[Selected Opinion Articles] Why Did the Chinese Communist Party Stage the Self-Immolation Incident in Tiananmen Square?

(Minghui.org) Most people are able to learn lessons after they get scammed for money or deceived into doing something. However, when it comes to the lies perpetuated by Chinese Communist Party (CCP), many Chinese people still have a hard time seeing through the lies. 

Although the CCP promised to give land to farmers and capital to workers, all these turned out to be lies several years after it took power in 1949. The Great Leap Forward proved to be a joke and the Great Famine was never openly acknowledged by the CCP. The Anti-Rightists campaign and Cultural Revolution, too, were shown to be incorrect. Looking back at the history of the CCP in the past few decades, almost all major campaigns were later declared toxic political mania – but not until Chinese citizens shed blood and tears or even lost their lives. Despite this, many in China hardly learned their lessons and still believed in the CCP’s never-ending lies and deceit.

One example is the persecution of Falun Gong, a meditation system based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. After the CCP started to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, it made up many lies and false claims to defame the practice. Initially, many officials were not on board and ordinary citizens were sympathetic to Falun Gong practitioners. It was under this circumstance that the CCP rolled out the notorious defamatory propaganda of staged Self-Immolation Incident at Tiananmen Square on January 23, 2001, on the eve of the Chinese New Year. 

A large collection of evidence has pointed to the fact that the self-immolation was staged and that the self-immolators were not Falun Gong practitioners as alleged. More than two decades have passed, and some Chinese still fall victims to the CCP’s slanderous propaganda that Falun Gong incited people to kill themselves. 

Indirect Evidences

Around January 10, 2001, my school principal told me that our local education bureau director wanted to have a talk with me. It was the end of the fall semester and I was almost done grading final exams. 

When the principal and I went to see the education bureau director, he said, “The Chinese New Year is coming. Please do not go to Tiananmen to appeal for Falun Gong. The district police department just called saying some practitioners will set themselves on fire at Tiananmen Square. You’d better not participate in it...” 

I was shocked by this and thought, “If practitioners were really planning to commit self-immolation, how could they notify police in advance? Plus, wouldn’t the police stop this if they had heard about this in advance? Most importantly, Falun Gong clearly prohibits killing and suicide. Whoever does this must not be a practitioner.” 

About two weeks later, on the fourth day of the Chinese New Year, Focus Report, one of the most popular prime-time programs of China Central Television (CCTV), broadcast a program claiming that the self-immolation that happened on the Chinese New Year’s Eve was done by Falun Gong practitioners. I immediately remembered what the education bureau director had said earlier, and I felt this must have been a plot to frame practitioners. 

We returned to school after the winter break. Soon we gave a big exam and I was assigned to proctor the exam together with an English teacher, whose husband happened to be a renowned lawyer and know a lot of insider information of the CCP. The teacher said she knew the self-immolation must be a hoax. “The CCP has a very tight censorship system, and how could such an emergency incident be reported in English through Xinhua News worldwide within two hours?” she questioned, “This must be a setup.” She told me not to worry about it as she never believed the self-immolators were Falun Gong practitioners as alleged by the CCP.

Direct Evidence

NTD, a television network based in U.S., produced the award-winning documentary False Fire in January 2002. Through detailed analysis of the CCTV propaganda videos, the documentary identified many loopholes. 

For example, one of the main self-immolators was Wang Jindong. The slogan he called out was unrelated to Falun Gong and his sitting position was that of a military soldier, not the usual posture of someone doing Falun Gong meditation. Although his clothes were burnt, the most flammable things – his hair and a sprite bottle filled with gasoline and placed in between his legs – somehow remained intact. Although a police officer was holding a fire blanket, he did not cover Wang with the blanket until the slogan was called out. Li Yuqiang, who reported the event in the video, was later questioned by detained practitioners during a brainwashing session in Hebei Province. Li admitted the sprite bottle was placed there afterwards during make-up shots. 

Another self-immolator in the video was Liu Chunling. Slow motion of the video showed the fire on Liu was almost put out when suddenly a man threw a heavy object at her, striking her down on the ground. The object then jerked upward while an approaching armed police officer blocked Liu as she fell down on the ground. On the right-hand side of the video, a man in military coat was standing where the object was thrown out. Apparently, Liu was murdered by police following a CCP-written script. 

There were also many other loopholes. For example, how could so many fire extinguishers pop up instantly? In addition, a burning patient should have wounds open for air circulation to avoid inflammation. But in the propaganda video, the little girl, another self-immolator, was tightly wrapped in bandages that covered her entire body. Also, the video showed her singing after reportedly having just had a tracheotomy. 

Chen Meng, producer of the propaganda video, once openly declared in an overseas event, “I will produce videos for whoever gives me money.”

During the fifty-third session in the sub-committee on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights of U.N. on August 14, 2001, the International Education Development (IED) spokesperson made a statement on this. “In our investigation, the only deaths have been at the hands of the Chinese authorities; families have been broken up because family members have been killed by the regime; people have been devastated, not by Falun Gong, but by extreme torture, incarceration and brutal treatment in mental hospitals, hard labor in labor camps and other such practices,” wrote the statement, “We have obtained a video of that incident that in our view proves that this event was staged by the government. We have copies of that video available for distribution.”

Failure to See Through Lies

Despite the above evidence, many Chinese people still believe the self-immolators were Falun Gong practitioners and thus harbor hatred toward Falun Gong. Part of the reason is that they have no access to the facts due to the CCP’s strict censorship of any information it deems unfavorable to the regime. 

Another reason is that the CCP’s constant brainwashing has also made it harder for many Chinese to believe in the facts even when presented with the facts. They have been heavily brainwashed since childhood. Textbooks, media, and nearly every aspect of their life are filled with the CCP’s lies. As a result, they tend to believe what the CCP tells them, including the self-immolation incident. 

Furthermore, the numerous political campaigns have also struck fear in the heart of Chinese people and “trained” them to believe in the lies and listen to the Party; otherwise, they would be targeted as enemies of the state and become the victims of the CCP’s next political campaign. 

Therefore, many still remain victims of the CCP’s lies against Falun Gong, including the self-immolation propaganda. 

Hidden Agenda of the CCP

The CCP embraces class struggle, hatred, and brutality. After sharpening its tools in various political campaigns in China, its killing and propaganda machine is well oiled to crush nearly anything it deems a threat – except Falun Gong. With the state-of-the-art technology of censorship and misinformation, it has created an alternative version of history and the world for Chinese people.

Since ancient times, traditional Chinese culture has emphasized the harmony of heaven, earth, and mankind. By cherishing virtue, one can constantly improve oneself and benefit society. Unfortunately, the genetic material of the CCP is opposite to all these. It only cares about its own survival and growth, while leaving behind depleted natural resources, pollution, and degenerated moral values

The persecution of Falun Gong is such an example. During its history in the past few decades, “Throughout its 80-plus years, everything the CCP has touched has been marred with lies, wars, famine, tyranny, massacre and terror,” wrote Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, “Traditional faiths and principles have been violently destroyed. Original ethical concepts and social structures have been disintegrated by force. Empathy, love, and harmony among people have been twisted into struggle and hatred.”

Rejecting the CCP and returning to the traditional values will bring us back on track. This is true for Chinese people, but also citizens in other countries.