April 18, 2001

Yesterday Ian Johnson, a Journal reporter in Beijing before recently moving to Berlin to head the Germany bureau, won the Pulitzer Prize in international reporting for his coverage of China's suppression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement. He followed the evolution of the crackdown, from [party name omitted] Youth League efforts to "inoculate the nation's young people" against superstition, to state-propaganda efforts aimed at branding the group [Chinese government's slanderous words omitted], to mass round-ups of practitioners at the local level.

Mr. Johnson's reporting was striking because it examined the difficult ethical issues. The central government was clearly rattled by the power of a group that could mobilize tens of thousands of followers to protest outside the leadership compound in Beijing. But when the crackdown came, it quickly took on the mantle of a humanitarian movement. The authorities claimed Falun Gong was [Chinese government's slanderous words omitted].

Mr. Johnson showed that in practice the Chinese police were hardly concerned with the health of the individual, often torturing adherents until they recanted. The AWSJ told the stories of those who died in horrific circumstances while in police custody as well as those of their colleagues who remained at large but lived in fear. Even according to the government's own statistics, the suicide toll among Falun Gong practitioners soared after the crackdown, making a mockery of any claim to have their best interests at heart.

[...]

[...] Unfortunately China still lacks free newspapers or reporters who could tell this story to the people, and make leaders take responsibility for their actions. Mr. Johnson's stories show that in China it is still a serious crime to hold beliefs that are not approved by the state. It's a sobering reminder to those of us who are fundamentally optimistic about China -- because we see it changing in some ways for the better -- that there is a long way to go.