(Minghui.org) By the end of 2000 – a year and a half after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the suppression of Falun Dafa – the campaign had failed to garner support among many of the CCP’s rank and file. Then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin had toured southern provinces earlier in 2000 hoping to shore up more support for the campaign among local leaders. Meanwhile, public support for the campaign more broadly had waned.
In order to justify the continued persecution of Falun Gong, Jiang and his accomplices directed the self-immolation incident on the eve of the 2001 Chinese New Year.
On January 23, 2001, five individuals allegedly set themselves on fire in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. The entire scene was caught on camera from multiple angles. Just hours after the event, state-controlled media was flooded with reports that the self-immolators were Falun Dafa practitioners. These reports included grisly footage of the victims, portraying Falun Dafa teachings as directly responsible for the tragedy.
After twenty years of Falun Dafa practitioners’ persistent efforts to expose the CCP’s fabrications maligning the practice, people from all walks of life have come to a good understanding of basic information about Falun Dafa, and the evil nature of the persecution by the CCP. Here are two stories of the Chinese people condemning the self-Immolation hoax. The first one was written by a Falun Dafa practitioner in China and the second one was submitted by a practitioner outside of China.
“Everyone Knows the Self-Immolation Was Faked!”
I met Mr. Wang from Liaoning Province one day. He is the owner of a technical class studio. I directed his attention to the persecution facts about Falun Dafa. When I mentioned the “self-immolation hoax,” he suddenly raised his voice, “Self-immolation? That was faked! Faked! Everyone knows that. It is nonsense!”
“How did you know?” I asked him.
“How can someone set his entire body on fire but his hair was intact?” he said.
“Wow, good observation!” I praised him.
“Plus, according to the news reports, there were several groups of people who set themselves on fire that day. Where did the police get so many fire extinguishers at the same time to put out the fire? Did police patrol with fire extinguishers at Tiananmen Square? We've all been to Tiananmen Square... who are they trying to fool?”
Seeing that he knew so much about it, I asked him if anyone had told him about it.
He replied, “No one told me anything. I just felt that something was wrong. The more I thought about it, the more loopholes I saw there was.”
He also told me how the education bureau officials solicited bribes from him when he applied for the permit to teach the classes. “None of the officials is a good person. As long as the CCP is still ruling China, the country will be destroyed by it.”
I was very happy for him that he knew the truth. Before I left, I asked him to recite the auspicious phrases “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” and “Falun Dafa is good” so that he would be blessed for supporting Falun Dafa. He nodded his head vigorously.
On my way back, I thought, “The CCP thought it could deceive people by staging a faked immolation, but the hoax had so many loopholes and it’s so lame that even ordinary people saw through it.”
The CCP has recently been promoting the 20th anniversary of the “self-immolation” on the Internet, only to be condemned by the public.
The “Self-Immolation” Was Clearly Planned in Advance
I have several friends from the Fangzhuang neighborhood in Beijing, where many rich people in Beijing reside. I called them days before January 23, 2001, to wish them a Happy Chinese New Year. They told me that there were policemen knocking door to door to inform them not to go to Tiananmen Square before the Chinese New Year. The police didn’t allow them to ask any questions but said it was an order from the top.
Days later, on January 23, the “Tiananmen Square self-immolation” incident took place. When I contacted them again afterward, they said that when they saw the news on TV, they suddenly understood why they had been asked not to go to Tiananmen Square a few days prior. It turned out that the government was filming the incident and was afraid that the people would see it if they went there.
Because I am a healthcare professional, I immediately recognized the flaw when I saw the reporter interviewing the 12-year-old girl allegedly burned in the incident.
One of my neighbors who had a tracheotomy due to a serious disease could not speak for six months, and his voice had not returned to normal even after three years. For for this little girl, she could not only speak, but was singing four days after her tracheotomy!
With suspicion, I called the Jishuitan Hospital where the girl was staying to find out what was going on. A doctor answered the call. I said I was in medicine and wanted to consult about a matter. He said, “Go ahead!”
“Is Jishuitan Hospital the best hospital in China for burn injuries?”
“Yes.”
“Why is your treatment of people who were burned from Tiananmen Square self-immolation inconsistent with common medical knowledge? Why weren't the reporters wearing sterile isolation gowns during the interview? The little girl could talk and sing after a tracheotomy and after intubation for four days…”
The doctor stammered and said, “En, en, en ......” and then hung up the phone. I called again and no one answered.
I called the nursing station again and asked for the doctor on duty. A nurse answered and yelled, “Doctor, it’s for you!”
“Tell him, I am not here.” He said to the nurse.
“He is not here.” The nurse said to me.
“Don’t lie to me. I just talked to him on the phone, and he was right by the phone. I heard what he said to you just now. I am here for medical consultation, and you can’t treat me like this.”
The nurse told me, “The hospital stipulates that if you want to know the matter related to the ‘self-immolation,’ you must get the approval of the hospital Party Committee.” She then hung up the phone.
Does a normal medical consultation have to be approved by the hospital Party Committee? Isn’t that even more suspicious? If there is not a hidden secret behind the scenes, why would this be necessary?
