(Clearwisdom.net) The Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong has caused great damage not only to Falun Gong practitioners as a group, but also to their families and society. Because many practitioners are highly educated, and gifted with a broad range of talents, the extent and impact of the harm caused by the CCP may never be fully known. Let's have a closer look at several articles published on the Minghui website on September 7, 2011.
An article entitled “Having Experienced Brtual Torture in Prison, Former Assistant Researcher at the National University of Defense Technology is Persecuted Again,” recounts the persecution imposed on Mr. Li Zhigang over the years. Upon obtaining a master's degree in 1994, Mr. Li was admitted with distinction to the Department of Computer Science, National Defense University, as a doctoral candidate. During his PhD studies, he researched artificial intelligence and expert systems analysis, focusing on two key technologies for military R&D projects. Though he ended his PhD studies short of graduation, he did so in good standing with the university and was assigned to the Computer Science Research Institute of the National University of Defense Technology.
In the past 12 years, Mr. Li Zhigang has endured prison sentencing, forced labor, and severe physical abuse and mistreatment. For example, on August 21, 2003, the National University of Defense Technology celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding. Some university staff and faculty received phone calls from overseas Falun Gong practitioners, and so university officials assumed that it had something to do with Mr. Li. They reported it to Jiang Zemin, former head of the CCP and chief culprit in the persecution of Falun Gong, who was in Hunan Province at the time. Jiang ordered that Mr. Li be “reformed” within a certain time. Mr. Li, who was being held at the Beijing Military Detention Center, underwent interrogation immediately by Beijing Military Region officials. They tortured him day and night, and forced him to read material slandering Falun Gong. When he refused, he was violently beaten, and this resulted in numbness in his brain and hearing loss. He also sustained injuries on many parts of his body due to being kicked. Mr. Li, who is 6'1”, was also locked up in a metal cage so small that he could neither stand nor squat.
(Full story: “610 Office Again Arrests Former Defense Researcher Li Zhigang” )
By persecuting such a highly talented man, hasn't the CCP also deprived him of his right to serve the country and help raise the economic and moral level of Chinese society?
Another article entitled “Engineer Imprisoned in Jidong Prison Insists on Suing Criminal Inmates and Guards,” recounts the brutal persecution forced upon Mr. Liu Yongwang, Department Manager and Chief Engineer for a foreign company in Beijing. Mr. Liu is in his late 30s, a Tianjin University graduate. A CCP court sentenced him to eight years in prison in 2006, and held him in Jidong Prison, where he has been subjected to severe physical abuse and mistreatment.
When Mr. Liu was first arrested in 2000, local police department officials pressured his employers, claiming that if they didn't fire Mr. Liu from his job, they wouldn't be allowed to do business in mainland China. This act would not only give the foreign company a negative impression of the government, but also forces them to engage in the CCP's persecution.
(Related article: “Inhuman Insult and Torture” )
A third article worth looking at is, “In Depth: Many Artists in China Persecuted for Practicing Falun Gong ”. It introduces more than 20 artists who have been subjected to the persecution for practicing Falun Gong.
The first artist discussed in the article is Ms. Qi Bingshu, granddaughter of Qi Baishi, one of the most celebrated Chinese painters of the 20th century. Like her grandfather, Ms. Qi Bingshu is also a well-known painter. Highly impressed with her skills, her grandfather once commented that her paintings could surpass his own. But, because she practices Falun Gong, Ms. Qi was taken to the Daliushu Psychiatric Hospital in Dabeiyao Town, Chaoyang District, Beijing. When she refused to renounce her belief, the doctor declared that she was suffering from "qigong schizophrenia". Ms. Qi was in perfect mental health, but the doctor forced her to take anti-psychotic drugs as a form of torture. She was later sentenced to prison for the same reason. While in prison, the prison guards, wardens, and police encouraged her to create paintings because they are so highly sought after. They took all of them and sold them, pocketing the money. Now, due to the abuse she has been subjected to, Ms. Qi's hair has turned grey, her hands tremble, and she may no longer be able to paint.
Works of art differ from other commodities. As an artist Ms. Qi not only represents the culture of a certain period of time, but her artworks are an essential component in carrying on Chinese culture forward, which can't be measured with any price. Look at how despicable CCP agents are, who, on the one hand severely persecuted Ms. Qi, and on the other hand forced her to paint and sold her art for their own enrichment. Everyone knows that in order to create high-level works of art, artists need to be able to freely express themselves. But the persecutors imprisoned an extremely gifted artist and used her as their cash cow.
Another artist introduced in this article is Mr. Fan Yiming. The majority of his artworks were purchased by American and European collectors. In 2001, he was invited to the U.K. to do a portrait of former British Prime Minister Edward Heath. Between 2001 and 2003, he had three one-man exhibits in Hong Kong. In 2004 another exhibit of his works was held in the U.K. In September 2004, his book Journeying on the Same Path—Selected Oil Paintings by Fan Yiming was published. In October 2004, he showcased his artwork at an exhibit entitled "Journeying on the Same Path" at the Beijing International Art Gallery. In November 2005, he again presented his works from "Journeying on the Same Path." However, he was also arrested in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics and sentenced to two years in prison for practicing Falun Gong.
The above only discusses a few persecution cases from one article. By looking at these cases we can see that not only has the CCP invested a lot of money and resources into persecuting Falun Gong practitioners and how severely practitioners and their families have been devastrated, but that society has been greatly harmed, because these excellent talents would have significantly enriched society.
The question is, over the past 12 years, how many more outstanding, talented people have been subjected to the CCP's persecution or lost their lives, simply for remaining steadfast in their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance?
