(Minghui.org) After the U.S. government announced sanctions to curb the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), a list of nearly two million CCP members in Shanghai was leaked overseas. Among them are 75 who directly work in the 610 Office system at different levels. Most of them are associated with the suppression of Falun Gong as documented on Minghui.org.
Known as a global center for finance, research, technology, and transportation, Shanghai has about 26 million people in its metro area. Based on the list, 1,957,239 of them are CCP members.
Among nearly two million CCP members whose information was leaked, 75 work in the 610 Office system. Some personal information is redacted for privacy reasons.
Critical Role of the 610 Office in the Suppression of Falun Gong
Former CCP leader Jiang Zemin established the extralegal organization called the 610 Office, named after its establishment date of June 10, 1999. On July 20, Jiang launched a nationwide campaign against Falun Gong, a meditation practice based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance with about 100 million practitioners.
Operating under the Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC) of the CCP, the 610 Office was dedicated entirely to implementing the persecution of Falun Gong.
The 610 Office at the central government level is composed of the 610 Leadership Team and subordinate officials. Li Lanqing, first chief of the leadership (1999 – 2002), was Vice Premier as well as a member of the CCP Politburo. Deputy chiefs were Luo Gan, then-secretary of the Central PLAC, and Ding Guangen, then head of the CCP’s Propaganda Department.
With a deep connection to the top CCP decision-making body, the Politburo, as well as the PLAC and Propaganda Department, the 610 Office mobilized nearly the entire state apparatus to suppress Falun Gong. This includes the police, procuratorates, courts, justice system, military, armed police, spy agencies, foreign affairs, education, healthcare, news media, and propaganda departments.
More specifically, the 610 Office directly planned, deployed, pushed forward, and monitored the persecution policies. Many secret orders from Jiang were passed down through the 610 Office system and implemented at all levels, such as his directives to “ruin [practitioners’] reputations, cut them off financially, and destroy them physically;” “cremate [practitioners’ bodies] directly without checking identities;” and “beat [practitioners] to death and count it as suicide.”
Information collected by Minghui.org shows that over 4,000 Falun Gong practitioners have lost their lives in the past 21 years due to the persecution directed by the 610 Office system. Furthermore, many pieces of evidence indicate that the 610 Office has participated in the forced organ harvesting of practitioners.
Crimes of the 610 Office in Shanghai
As one of the largest cities in the world, Shanghai has projected a glamorous image to outsiders. But beneath the glossy surface are severe human rights violations, including the persecution of Falun Gong. In fact, events like the Shanghai World Expo and the Olympics gave officials more excuses to suppress practitioners.
Moreover, Shanghai is a base of Jiang Zemin and his followers. Tilanqiao Prison, Shanghai Women’s Prison, Shanghai Third Labor Camp, and Qingpu Brainwashing Center are among the facilities where practitioners are mistreated the most severely.
Cui Tiejun, director of Xuhui District 610 Office, is also on the leaked list of CCP members. After being appointed to his position in June 2004, Cui planned and executed the suppression of Falun Gong in the region. From time to time, he also hosted many “forums” to incite hatred against practitioners.
The Shanghai 610 Office is the central nervous system of theses activities in the region. Jiang Qizhen, Xu Xianhe, Cao Qiujian, Ye Luhua and some other officials are key perpetrators. The Shanghai 610 Office has branches in all districts and subordinate counties, as well as lower-level towns and villages. They have organized many activities to turn the public against practitioners and intensified the persecution from time to time.
Shen Chao and Yu Jianping, director and deputy director of Chongming County 610 Office, forced all tricycles in the county to carry the words “Promote Science and Oppose Cults” on their covers. After Falun Gong practitioner Jiang Bin found a job, Beixinjing 610 Office in Changning District forced his employer to terminate him. When Jiang Bin went to the 610 Office to ask why, Jun Meiju, a supervisor at the office, replied, “It is because you did not sign the statement to denounce Falun Gong.” “You can sue me wherever you want,” she continued, “No one will accept this case!”
Sanctions Against Human Rights Abusers
In the past several months, the U.S. government has paid increasing attention to human rights violations in China and taken actions to address the persecution of Falun Gong.
Among 17 officials sanctioned by the U.S. State Department on December 10, 2020, Human Rights Day, a Chinese police chief drew broad attention. “The State Department is designating Chief Huang Yuanxiong of the Xiamen Public Security Bureau Wucun Police Station for his involvement in gross violations of human rights in Xiamen, China,” wrote the statement from Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State. “Huang is associated with particularly severe violations of religious freedom of Falun Gong practitioners, namely his involvement in the detention and interrogation of Falun Gong practitioners for practicing their beliefs. Today’s action also applies to Mr. Huang’s spouse.”
Days before Human Rights Day in 2020, Falun Gong practitioners submitted a list of perpetrators to governments of 29 countries, urging them to bar CCP officials involved in the persecution of Falun Gong and their family members from entry, as well as freezing their assets.
These countries include the Five Eyes (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States), 18 nations in the European Union (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Czech, Romania, Portugal, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia), and 6 additional nations (Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Mexico).
The list included the following top CCP officials: Han Zheng (Politburo Standing Committee member), Guo Shengkun (Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission), Zhou Qiang (President of the Supreme Court), Liu Jinguo (Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection), and Fu Zhenghua (Deputy Director of Committee for Social and Legal Affairs in the Political Consultative Conference). Almost all of them had been officials in the 610 Office system or worked closely with the agency. Fu, for example, was a former chief of the Central 610 Office and deputy chief of the 610 Leadership Team.
In addition to these top officials, the list also covered lower-level officials, similar to lists submitted previously. The named perpetrators represent all levels in a variety of professions from all across China. They include secretaries of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee at various levels, heads of 610 Offices at different levels, police chiefs, Domestic Security Bureau officers, presiding judges, assistant judges, directors of prisons, directors of labor camps, and so on.
The U.S. Administration imposed a travel restriction for CCP members and their families on December 2, 2020, shortening their visa terms from 10 years to one month.
John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence, wrote in a December 3, 2020 Wall Street Journal article that “resisting Beijing’s attempt to reshape and dominate the world is the challenge of our generation.” The article was titled “China Is National Security Threat No. 1.”
“If I could communicate one thing to the American people from this unique vantage point, it is that the People’s Republic of China poses the greatest threat to America today, and the greatest threat to democracy and freedom world-wide since World War II,” he wrote in the article. “The intelligence is clear: Beijing intends to dominate the U.S. and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically.”
From the Holocaust to the Soviet Union and now communist China, it has been clear that people associated with totalitarian regimes would face serious consequences, both morally and legally. Those who commit human rights violations on behalf of the CCP, and the 610 Office in particular, are no exception.
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