July 25, 2001, Wednesday SUNRISE EDITION

Chinese authorities have mounted a public exhibit of gruesome photos purporting to be Falun Gong members who set themselves on fire, attacked others or went insane. The purpose: to justify China's vicious persecution of the group, which practices meditation and exercise. Even assuming that the pictures are of Falun Gong members, an incalculably greater evil is committed by the Chinese government. It has arrested, tortured and imprisoned members, some of whom died and were cremated without their families' knowledge.