overseas media on Falun Gong

The Chinese government has won decisive victory in its ongoing battle against Falun Gong, but the cult group led by Li Hongzhi has not recognized their defeat and continues to cause trouble, a senior official said Wednesday in Beijing.

This year in particular, the cult has collaborated with overseas anti-China forces and become their political tool. The struggle against Falun Gong is long-term, complex and serious, the official-in-charge of the State Council Information Office said in a recent interview with the Hong Kong-based newspaper, Wen Wei Po.

The official said that the government has worked to educate the majority of Falun Gong practitioners, while cracking down, according to law, on a handful of those who have engaged in criminal activity and jeopardized the public safety.

Of the two million-plus Falun Gong practitioners, more than 98 percent have recognized the true nature of the cult and relinquished their ties to it, with the help of their families and work units.

So far, the cult has been directly responsible for 1,500 deaths -- more than the number killed by the Ugandan "Ten Commandments of God" cult. Meanwhile, over 600 people have become mentally ill after practicing Falun Gong.

China has shown no mercy in its crackdown against organizers and backbone members of the cult, the official said.

As of March 25, 91 Falun Gong-related cases had been handled by Chinese courts at different levels. Of the 99 people who had been involved in these cases and sentenced by the courts, 84 received prison sentences and 15 were exempted from criminal punishment.

Since July 22, 1999, Falun Gong members have been causing trouble on and around Tian'anmen Square in central Beijing nearly every day, under orders from cult leader Li Hongzhi.

The number of Falun Gong troublemakers rises on significant dates or when important activities are scheduled, such as Spring Festival, sessions of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and visits of high-level foreign guests.

Some of these troublemakers were practicing Falun Gong, some were protesting, banners in hand and shouting slogans, and some were even attempting to detonate explosives, according to the official.

A Falun Gong member surnamed Li, who came to Beijing from northern Hebei Province, attempted to detonate explosives strapped to his body but was stopped by police.

During Spring Festival, the traditional Chinese New Year, more than 1,000 Falun Gong members gathered on the square in an attempt to hold an activity they called "Guarding Falun Gong on Tian'anmen Square in the Millennium of the Chinese Lunar Calendar."

Local police said this was a demonstration jointly organized by Falun Gong members at home and abroad, the official said.

Under the direction of Li Hongzhi, some backbone elements of Falun Gong spread rumors and deceived the followers.

The followers were told to "publicize" Falun Gong in Beijing at the time, or else miss their chance for "salvation" and the loss of the "religious strength" they had gained through practicing Falun Gong.

The official noted that despite their repeated claims that their actions are not politically motivated, Li and his followers have colluded with anti-China forces and become their political tool.

Recently, the true faces of Li and his followers were further exposed when they joined the anti-China forces in pushing forward the US anti-China motion at the 56th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

It was reported that on March 2 the Falun Gong groups in Canada held a press conference together with the so-called democracy movement organizations and those calling for Tibetan independence.

At the conference, the group pressed the Canadian government to follow the US lead on the motion against China and to link its trade with China with the country's human rights status.

On March 16, Li sent his assistant Zhang Erping to the "China religious freedom" hearing in the US to provide more ammunition for the anti-China motion.

A few days later, Li organized a group of Falun Gong followers to go to Geneva where the 56th session of the U.N Commission on Human Rights was being held. There they held press conferences, collected signatures on petitions and sponsored other anti-China activities.

"All these acts and more have clearly indicated that Li Hongzhi and his Falun Gong organization have publicly given themselves up to the anti-China forces and actively served as their anti-China tool," the official said.

The official also said that despite their claims of truthfulness, benevolence and tolerance, Li and his Falun Gong cult have always been noted for their defiance of Chinese law.

Li, through brainwashing and spiritual control, has manipulated a small number of Falun Gong practitioners who cling to his lies and say they are motivated by his preaching.

In addition, Li and the core members of Falun Gong also claimed that Falun Gong practitioners must follow the so-called Falun Dafa, and that man-made laws have no bearing on their actions, the official noted.

After being brainwashed, the ordinary Falun Gong practitioners were ordered to challenge the country's laws, while Li's core followers preferred to stay behind to pull their strings.

In the interview, the official stressed that some Falun Gong practitioners now residing abroad had come to China and shown their disdain for the country's laws.

"Foreigners in China must abide by the country's law. Otherwise, they will be punished," the official said.

The official also refuted Li Hongzhi's false preaching, such as his theories that "the earth will inevitably explode," "mankind will eventually be exterminated," and "seriously ill people should not take medicine."