Gong and [the founder of Falun Gong]." At that time I was greatly startled and had to ask myself, "When did China's police become hoodlums?" Not only do they commit all kinds of outrages, but also they openly force good citizens to commit crimes! The elderly lady said, "I have not cursed anyone ever in my whole life." The police said, "If you do not curse, then you are a Falun Gong practitioner and I will arrest you." Under the despotic abuse of police power, the elderly woman could not help but curse Falun Gong, and so she was not arrested. It is truly sad that the police were treating a good citizen this way. Who would believe that all this happened if I had not witnessed this entire event?

When I went through the underground walkway, I saw a man who was over 40 years old, walking up the stairs with difficulty using a cane. One police officer blocked him and asked, "What are you doing here?" The man said, "I am going to visit Tiananmen Square." The officer said, "You are a Falun Gong practitioner." The man replied, "No." The police officer said, "It does not matter. Just say that you practise Falun Gong and thus became crippled." The man answered, "I do not practise Falun Gong." The officer said, "You just say so and I will let you visit Tiananmen Square. If not, you will be arrested."

After seeing all these things taking place, I was no longer interested in visiting Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen Square was teeming with deployed police everywhere and it looked like a huge concentration camp. I was questioned and searched so many times that I did not have any bit of personal freedom and dignity left. I ended my trip in haste.