How the CCP Repays Grace with Hostility (Part 3)

(Minghui.org) Having persecuted Falun Gong for more more than 25 years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) recently launched a wave of attacks against both Shen Yun and Falun Gong overseas.

Fundamentally, the CCP cannot tolerate Falun Gong or Shen Yun because the traditional values they promote contradict the CCP’s own nature of hatred, brutality, and deception. But the recent attacks differ from the start of the persecution in some respects. While former CCP leader Jiang Zemin started the persecution in 1999 because he could not tolerate Falun Gong’s popularity, this time the CCP not only aims to weaken and replace the U.S. as the most powerful country, but also seeks to shift accountability for the crimes it has committed in the persecution of Falun Gong to the U.S.

(Continued from Part 2)

In previous discussions, we saw the two faces of the CCP. Despite consistent support from America from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China and, later, communist China, the CCP has repaid America’s grace with hostility. The same pattern can also be seen elsewhere.

The Persecution of Falun Gong

What does Falun Gong mean to you? If one asked this question in China before 1999, the answer would have been “pretty good,” “it’s free,” “it’s really effective in improving health,” “it tells you to be a better person by following Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” or “many people practice it.” Or someone might talk about how much suffering and medical expenses the practice had saved them.

If the same question is asked today, most Chinese people might stay silent and avoid the topic; some would even swear. All these changes started after former CCP leader Jiang Zemin started to persecute Falun Gong in 1999 and issued orders to “defame their reputation, bankrupt them financially, and destroy them physically.”

Benefits to mind and body

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a meditation system consisting of five sets of exercises and the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. After being introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun of Jilin Province in 1992, the practice quickly drew about 100 million followers by 1999, thanks to the positive impact it brought to people’s health and moral values.

Qiao Shi, former Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, once conducted a survey in 1998, and his report concluded, “Falun Gong benefits the nation and the people greatly without causing any harm.” The Chinese premier at the time also admitted that each Falun Gong practitioner saved the country an average of at least 1,000 yuan in medical bills. This added to 100 billion yuan a year, nearly 10% of the national fiscal revenue in 1999.

Moreover, by following the principles of Falun Gong, practitioners became more selfless and helped others in their families, workplaces, and society. This helped elevate moral values and reduced crime. The kindness and wisdom gained from Falun Gong also allowed practitioners to become more capable and productive at work. Overall, the practice brought prosperity and social benefits to the Chinese government.

Despite these contributions, the CCP’s nature of class struggle, brutality, and deception were fundamentally incompatible with the traditional values espoused by Falun Gong. In 1996, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security started to cook up charges, collect evidence of wrongdoing (without success), and conduct infiltration and secret surveys in an attempt to bring down Falun Gong.

Persecution started under totalitarian rule

According to a Minghui special report, “Our Master,” the CCP instructed a female director from the Ministry of Commerce to tell Mr. Li directly in 1996, “Teacher Li, your influence in China has become too great. You need to leave the country.” To avoid creating trouble for the government, Mr. Li immigrated to the U.S. in 1997 as a person of extraordinary ability. The CCP then turned around to suppress Falun Gong and openly slandered Mr. Li for leaving China. Unfortunately, many people fell into the trap and believed these spurious accusations.

Although the CCP formally began to suppress Falun Gong in July 1999, there was still disagreement on the issue within the Party’s top leadership as of October 2000. According to information from various sources, then Chinese premier Zhu Rongji went to the Fifth Division of the Beijing Police Department on October 23, 2000, asking officials to “stop giving Falun Gong practitioners a hard time.”

Other senior officials who still opposed the persecution at the time included Li Ruihuan (member of the Politburo Standing Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference), Wei Jianxing (member of the Politburo Standing Committee, Secretary of the Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection, and Chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions), Hu Jintao (then Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission), and Qiao Shi (retired Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress).

But Jiang was able to continue and deepen the persecution by himself as General Secretary of the CCP, President of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission. Jiang forced his own will upon over one billion Chinese people, dragging China into the abyss of human rights atrocities and moral decline.

Another trap?

The CCP recently extended its campaign to wipe out Falun Gong into the U.S. by instigating a former Shen Yun dancer to sue Shen Yun and other organizations founded by Falun Gong practitioners. The basis of the lawsuit contradicts social norms and common sense.

Fei Tian schools provide all students with full scholarships covering tuition as well as room and board and other expenses, worth $50,000 a year. If a student studies for ten years there, they would have received $500,000, or three to four million yuan. Students attending schools and universities in China could not hope to receive such aid, and the expensive loans often exceed what an average family can afford.

In order to enroll in a decent art school, dance school, or film academy in China, students’ families sometimes have to give the admission office and teacher a luxury car or even an apartment; the student may even have to offer more personally and might still be rejected. In contrast, Fei Tian and Shen Yun have given an unprecedented opportunity for growth and success with no charge, but some individuals still repay grace with hostility.

The root cause of this behavior is the CCP’s brainwashing and control, and it shows the damage the communist regime has caused to people’s moral values in addition to physical harm. Over the past 25 years, the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong has harmed generations of Chinese people. By exporting the persecution overseas, the CCP has caused countless governments, Chinese communities, enterprises, and organizations to become complicit its persecution of faith.

Nevertheless, the United States and other Western countries have granted asylum to Falun Gong practitioners fleeing the persecution in China. Local officials have voiced their support for Falun Gong practitioners from time to time, and no government bodies have opposed Falun Gong. At a time when governments around the globe are starting to recognize the CCP’s threat, when American people are starting to return to traditional values, the CCP is launching fresh attacks on Falun Gong on U.S. soil. Will Americans believe the lies and fall into this new trap?

(The end)