SCMP: No More [Truth Telling], Broadcast Chiefs Told

03/11/2002

The [party's name omitted]'s Central Publicity Department has ordered the heads of all media organisations to conduct thorough "self-inspection" of employees to prevent [truth telling].

The order came after Falun Gong members interrupted scheduled broadcasting at a mainland cable television network in Changchun, Jilin province, on Tuesday and managed to broadcast a programme about the banned [group] to viewers for 50 minutes.

The Central Publicity Department called an emergency meeting on Wednesday and instructed heads of main broadcasting organisations and newspapers as well as provincial officials in charge of the media to "learn a lesson" from the incident.

The media organisations were asked to review workers' backgrounds and especially to make inquiries about their family members to ensure their relatives were not Falun Gong members, a Beijing source said.

The bosses were told to review staff rosters and ensure senior editors were present late at night to prevent sabotage.

They were told at the meeting that no similar incidents would be tolerated and that they would be held responsible for further "political incidents".

The bosses were also reminded to review their daily routines and to plug any loopholes. The meeting was followed by a circular issued by the Central Publicity Department to all provincial media organisations to strengthen security.

The 50-minute programme shown last week included footage of Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi and accused mainland authorities of staging the self-immolation of alleged adherents in Tiananmen Square in January last year to discredit the movement.

The cable station has about 300,000 subscribers, but it was not clear how many saw the Falun Gong program.

In Hong Kong yesterday, Falun Gong practitioners claimed that more than 100 Chinese followers had been detained since Tuesday.

"They were held at the Qinglong Agriculture School in Changchun city and were forced to attend a 'reform class'," said Falun Gong spokeswoman Sharon Xu Jun. "At these reform classes they were forced to watch an official documentary criticising Falun Gong and asked to denounce the movement."

Public security officials threatened to send the followers to re-education facilities if they refused to renounce Falun Gong, Ms Xu added.

[...]

Beijing police detained two Western Falun Gong followers yesterday after they tried to protest in Tiananmen Square against the government crackdown on the movement. Reuters reported that police grabbed the pair, a young man and woman, as they tried to unfurl protest banners.

The man shouted " Falun Dafa is good!" after he was put into a police van, which then drove off through crowds of Chinese tourists. Falun Dafa is another name for Falun Gong.

The protest during the annual National People's Congress session was the latest in a series by Western Falun Gong followers, most of whom were detained and then expelled from China after one night in custody.

A statement from Falun Gong in New York said the pair were Australians Jarrod Hall and his wife, Emma, who had gone to Beijing "to clarify the truth to the Chinese people and Government that Falun Dafa is good".