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I refer to 2 sources before I want to make any stands. (Blogspot.com, October 17, 2008) text from: http://english.kaiwind.com/puop/201106/t129622.htm |
I hope none of my friends will turn to this cult
3 JulMy problem with Falun Gong
3 Jul|
Astute readers of our site, or others gifted with vision, will have noticed that I made a post about a certain cult recently that was not well received. Before we get to the meat, I need to come clean about something: I recently got access to uncensored internet and couldn’t find any FLG ads on the GIFC website. The Washington Post article I was working off said that there were ads on their software download page, which I found concerning, but I don’t see any advertisements, FLG-related or otherwise, when I visit their site myself. A rare WaPo error, or am I missing something here? For the record — and please feel free to ignore this part when you’re accusing me of being a callous jerk and/or 五毛党 in the comments — I am not a supporter of the way the Chinese government has persecuted FLG members. I would love to see more evidence for any of the claims made on either side, but regardless, it seems fairly clear that terrible things are happening and have happened. However, I don’t see that as being particularly related to FLG. Granted, they’re the biggest group that’s aroused this level of ire, but the government deals with dissidents, petitioners, and protesters of all sorts in similar ways. FLG members are hardly the only people who’ve been tortured and killed in the hands of the CCP over the past decade. High-profile dissidents like Liu Xiaobo and Tan Zuoren get lengthy prison terms, but the fate of the less-well-known can be decidedly worse. The persecution of FLG is perhaps more centralized and organized, but that doesn’t make it more widespread, nor does it make it more evil. The persecution of FLG is a symptom, not the disease, and there are other symptoms that are equally important. What the “disease” is is something impossible to answer fully in the scope of a short blog post, but in brief, it is lack of government oversight and lack of the rule of law. But my problems with the Falun Gong start closer to home. Though proponents allege that there is “no organization” and “no leader”, there is an official website1, and the writings on that website come almost entirely from the group’s founder and the origin of their beliefs, Li Hongzhi. These writings, along with Li’s lectures, make it clear that the religion/cult has ties to a number of media organizations, such as the Epoch Times, which Li himself visited to give a lecture last year. Ostensibly, the Epoch Times is an independent organization that strives to “present a diversity of opinions”. In reality, they are widely-known among China watchers as an FLG publication that frequently advocates FLG-friendly policies. Chief among these, and omnipresent in nearly everything created by FLG-affiliated groups, is the drive to get Chinese people to quit the Communist Party. In fact, Epoch Times staff members — operating in their official capacities — have held press conferences and rallies promoting the Nine Commentaries and denouncing the CCP. Yet there is no admission of any connection to FLG or to their advancing a specific political agenda anywhere on their website or in their newspaper. In the case of the Epoch Times, this may not matter (everyone already knows who writes it), but this kind of bait-and-switch unethical presentation is typical of FLG-affiliated outreach efforts. Just take, for example, one of their recent cultural shows, billed as a celebration of Chinese New Year that was kid-friendly. According to the New York Times, horrified audience members, many of whom had paid exorbitant ticket prices, discovered a few performances into the act that the whole thing was a agitprop piece that contained violent scenes of prison abuse. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, walked out of Radio City Music Hall in the middle of the show. I find this lack of transparency bizarre and concerning. I have no problem with FLG advancing a political or religious agenda, but they should not try to cloak it as traditional media or apolitical entertainment. This is dishonest and off-putting. My bigger problem with FLG, though, is the anti-CCP political agenda they advance. Make no mistake, I am not pro-CCP; however, everything I’ve read from FLG is woefully unclear as to what, exactly, they want the CCP to be replaced with. This strikes me as a rather important detail. Chinese historians will recall that the corrupt Qing dynasty was overthrown in the early twentieth century only to be replaced by a government that was, for all intents and purposes, just as bad (if not worse2 ). An excerpt from my most recent email to J. Zhang: And while I would love to see those who have abused power be out of it, that needs to happen under the right conditions. Given what happened after the fall of the Qing dynasty (and the geographic distribution of weapons and power in the Chinese military now) it’s not hard to imagine what could happen if the CCP were to be felled by a civil war or a coup… In short: CCP policies have been a disaster for FLG members. But if the CCP disappeared tomorrow, that would probably be a disaster for EVERYONE in China, [FLG members included]. Anyway, I have probably ranted long enough. Readers! Begin assaulting my reasoning, character, and whatever else you can sink your claws into in 3…2…1! About the author
Charles Custer is American, born and raised in New England. In college, he studied China quite extensively. His major was East Asian Studies with a focus on China, and during his time there he set departmental records for the most courses taken in-department, etc. Now he is teaching English in Harbin, as well as pursuing some other side projects. The blog is one of them; he is also an underground hip-hop artist with three albums under his belt, currently working on his fourth and firth. (Chinadivide.com, May 19, 2010) text from: http://english.kaiwind.com/puop/201105/t129001.htm |
Li Fengying committed suicide by jumping into a river (photo)
3 JulOn the morning of August 22, 2008, people were sitting and fishing by twos and threes along the Sihe river in Jiayu Town, Xingyang City, Henan Province. The water was so clean that the fishes could be seen. Everything was peace and quiet.
Around 9:50 a.m., a sharp cry that “someone is jumping into the river” broke the peace. A woman was flapping in the water face with both of her arms up and down. Then, Zhang Xiaowu, a resident of Jinshui District who was just fishing there, dived into the water immediately. With the help of the mass of people, Zhang Xiaowu finally dragged the woman to the shore after five minutes. But he found the woman had stopped breathing. The woman was subsequently confirmed to die from drowning by the medical examiner.
Who is the decedent? Why did she jump into the river to kill herself?
The decedent was Falun Gong practitioner Li Fengying, 53 years old. .She was a former worker of Zhengzhou No. 2 Print Factory and lived at Building 5 of No. 4 Block, Gangpo Road, Zhongyuan District, Zhengzhou City.
In March 1999, a colleague dropped down to her home, and sent her a copy of Zhuan Falun. She didn’t pay attention to it at the beginning. But this colleague persuaded her continuously, then Li Fengying began to practice Falun Gong just as doing exercise every morning. After a period, Li was glad to find that the pains of periarthritis of shoulder and lumbago alleviated, which made her believe it as a miracle and have a keen interest in Falun Gong.
She still practiced Falun Gong secretly after the government banned it on July 22, 1999. She always shared the experience of practice with her Gong fellows until she was completely obsessed with it. Li regarded Li Hongzhi as God, believed his each word without any hesitation that his Fashen (Law body) could make her safe, that he could help her reach Consummation and become immortal.
However, during the obsessive practice, Li Fengying never got any favor from the Master, but suffered the pains both in mind and body.
She hoped Master Li would take care of her if she did the three things well following Master Li’s request. Unfortunately, the relationship between Li Fengying and her families was getting worse for her practice for long time. In addition, her periarthritis of shoulder and lumbago were more serious increasingly because of rejecting medical help. Li Fengying began to wonder.
In October 2007, Li Fengying consulted some “advanced” fellows, “I practice with all my heart, why the Master never takes care of me? What’s the problem?” However, no one could give a compellent answer to her.
The confusion and disappointment to belief always made Li Fengying sad, and she began to awake. She wrote in her will that Li Hongzhi broke up the family first, so many couples divorced, then Li Hongzhi involved us in financial problems, at last Li Hongzhi led our kids to a wrong way, ending their bright future.
From June to August 2008, Li always murmured sadly that: “Master cheats me and abandons me. I want to die.” The families all supposed what she said was utterance of frustration because she was too disappointed at Falun Gong, but they never thought that Li really suicided herself. People couldn’t understand that though Li had seen through the tricks of Li Hongzhi, why did she still commit suicide?
I have tried to find the answer from her will, but the second half of letter was soaked. Was she insane because of practicing Falun Gong? Or did she choose to die for the teaching of “going up to the heaven”? Everything is a complete riddle after Li’s death.
Li Fengying
text from: http://english.kaiwind.com/Data/01/201105/t128735.htm
Practicing Falun Gong brought real bitterness to my daughter and me
3 JulMy name is Wang Xiu, female, 57 years old. I was born in Zaoyang City, Hubei Province. I live at Room 302 of the Low-rent House District, Nanyuan Community Committee, Beicheng Sub-district Office of the Zaoyang City. I used to have a happy family. My daughter studied in a key high school in the city. My husband supported our family by selling small commodities while I did housework at home. The three of us led a happy life. And our family was then a really enviable one.
Suffering from scapulohumeral periarthritis, I always got throes in my shoulder joint and I couldn’t do the housework as I would. In July 1998, I was introduced to Fanlun Gong by my sister cousin and began to practice it for healing and improving health. After one week of regular cultivation, I felt much better and thought it beneficial to cultivate Falun Dafa. And from then on, I put more efforts into practicing Falun Gong. In addition, I bought the portrait of Li Hongzhi and hung it on the wall. I burnt joss sticks and worshipped him punctually every day, becoming more and more obsessed with the cult. In July 1999, the government banned Fanlun Gong, but I refused to obey the orders and kept exercising secretly for many years. During that time, I frequently went out to “clarify the truth” for Falun Gong and participated illegal gatherings organized by Falun Gong diehards.
In 2006, my daughter, who was always eager to do well in everything, failed in the entrance examination for college. This was a real shock to her and she stayed at home in low spirits for days. On seeing that, I gave her the book Zhuan Falun and tried to persuade her to get rid of attachment and let go of fame, interest and emotion. By and by, my daughter became fascinated with Falun Dafa under my influence. Although my husband was opposed to our practicing, but my daughter and I wouldn’t listen to his words, we argued back vehemently, “we practice not only for ourselves, but also for the blessing and happiness of the whole family”. My daughter always turned her back upon her father and persisted in cultivating Falun Dafa with me, totally ignoring my husband’s advice.
But little by little, I found there was something wrong with my daughter. She constantly told me that Master’s Fashen was right behind her, and that she was horrified. I often found her curling up under the table and crying out in panic, “I’ll practice it right now, I promise!” Sometimes, she even fell into a trance and recited scriptures from Zhuan Falun. However, I thought that’s because my daughter had accumulated too much Karma, or her cultivation had provoked the “demons.” So I exerted all my strength to “send out righteous thoughts” to her, prayed for her, and begged the Master to help her “pass the test”.
Noticing my daughter’s abnormal state, my husband took her to hospital regardless of my opposition. The doctor’s diagnosis was schizophrenia. Yet I could not accept the fact that my daughter was mentally ill. To make things worse, I kept practicing heart and soul every day instead of dissuading her in time, expecting that by doing so I would help her eliminate karma and cure her illness. In order to be elevated to a higher level, I learned Fa and practiced harder and harder in the dream of reaching Consummation. At the same time, I myself was also trapped in the illusory world without the strength to get out.
On October 17, 2006, I stayed at home and sat in bed for meditation as usual. Several minutes later, I lost in a dream world, and felt as if my body was going to fly, but failed ultimately. After a while, I was wet with sweat. I began to feel dizzy with hallucination that Master was calling me. Fooled by illusions, I thought I was about to become a God or a Buddha, and Master Li was waving at me high above the heavens. How wonderful it was! I was going with wind like a bird, floating across the sky. And this must be the case Master Li had described. Yes, it was the miracle of “Ascension in Broad Daylight!” I was finally reaching Consummation and would soon become a real god! Muddy-minded, I hurried to the balcony and jumped over the parapet while shouting at the top of my voice “Falun Dafa is good!” Falling to the ground from the third floor, I lost my consciousness. Later on, with the help of my husband and the neighbors nearby, I was sent to the First People’s Hospital of Zaoyang City. Luckily, I survived after the timely rescue and more than half a month’s therapy. But the incident left me paralyzed from the waist down to the feet, and hence I was unable to walk upright.
Seated in the wheelchair, I was full of sorrows to look at my pixilated daughter and my husband’s gaunt face. Up to now, I finally realized that I was totally wrong. I even felt ashamed when thinking about my daughter. As a matter of fact, practicing Falun Gong didn’t cure my illness, but led to my daughter’s mental illness and my own paralysis. Falun Gong did cause infinite harm to people.
text from: http://english.kaiwind.com/Data/02/201105/t128655.htm
Dong Dengzhi jumps to death with Zhuan Falun (photos)
3 Jul|
Dong Dengzhi, female, Han nationality, ID number 422432195210130029, was born in October 1952 in Wangjiashan Village, Songhe Town, Jingshan County, Jingmen City, Hubei Province. She was graduated from No. 1 Nursing School of Hubei College of Medicine in 1976, then transferred to the People’s Hospital of Jingshan County from a health center in 1979. She lived at Room 601 Unite 1 of staff apartment of Jingshan Building Materials Market. In June 1997, Dong began to practice Falun Gong for believing that Falun Gong could keep your body strong, make you be a good person with the belief “Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance” and cure the disease without any medical treatment. Her life then totally changed. After Dong joined Falun Gong, Falun Gong assistants in practicing spot not only taught her the movements, but also propagandized magical effect of Falun Gong to her, such as keeping fit, eliminating karma and going up to a higher level. In addition, they recommended Li Hongzhi’s Zhuan Falun and other books to her, saying repeatedly that if she wanted to go up to a higher level, she should read Master Li’s books with heart over and over again. If she wanted to reach the goals of keeping fit, rising to a high level, accumulateing virtues and eliminating Karma, she ought to do what Master Li asked her to do in his books. Little by little, Dong became a Falun Gong follower from an employable nurse. Before practicing Falun Gong, Dong had been a warm, professional and employable nurse with an excellent reputation in the hospital. But after her practicing, she totally became a different person with a cold heart. She was so overstrung that she often made mistakes in her work, posted the leaflets of Falun Gong on the wall of her office, and advocated Falun Gong to the patients and their families, which completely made people uncomfortable. At 12:05 in the morning on November 1, 2009, in order to reach Consummation, Dong jumped off her apartment with a copy of Zhuan Falun after getting rid of her daughter’s block, murmuring “Communication” constantly.
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| text from: http://english.kaiwind.com/Data/01/201105/t128561.htm |
Another Falun Gong member reportedly burns himself in China
3 JulBEIJING, Feb. 16 — Another member of the banned Falun Gong spiritual group committed suicide by setting himself on fire today, according to Chinese state media. It was the second time in less than a month that group members were reported to have resorted to self-immolation to bring attention to their cause.
Tonight, state television showed police officers covering the body with a sheet and quoted a witness as saying, ”He poured gasoline over his head, lit it, and burst into flames.”
Five people, including a 12-year-old girl, set themselves ablaze in Tiananmen Square on Jan. 23 while adopting the group’s meditation poses. One person, the girl’s mother, died.
Since then, clips from police videotapes of the incident have been widely broadcast on Chinese state television to justify the government’s suppression of what it has called an ”evil cult.”
The earlier self-immolation was witnessed by a group of foreign journalists in Tiananmen Square, the scene of almost daily small nonviolent protests by individual Falun Gong members for the last 18 months. These mostly pass silently, in the blink of an eye, as members unfurl small banners and, in turn, are quickly whisked away in police vans.
There was no independent confirmation of today’s suicide, which the official New China News Agency said took place around noon on a street in the western part of the capital.
Beijing is busily cleaning itself up for a visit by an inspection team from the International Olympic Committee next week. China desperately wants Beijing to play host to the 2008 summer Olympics. Protest suicides do not help that cause.
Since the five Falun Gong members set themselves on fire in Tiananmen Square nearly a month ago, security in the square has been extremely tight, with police officers blocking the entrances and inspecting identification cards and packages to check for gasoline. But the group still has many followers in China and the incident today took place miles from the square, involving a man who is said to have practiced Falun Gong’s blend of exercise and meditation since 1997.
The news agency identified the dead man as Tan Yihui, a shoeshiner from Hunan province, in central China. It said Mr. Tan, 25, was dead by the time the police arrived and extinguished the fire.
Officials said they discovered a six-page suicide note nearby that identified him as a member of Falun Gong and that said he wished to ”forget about life and death and achieve perfection in Paradise.”
Falun Gong officials have generally denied that those who set themselves on fire were genuine practitioners, noting that the teachings of its exiled leader, Li Hongzhi, specifically forbid suicide.
Still, Mr. Li — who lives in the United States — recently wrote an essay that seemed to encourage his followers in China to take more drastic actions than the silent protests that had characterized the group’s resistance.
Also, after 18 months of persecution by the Chinese government, many group members have been almost continuously harassed by the police or have lost their jobs; they are apparently increasingly desperate and ready to act.
text from: http://english.kaiwind.com/Reports/World/201105/t128201.htm
Falun Gong, stay away from me
10 AprWhen I went to apply for my Chinese visa at the Chinese Consulate in Melbourne this morning, like last year and the year before, I did my best to avoid the Falun Gong practitioners protesting outside the gates.
I must admit, I find it highly disturbing when the ‘creator’ of Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi, claims that he has supernatural powers that allow him to levitate, become invisible, control people’s thoughts, and teleport. He also claims that he has discovered the truth of the universe, and can see the future of humankind.
Heck, it’s almost as disturbing as the fact that Tom Cruise has apparently reached a level in Scientology that is high enough for him to be informed about the secrets of the universe. Tom Cruise. A keeper of the secrets of the universe? Is anyone else disturbed by this?
More disturbingly, despite the fact that Falun Gong’s practices preach “truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance”, homosexuality is seen as a disease and only through continued practice of Falun Gong meditation exercises, can sufferers become enlightened enough to become heterosexual. So, benevolence for everyone except homosexuals? Nice philosophy.
However, I personally don’t really give a damn about what the Falun Gong do. I simply just don’t like it when people come up to me and try to convert me to their way of thinking.
(Livejournal.com, October 20th, 2006)
Canadian Professor of Philosophy criticizes Falun Gong again
28 FebProfessor Udo Schuklenk is a professor of philosophy at Queen’s, and has recently been offered the Ontario Research Chair in Bioethics.
In August 2010, he posted an article Falun Gong Harmless Exercise Fanatics in his blog and said, “I agree with the authorities verdict that this is a dangerous cult. The cult is clearly racist and homophobic, not to forget outright crazy.”
After that, he received a letter from a self-declared Falun Gong practitioner. The practitioner claimed himself “a Falun gong practitioner for 15 years”, “has seen countless silver lights flying and dancing all over the sky that appear to be Falun”, and “Master’s hint helped me to avoid a severe train accident.” The practitioner asked professor Udo Schuklenk to “practice together” “for human.”
On November 24, 2010, professor Udo Schuklenk posted another article attaching with this letter, in which he said, “I think the bits about flying Faluns are pretty funny. My personal favourite though, changing gays, mixed-race and computer engineers who were sent by extraterrestrial aliens to destroy earth. That’s pretty cool as far as crazy stuff goes.”
This article got some comments:
Saul Garcia Lopez commented that “Good script for a fiction movie”, while Infidel753 said, “Bad enough to believe in nonsense. Worse to believe in such cliches, hackneyed nonsense.” Another anonymous person said that “I wouldn’t even call that religious – it’s just plain foolishness.”
However, a Falun Gong member Balance who also self-declared an American citizen and a grad student at a prestigious U.S. school argued for Falun Gong group. He said, “The ‘compassion’ and ‘tolerance’ aspects of the practice are universally held to prohibit any form of violence, or indeed any intentional harm to another living being, even emotional”, so he asked Professor Udo Schuklenk “to take a balanced view”.
Professor Udo Schuklenk replied Balance on the same day that, “You won’t be surprised that I disagree with you.” He thought “This Master bloke invented the cult and its ideology. Accordingly his views are held in very high regard. Unsurprisingly his no-harm teachings have not stopped him from watching his followers burning themselves in protests (non-violent, no doubt) to make their point. Interesting. I take it you don’t mean to say that your guru will pass his skills on to whoever will take over the business from him? Certainly not while he can continue being guru. That’s really not how gurus function.”
About the “balanced view”, professor Udo said, “Ask yourself, might it be a tad bit implausible to waffle on about tolerance and non-violence while your ideology espouses racist views? You don’t mean to cause emotional hurt? Well, how about repudiating such harmful teachings? Not gonna happen, I know. We know the patterns from Catholicism and its homophobic agenda. ‘Love the sinner’. Nonsense.”
“There is plenty of evidence that Falun Gong followers omit to get health care believing their adherence to Faun Gong will sort it for them. No harm? Really?’
“What I think is that you’d consider doing those exercises (or any other for that matter), do your meditation and be tolerant and compassionate without supporting this cult.
“I’m always puzzled how otherwise bright folks manage to switch off their critical thinking skills the moment it comes to guru stuff. ”
text from: http://facts.org.cn/Views/201103/t125655.htm
A battle for Chinese hearts and minds in Flushing
28 FebOn the bustling thoroughfare of Chinese immigrants that is Main Street in Flushing, Queens, countless people hand out fliers for massage parlors, calling cards, English classes, money-wiring stores and other services.
But one group of regulars that offers fliers from its daily spot is not commercially minded. Its message is an ideological one: to disparage Falun Gong, the spiritual and meditation movement founded in China. It’s a movement, Falun Gong organizers say, that has found its largest following outside Asia in Flushing.
The group denounces Falun Gong as a cult, and it incorporates this charge into its name: the Chinese Anti-Cult World Alliance. The alliance set up a small folding table in the summer of 2008 on Main Street near Sanford Avenue, not far from the numerous tables staffed by Falun Gong volunteers who hand out literature lambasting the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government, which has banned and persecuted Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa.
For two years, the two factions have staked out their turf on Main Street like rival gangs, and they have waged a bitter ideological battle nearly daily for hearts and minds. They have created a scaled-down version of the tension between Falun Gong and the Chinese government.
Falun Gong members are convinced that this opposition group is an arm of the Chinese government and that its members are working as political operatives to oppress Falun Gong here.
“They are secret agents for the Chinese Communist Party,” said Rong Yi, 45, a Falun Gong organizer in Flushing. “They are puppets for the Chinese government. The Chinese Communist Party is paying them to suppress Falun Gong.”
Ms. Yi’s nemesis on Main Street is Huahong Li, 49, chairwoman of the anti-Falun Gong group, who has become a well-known and polarizing figure in Flushing. Ms. Yi said Ms. Li’s group was trying to keep Falun Gong from publicizing the mistreatment of many of its members in China by the government.
Ms. Li calls the spy accusation laughable and says she is simply motivated by the need to warn the public that Falun Gong is an “evil cult” that has “severely damaged the image and reputation of the Chinese people.”
Ms. Li has gotten into countless confrontations with Falun Gong members. She has been arrested, sued and vilified constantly in The Epoch Times, the free daily newspaper that supports Falun Gong. She keeps scores of clippings from the paper on display at her booth, along with a poster-size collage of snapshots of Falun Gong followers she has argued with. She claims the members have come to her table to harass her, seize her camera and strike her with objects.
Ms. Yi said, however, that these members were approached by Ms. Li. She also accused Ms. Li of orchestrating the distribution of “hate material” against Falun Gong, instigating attacks on members and routinely gathering up and destroying copies of The Epoch Times in sidewalk boxes. Ms. Yi claims Ms. Li has been seen — videotaped, in fact — entering the Chinese Consulate in Manhattan.
Ms. Yi is president of a group called the Global Service Center for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party, whose mission is to find immigrants who were party members in China and persuade them to swear off their membership. The center’s headquarters are above a Chinese bakery on Main Street, two blocks from where Ms. Li sets up her table, and they double as the main offices for Falun Gong in Flushing.
Ms. Yi said that despite Ms. Li’s efforts to thwart her group, about 80 people a day shed their party affiliations with the group’s help. These people sign a list and agree to have their identities entered into a database on a private page on The Epoch Times Web site, she said.
Ms. Yi said she told immigrants that even if they planned never to return to China, it was crucial to quit the party officially in protest of its oppressive actions. To remain a member is to essentially condone all this, she says, but to quit is to obtain freedom from the bottom of their hearts.
“We tell them that God or Buddha will punish you in this life or the future if you still follow them,” Ms. Yi said. “It will be bad luck for you and your family. We tell them that if they quit, their future will be secured and God will bless them.”
Several blocks away, Ms. Li, urges immigrants to quit the “Quitting” party.
“Departing from cult resuscitates oneself,” one of her signs reads.
The two sides have been feuding since the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province that killed more than 60,000 people. Groups of Flushing residents accused Falun Gong of disrupting fund-raising efforts on Main Street for victims by demonstrating with lively music and attacks on the Chinese government.
Ms. Li calls Falun Gong disingenuous and insulting to Chinese immigrants. Her literature charges that Falun Gong practices “anti-human and anti-society practices” and irresponsibly advises members to eschew conventional medicine for daily exercise and meditation for health.
Her main charge is that Falun Gong paints itself as a peaceful, persecuted group, but behind the scenes it is highly disciplined and ruthless, and burnishes its image with its media outlets, political alliances, ubiquitous demonstrations and lobbying tables.
Ms. Li said she lacked the political, strategic and English-language skills to defend herself against Falun Gong’s attacks on her. She said her anti-Falun Gong group had grown in two years to more than 100 people, though its numbers are dwarfed by the thousands of Falun Gong members in Flushing. Last month, for the first time, her group gained a spot in the annual Chinese New Year parade on Main Street, marching near Falun Gong members.
Ms. Li’s most prominent run-in was with a well-known Falun Gong member named Wenyi Wang. In June 2009, Ms. Wang accused Ms. Li of destroying copies of The Epoch Times and approached her with a camera. Ms. Wang said Ms. Li seized the camera, and Ms. Li was arrested and charged with fourth-degree grand larceny. She is now under an order of protection forbidding her to approach Ms. Wang.
All this was reported extensively in The Epoch Times, where Ms. Wang is a contributor and somewhat of a celebrity among Falun Gong adherents for her actions at the White House in 2006 when she gained admittance with Epoch Times press credentials and shouted against Chinese President Hu Jintao while he spoke. She was quickly escorted away, and President Bush later apologized to Mr. Hu.
Ms. Li and her supporters roll their eyes at the idea that their sidewalk spot is a front for cloak-and-dagger espionage.
“Who knew it was that easy to become a government agent?” said one of her colleagues, Zhu Zhirou.
text from: http://facts.org.cn/Reports/World/201103/t125607.htm
The Epoch Times’ old stance on China not unexpected
21 FebThe Epoch Times, the US Central Intelligence Agency’s unofficial mouthpiece, is parroting the Tibetan independence movement party line. This is not surprising at all. Rebutting the Epoch Times would be like shooting fish in a barrel, and I have better use of my time.
Enough said.
Of course the Epoch Times is a Falungong organ. That’s why I said it was a CIA mouthpiece.
Falungong’s mission is to deliberately provoke the CCP regime into clamping down. That lays the groundwork for the “human rights” charges.
Response
Taikor said…
Epoch Times is a joke, suitable for amusement at times.
For example, the media claimed that Sichuan’s earthquake was caused by an underground nuclear explosion.
It’s funny reading through the article as they cite how the authority blocks access to certain sites to suggest something sinister was going on.
For heaven’s sake, it’s for safety and international rescuers are able to enter. If there’s nuke explosion, there would have huge mushroom cloud or a big hole in the ground and the rescuers would have all contracted radiation by now.
About Bevin Chu
Bevin Chu is an American architect and author currently living and working in Taipei and Shanghai. He is the son of Tsing-kang Chu, a retired high-ranking diplomat with the Republic of China government on Taiwan. He is the translator of the English language edition of “Taiwan at the Crossroads: An Expose of Taiwan’s New Dictatorship,” a landmark book by the celebrated native Taiwanese liberal reformer and political commentator, Joyce C. Huang (Huang Chi-hsien).
Facts of Falun Gong 