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The '''Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident''' was an event broadcasted nationally in the [[People's Republic of China]] by [[CCTV]] on [[Chinese new year]] January 23, 2001. The event consisted of 7 people who attempted to light themselves on fire in [[Tiananmen Square]]. The broadcast proclaimed the [[Self-immolation|self-immolator]]s as [[Falun Gong]] members.<ref name="Sunderland">Sunderland, Judith. [2002] (2002). From the Household to the Factory: China's campaign against Falungong. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 1564322696</ref> A number of controversies have arrived as to whether the members were Falun Gong members at all. The incident has mostly been dismissed as a [[hoax]] and staged event created by the [[Communist Party of China]] |
The '''Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident''' was an event broadcasted nationally in the [[People's Republic of China]] by [[CCTV]] on [[Chinese new year]] January 23, 2001. The event consisted of 7 people who attempted to light themselves on fire in [[Tiananmen Square]]. The broadcast proclaimed the [[Self-immolation|self-immolator]]s as [[Falun Gong]] members.<ref name="Sunderland">Sunderland, Judith. [2002] (2002). From the Household to the Factory: China's campaign against Falungong. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 1564322696</ref> A number of controversies have arrived as to whether the members were Falun Gong members at all. The incident has mostly been dismissed as a [[hoax]] and staged event created by the [[Communist Party of China]] {{fact}} Since the event, Falun Gong's reputation has been severely damaged.<ref>Benson, Michael. Whitcomb, Vanessa, Lide. [2002] (2002). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Modern China. ISBN 0028643860</ref> |
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Falun Gong denied that those people could have been practitioners, citing parts of the teachings which forbid suicide and killing<ref>http://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/lecture7.html#1 [[Falun Dafa]] teachings on "The Issue of Killing" from [[Zhuan Falun]]</ref>, at the same time claiming the event was staged by the [[Government of the People's Republic of China|Chinese government]] into deceiving the public to escalate the [[Persecution of Falun Gong|persecution]].<ref>[http://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/zfl_new_7.html#1 On Killing], from Zhuan Falun</ref><ref name="Sunderland" /> Some third-party commentators have affirmed this version of events, stating that the incident was staged by the government in order to turn public opinion against the practice.<ref>Smith, Chrandra D. (October 2004) [http://www-camlaw.rutgers.edu/publications/law-religion/new_devs/RJLR_ND_66.pdf "Chinese Persecution of Falun Gong"], retrieved July 8, 2006</ref> |
Falun Gong denied that those people could have been practitioners, citing parts of the teachings which forbid suicide and killing<ref>http://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/lecture7.html#1 [[Falun Dafa]] teachings on "The Issue of Killing" from [[Zhuan Falun]]</ref>, at the same time claiming the event was staged by the [[Government of the People's Republic of China|Chinese government]] into deceiving the public to escalate the [[Persecution of Falun Gong|persecution]].<ref>[http://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/zfl_new_7.html#1 On Killing], from Zhuan Falun</ref><ref name="Sunderland" /> Some third-party commentators have affirmed this version of events, stating that the incident was staged by the government in order to turn public opinion against the practice.<ref>Smith, Chrandra D. (October 2004) [http://www-camlaw.rutgers.edu/publications/law-religion/new_devs/RJLR_ND_66.pdf "Chinese Persecution of Falun Gong"], retrieved July 8, 2006</ref> |
Revision as of 15:31, 8 August 2007
The Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident was an event broadcasted nationally in the People's Republic of China by CCTV on Chinese new year January 23, 2001. The event consisted of 7 people who attempted to light themselves on fire in Tiananmen Square. The broadcast proclaimed the self-immolators as Falun Gong members.[1] A number of controversies have arrived as to whether the members were Falun Gong members at all. The incident has mostly been dismissed as a hoax and staged event created by the Communist Party of China [citation needed] Since the event, Falun Gong's reputation has been severely damaged.[2]
Falun Gong denied that those people could have been practitioners, citing parts of the teachings which forbid suicide and killing[3], at the same time claiming the event was staged by the Chinese government into deceiving the public to escalate the persecution.[4][1] Some third-party commentators have affirmed this version of events, stating that the incident was staged by the government in order to turn public opinion against the practice.[5]
Background prior to event
From April 25, 1999 to July, 1999 about 300 Falun Gong demonstrations were held around the country. On July 22 of the same year, a decision was made by the Communist party to ban the group.[6] By August, the People's Daily and Xinhua News Agency began running lengthy shocking stories about Falun Gong. In Shanghai, a petition began circulating on February 13 yielding 100,000 signatures in 10 days against the group.[1]
By the end of 1999 close to 35,000 Falun Gong practitioners had been arrested in Beijing. On January 1, 2001 another 700 pro-Falun demonstrators were arrested in Tiananmen square.[6] Essentially Tiananmen square became one of the prime location where the members were expected to demonstrate routinely.
The self-immolation event
Beijing report
According to original Beijing reports and broadcasts, on Chinese New Year January 23, 2001 a group of men and women attempted to set themselves on fire in Tiananmen square.[1]Five people were successfully lit on fire according to broadcast and Beijing sources.[7][8][1][9] However, inconsistencies among the main participants' account of the incident have been pointed out and other aspects of the participants behaviour and reference to the teachings of Falun Dafa have been reported as fallacious by Falun Gong related commentators.[10]
Romanized name | Chinese name | Relations | Lit on fire | Description | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wang Jin-dong | 王進東 | Husband of Liu Chun-ling | yes | Male | Hospitalized |
Liu Chun-ling | 劉春玲 | Mother of Si-ying | yes | Female | Died on the spot |
Liu Si-ying | 劉思影 | Daughter of Chun-ling | yes | 12 year old girl | Died weeks later after the event |
Chen Guo | 陳果 | Daughter of Hao Hui-jun | yes | 19 year old college student, Female | Hospitalized, suffered burns, treated at Beijing Jishuitan Hospital |
Hao Hui-jun | 郝惠君 | Father of Chen Guo | yes | Female | Hospitalized |
Liu Bao-rong | 劉葆榮 | no | Male | Failed to ignite gasoline | |
Liu Yun-fang | 劉雲芳 | no | Male | Failed to ignite gasoline |
CNN report
From July 22 1999 to the end of 2002, tens of thousand of Falun Gong practitioners had protested in the center of Beijing--Tiananmen Square. A CNN report from January 23 reports the following:
A man sit [sic] down on the pavement just northeast of the Peoples' Heroes Monument at the center of the square. After pouring gasoline on his clothes he set himself on fire. Police ran to the man and extinguished the flames. Moments later four more people set themselves alight as military police detained the CNN crew, which had been taping the events. As flames spread through their clothing the four raised their hands above their heads and staggered about. One of the four, a man, was detained and driven away in a police van. He appeared to have serious burns on his face, and CNN producer Lisa Weaver said she could smell burning flesh as the van slowly passed.”[11]
Falun Gong report
Within 24 hours of the incident, Falun Gong issued a press statement denying any practitioners were involved in the incident:
The Xinhua News Agency’s report that five members of the Falun Gong meditation group set themselves on fire Tuesday in China's Tiananmen Square is yet another attempt by the PRC regime to defame the practice of Falun Gong…. This so-called suicide attempt on Tiananmen Square has nothing to do with Falun Gong practitioners because the teachings of Falun Gong prohibit any form of killing. Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of the practice, has explicitly stated that suicide is a sin.”[12] It was claimed to be a staged incident to smear the practice and escalate the suppression.[13]
Government actions
Paper propaganda
Following the incident, Tiananmen Square was shut down. Within a month, authorities issued a glossy pamphlet entitled "The Whole Story of the Self Immolation Incident Created by Falun Gong Addicts in Tiananmen square". It featured colorful photographs and charred bodies.[1] According to State Council's "Office for the Prevention and Handling of Evil Cults", the PRC declared after the event that it was now ready to form a united front with the global anti-cult struggle.[1]
Lesson to children
The government explicitly used the young 12 year old victim as a lesson to young children, pointing out that Falun Gong was harmful to children. In response, 8 million students joined the "Anti-Cult action by the Youth Civilized Communities Across the Nation".[1] Posters, leaflets, videos and lectures began spreading the class rooms national wide about the detrimental affects of the group. Anti-Falun Gong classes were scheduled in schools regularly with 12 million kids disproving the group in writing.[1]
Government claims
By March 2001, before the National People's Congress, Premier Zhu Rongji and former Premier Li Peng made it clear that the elimination of the group was top priority.[1] Beijing newspapers have since run exhibits of former members thanking the Communist party for rescuing them. The Communist party then compared Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Gong, to Adolf Hitler.[1]
Responses and criticisms
Aftermath
A year after the incident, an interview with the foreign press was organized in April 2002, after the survivors had somewhat recovered. Jeremy Page from Reuters met the two surviving females, who were still being cared for in a hospital. Chen Guo, now only 20, had a face of blotchy grafted skin with no nose and no ears and one eye covered by a flap of skin. She had lost both her hands. Her mother had also lost her ears and nose, and both eyes were covered with skin grafts. She too had no hands. When asked why they set themselves on fire she said: “We wanted to show the government that Falun Gong was good.”[14] Wang Jindong was interviewed in jail. The fire had left him with scarred, leathery cheeks and blackened fingers. It is noted however, that the interviews were conducted only in the presence of CCP officials. A New York Times analysis of the report also states that:
with propaganda streaming in from seemingly opposite ends of the universe, the conflicting claims are difficult to assess[15]
Liu Yunfang was sentenced to life in prison, Wang Jindong received a fifteen-year sentence and a Beijing resident who provided them lodging and helped in the preparation received a seven-year sentence.
Since the immolation was reported, Falun Gong has denied that these people were practitioners. When reporting the incident many Western media have presented the claims of both sides. A report by CNN.com states that:
Beijing has intensified its clamp-down on the group after the incident despite Falun Gong leaders denying its members were involved....[16]
Hannah Beech, writing in Beijing for Time magazine, has stated:
If the smoky haze around the snowy square has dissipated, the questions surrounding the dramatic incident have not. A Beijing arm of the outlawed spiritual group Falun Gong strongly suggested the protesters, one of whom died, were devotees. 'We heeded a call from our master to strengthen our fight against evil,' said a member of the group based in the Chinese capital. Yet hours later, Falun Gong's New York head office distanced itself from the act: 'This so-called suicide attempt on Tiananmen Square has nothing to do with Falun Gong practitioners because the teachings of Falun Gong prohibit any form of killing.[17]
Criticism
A video recording of the incident, False Fire, produced by New Tang Dynasty Television, reports the incident of 23 January 2001 as "the most highly publicized event" staged by the Chinese government to "persecute Falun Gong" and "turn public opinion against the practice." The same recording contains allegations on several supposed inconsistencies in the Chinese Government's version of the story:
- Police were carrying pieces of fire-fighting equipment on the day of the self-immolations, when they were not normally known to carry fire extinguishers on duty.
- As seen in the above video clipping, one of the women involved in the immolations, Liu Chunling, appears to be hit on the head by a blunt object as police attempt to put out the fire. The recording argues that Liu died from a severe blow to the head.
- The camera zooms in on the scene as it unfolds; however, surveillance cameras in Tiananmen Square are usually fixed.
- The man involved in the self-immolation, Wang Jindong, shouts comments that do not form part of Falun Dafa teachings. His sitting position also does not reflect the full or half lotus position as in the Falun Dafa teachings.
- The hospital treatment of the victims, as recorded by Chinese state media, is inconsistent with proper care of severe burn victims: for instance, patients were not kept in sterile rooms; moreover, the girl who allegedly underwent a tracheotomy appeared to be able to speak and sing clearly mere days after the surgery [18][19] [20]
The video also states that prior to 23 January 2001, there had been no incidents of self-immolation among Falun Gong practitioners in the world.
On the other hand, there are no available reports by independent parties or qualified experts which verify some of the claims made in the video; such as equipment of the Tiananmen Square Police, and operating characteristics of the surveillance cameras. Furthermore, New Tang Dynasty Television, which produced the video, has been described as a Falun Gong related media outlet.[21]
Third party criticisms
Human rights advocate Chandra D Smith writes in her paper published in the Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion in 2004 that: [22]
The propaganda capitalized on the alleged self-immolation of five Falun Gong members in Tiananmen Square on January 23, 2001 in which a mother died and her 12-year-old daughter was severely burned. And that By repeatedly broadcasting images of the girl’s burning body and interviews with the others saying they believed self-immolation would lead them to paradise, the government convinced many Chinese that Falun Gong was an "evil cult."
Several human rights NGOs have accused the incident as a government staged hoax to escalate the suppression of Falun Gong. For example, Karen Parker of the International Educational Development states at the 53rd session Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, United Nations:
State terrorism in the form of Government terror against its own people produced far more gross violations of human rights than any other form of terrorism; an example was China's treatment of the Falun Gong. The Government had sought to justify its terrorism against Falun Gong by calling it an evil cult that had caused deaths and the break-up of families, but the organization's investigation showed that the only deaths and resulting family breakups had been at the hands of Chinese authorities, who had resorted to extreme torture and unacceptable detention of thousands of people. International Educational Development had discovered that a self-immolation cited by the Chinese Government as proof that the Falun Gong was an "evil cult" in fact had been staged. The international community and the Subcommission should urgently address this situation.[23]
Furthermore, the NGO International Education Development (IED) at the UN Human Rights Commission in August 2001, stated:
This government took out this so-called self-immolation incident that happened on January 23, 2001, in Tiananmen Square and used this as evidence against Falun Gong. We have reached the conclusion after watching a videotape on this incident, that this incident has however been completely orchestrated by the government.[23]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sunderland, Judith. [2002] (2002). From the Household to the Factory: China's campaign against Falungong. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 1564322696 Cite error: The named reference "Sunderland" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Benson, Michael. Whitcomb, Vanessa, Lide. [2002] (2002). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Modern China. ISBN 0028643860
- ^ http://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/lecture7.html#1 Falun Dafa teachings on "The Issue of Killing" from Zhuan Falun
- ^ On Killing, from Zhuan Falun
- ^ Smith, Chrandra D. (October 2004) "Chinese Persecution of Falun Gong", retrieved July 8, 2006
- ^ a b Perry, Elizabeth J. Selden, Mark. [2003] (2003). Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance. Routledge. ISBN 041530170X
- ^ Peerenboom, Randall P. [2004] (2004). Asian Discourses of Rule of Law: Theories and Implementation of Rule of Law in Twelve Asian countries, France the US. ISBN 0415326125
- ^ China.org.cn accessed 08-01-2007
- ^ Philip P. Pan (5 February 2001). "One-Way Trip to the End in Beijing". Retrieved 2007-02-09.
- ^ Upholdjustice.org
- ^ Staff and wire reports (24 January 2001). "Tiananmen tense after fiery protests". Retrieved 2007-02-09.
- ^ "Falun Dafa Information Center Press Release". 23 January 2001. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
- ^ "The Staged "Self-Immolation" Incident on Tiananmen Square". Retrieved 2007-02-09.
- ^ Jeremy Page (4 April 2002). "Survivors say China Falun Gong immolations real". Retrieved 2007-02-09.
- ^ Elisabeth Rosenthal. The New York Times. "Former Falun Gong Followers Enlisted in China's War on Sect." 5 April 2002.
- ^ Staff and wire reports (8 February 2001). "Hong Kong warns Falun Gong". Retrieved 2007-02-09.
- ^ Hannah Beech (Jan. 29, 2001). "Too Hot to Handle". Retrieved 2007-02-09.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ NTDTV. 2001. "False Fire: China's Tragic New Standard in State Deception" Digital Video Disc.
- ^ http://www.upholdjustice.org/English.2/S_I_second_report.htm World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG). August 2003. "Second Investigation Report on the 'Tiananmen Square Self-Immolation Incident.'" Accessed: 6th of February 2007
- ^ http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/research/rir/?action=record.viewrec&gotorec=416268 RESPONSES TO INFORMATION REQUESTS (RIRs). "CHN43081.E". Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Accessed: 6th of February 2007
- ^ "Falun Gong Adds Media Weapons In Struggle With China's Rulers" Susan V. Lawrence. Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Apr 14, 2004. pg. B.2I
- ^ Smith, Chrandra D. (October 2004) "Chinese Persecution of Falun Gong", retrieved July 8, 2006
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
unhchr
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).