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Template:ChineseText The Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident was an event which took place in Tiananmen Square on the eve of Chinese new year, January 23, 2001 when 7 people attempted to set themselves on fire. Footage was broadcast nationally in the People's Republic of China by China Central Television (CCTV). Western news organizations disseminated the story as given by the official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, without the possibility of verifying it independently, amidst tight state censorship.

According to Time magazine, the Government's media war against Falun Gong gained significant traction following the act; the six-month campaign successfully portrayed Falun Gong as an "evil cult" which could unhinge its followers. By repeatedly broadcasting images of a girl’s burning body and interviews with the others saying they believed self-immolation would lead them to paradise, many Chinese were convinced that Falun Gong was an evil cult. CNN comments that the campaign is probably the government's first effort to gain public support for the crackdown of Falun Gong, and is "reminiscent of communist political movements -- from the ..Korean War to the ..Cultural Revolution".

The broadcaster claimed the self-immolators as Falun Gong practitioners. Time magazine said that it was possible for misguided practitioners to have taken it upon themselves to demonstrate in this manner, sparking a "propaganda bonanza" for the Chinese authorities. Falun Gong in New York emphatically denies that these people could have been practitioners on grounds that the teachings explicitly forbid suicide and killing. Falun Gong and some third-party commentators point to apparent inconsistencies in the government's version of events, and claim that the incident was staged in order to turn public opinion against the practice and build support for its persecution.

Background

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 Chinese Government to ban the group. By August, state controlled newspapers began running lengthy exposés about Falun Gong. In Shanghai, a petition against the group began circulating on February 13 yielding 100,000 signatures in 10 days. According to Danny Schechter, these government organised petitions lack credibility, and are attempts by the Party to "thwart attacks on its human rights record."

By the end of 1999, Amnesty International expressed concern about claims of torture and deaths of Falun Gong adherents in police custody. Close to 35,000 Falun Gong practitioners had been arrested in Beijing. Tiananmen Square became one of the prime locations where the practitioners were expected to routinely protest. On January 1, 2001, another 700 Falun Gong protesters were arrested in the square. The size of protests had dwindled to zero due to the Government crackdown, despite a call to step up protests "especially in Tiananmen Square," according to Time.

Amnesty International called on the Chinese government to stop "...mass arbitrary detentions, unfair trials and other human rights violations resulting from the crackdown on the Falun Gong..." in March 2000; Amnesty expressed concern that Falun Gong practitioners had been "...tortured or subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in detention." Another bulletin in December 2000 cited reports of torture, detention and ill-treatment, some ending in death, and condemned the authorities' "callous disregard for the lives of people detained solely for their peaceful activities."

Prior to the event, many Chinese had felt that Falun Gong posed no real threat, and that the crackdown had gone too far. A paper from Falun Gong front organization World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) suggests that Jiang Zemin considered that the public was not responding as desired a year after initiating the crackdown: China had failed to "annihilate Falun Gong within three months", the persecution had met with international condemnation, as well as resistance from highly ranked Party officials. Time said the immolations marked a turning point in its anti-Falun Gong campaign.

The act

On January 23, 2001 (Chinese New Year's eve) a group of men and women attempted to set themselves on fire in Tiananmen Square, five succeeded at ignition.

A man sat down on the pavement northeast of the Monument to the People's Heroes at the center of the square, poured gasoline on his clothes and set himself on fire. Moments later four more people set themselves alight. A CNN camera crew were on hand to record the event. CNN producer Lisa Weaver said she could "smell burning flesh as the van slowly passed." As they were taping, military police stepped in, detained the crew, and confiscated their tapes. Nearby police with fire-extinguishers ran to the victims and put out the flames within the space of a minute.

The Chinese authorities claimed that the seven people who attempted suicide were all from Kaifeng in Henan Province. Six of them reportedly took the train to Beijing on January 16, meeting Chen Guo there. State-run media reports that they agreed to light themselves in different parts of the square at 2:30 pm; they smuggled gasoline into the square using plastic Sprite bottles; each had been armed with two lighters in case one would fail. Two died and three were severely disfigured by the act.

Reporting and analysis

State owned Xinhua claimed that the self-immolators were "avid practitioners", allegedly having taken up the practice between 1995 and 1997. Xinhua also claimed that during the week preceding the event, they fantasised about "how wonderful it would be to enter heaven".

Many Western news organizations published the same story and in much the same way as Xinhua, as there were no sources to verify facts independently, given the tight state censorship. Nevertheless, The Guardian reported that some observers believed it was possible that the victims attempted suicide in desperation and confusion about Mr Li's radical "new scripture". Time considered "implausible" that the act was set up by the Government, stating that Falun Gong had been caught off-guard by the act, and the leadership's damage control after the immolations proved to be inadequate.

Schechter, however, doubted Falun Gong would deny being involved in the incident if it was a genuine protest. In the National Review, the Laogai Research Foundation suggested that it was "hardly a far-fetched hypothesis" that the government allowed or staged the incident to discredit Falun Gong, as the government vowed to crush the practice before the eightieth anniversary celebrations of the Communist Party in July. The article concluded that while the "PRC's propaganda coup" against Falun Gong is within the context of popular understandings of other immolations in recent Asian history, "...this situation is not clear", and for the Communists, this was just "another lie."

The New York Times stated that conflicting claims were difficult to assess "ith propaganda streaming in from seemingly opposite ends of the universe... especially since the remaining Falun Gong practitioners have been driven underground." It also noted one of the victims was able to "fluidly perform" Falun Gong's signature slow-motion exercises in front of Western media. CNN had reported that four of the victims were seen in flames, with their hands held "in a classic Falun Gong meditation pose", causing Falun Gong to file a complaint to CNN.

On January 1, 2001, Li Hongzhi published an article called "Beyond the Limits of Forbearance" which, as Time speculated, appealed to more "radical" practitioners. Therein, Li wrote that persecution of the Fa by "evil" (i.e. the Chinese authorities) could no longer be tolerated. According to Time, one Beijing Falun Gong strongly suggested the immolators were practitioners, yet the New York head office categorically stated "This so-called suicide attempt on Tiananmen Square has nothing to do with Falun Gong practitioners..." Time suggested that this "lack of solidarity" was contributing to the sense of desperation of Mainland Chinese practitioners who may feel "out of touch" with the exiled leadership.

The Guardian commented that Li had confused his supporters in his New Year message that forbearance did not mean "ignoring terrible crimes", and that if the evil went too far, "various measures at different levels can be used to stop it and eradicate it". Days later, Falun Gong in New York said that "certain disciples had some extreme interpretations we are going to resort to violence". Falun Gong clarified that Mr Li meant it was time to "bring the truth to light" about China's atrocities, using non-violent forms of exposing and resisting the persecution.

The Asian Wall Street Journal wrote that the danger of putting Li's scripture as cause for the immolations "implies, insidiously, that the blame lies with the victims... the fundamental, human issue is the Chinese government's brutal campaign to wipe out Falun Dafa and the misery resulting from it." They write that in the face of the "brutalities" visited on practitioners, "it's not so difficult to imagine why a few persons would have succumbed to despair. And that makes them deserving of our pity rather than our cynicism."

Falun Gong expressed its concern of western media's giving Xinhua's reports so much credibility and airtime, given that Xinhua openly admits it "disseminate propaganda for the Chinese regime." "Much remains unclear and unknown about the circumstances surrounding the incident", including what took place in the week between the incident and when the "fully engineered news articles and television programs" were released. International Educational Development (IED), a human rights NGO, said it had "discovered that had in fact been staged", and condemned the government's "terrorism against Falun Gong".

The Age described the immolation incident as the Communist Party's main piece of evidence in its campaign to portray Falun Gong as "dangerous and predatory," similar to Aum Shinrikyo or Jim Jones' cult in Guyana. It believes that this attempt has "fallen flat," and the "ready availability of fire-extinguishers and official TV teams and the lack of verification about the victims" raises questions about Falun Gong involvement, or whether the incident was staged.

A video programme of the incident, False Fire, produced by New Tang Dynasty Television, claimed a number of inconsistencies in the state's version of events. The Falun Gong-linked programme attempted to deconstruct the event, alleging several apparent inconsistencies in the Chinese Government's version of the story:

• The hair and bottle of gasoline at the feet of the alleged self immolator is intact, although this should have caught fire first.
• Police, not normally known to carry fire extinguishers on duty, appeared to have pieces of fire-fighting equipment on hand on the day of the self-immolations.
• Liu Chunling, appears to be hit on the head by a blunt object as police attempt to put out the fire. The programme argues that Liu died from a severe blow to the head.
• The camera of the CCTV footage zooms in on the scene as it unfolds; surveillance cameras in Tiananmen Square are usually fixed.
• 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
• The girl who allegedly underwent a tracheotomy appeared to be able to speak and sing clearly mere days after the surgery.

WOIPFG saw the incident as a major tool in the "regime’s global campaign to vilify Falun Gong practitioners to the Chinese people..."

Falun Gong denied any practitioners could have been involved in the incident, as "...The teachings of Falun Gong prohibit any form of killing. Mr. Li Hongzhi... has explicitly stated that suicide is a sin." It accused the PRC Government of attempting to discredit the practice of Falun Gong. Falun Gong related commentators also pointed out that the main participants' account of the incident and other aspects of the participants' behaviour were inconsistent with the teachings of Falun Dafa.

The Washington Post questioned why the Chinese government happened to have a camera crew in place to film the incident. "The close-up shots shown on Chinese television appear to have been taken without any interference from police. In some, the camera is clearly behind police barricades and positioned directly above the apparent sect members. In addition, footage from overhead surveillance cameras in Tiananmen Square appears to show a man using a small handheld video camera to film the scene, not a large TV news camera."

One western diplomat commented that the public changed from sympathising with Falun Gong to siding with the Government after the event; human interest stories and accounts of rehabilitation efforts of former practitioners shifted popular consensus.

WOIPFG believed that hostility toward Falun Gong from the general public escalated, the campaign "clearly intensified," "hate crimes" targeting Falun Gong increased. It further alleged the death toll during police arrests or in prisons, labor camps and "brainwashing centers" all sharply increased.

The victims

According to the Hong Kong NGO Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, all of the victims, except 12-year-old Liu Siying, had previously protested for Falun Gong in Tiananmen Square. Schechter noted that a CNN producer at the scene, "standing just fifty feet away" said she did not see any children. He doubted that the child, a tracheotomy patient, would have been able to "speak to the Chinese media so soon after the tragedy."

After denying press access to the victims for a year after the incident, the Government "suddenly" granted foreign press interviews in the presence of state officials in April 2002. When asked why they set themselves on fire, Hao Huijun said that she had realised the futility of writing letters and demonstrating by waving banners, "so finally, we decided...to make a big event to show our will to the world.... We wanted to show the government that Falun Gong was good."

Liu Chunling

Xinhua reported that Huo Xiuzhen, Liu Chunling's adoptive mother, spoke of her daughter's "obsession with Falun Gong", her "worshipping of Li Hongzhi", and how she would teach her daughter to practice Falun Gong. Liu's neighbours, when interviewed by the International Herald Tribune, stated that she was not a native of Kaicheng, was deeply troubled, and beat her mother and daughter. None of the interviewed had ever seen her practice Falun Gong. Falun Gong disputes that Liu was a practitioner because she "...was witnessed beating her stepmother and child... is not according to a Falun Gong practitioner's standard." Specifically, Zhuan Falun urges tolerance, and followers should not lose their temper in disciplining children.

Commenting on a footage of the video broadcast by Xinhua made available in slow motion by Falun Gong, Charles A. Radin of the Boston Globe agrees that Liu may have been "bludgeoned by a man in a military overcoat."

Wang Jindong

Wang Jindong, serving a 15 year sentence in Henan Provincial Prison, denied that he had been bribed by the government to stage the incident, and said he "felt humiliated because of my stupidity and fanatical ideas."

However, WOIPFG stated that the Speech Processing Laboratory at National Taiwan University analysed the broadcasts, and claimed that the first person named as Wang Jindong who appeared on CCTV was not the same person who appeared the second and third times.

Falun Gong also claims conflicting accounts between state media reports on the immolation--about when Wang was supposed to have started practicing Falun Gong, and whether he was standing or sitting when he shouted.

Government actions

Following the incident, Tiananmen Square was shut down. Seven days after the event, China Central TV aired their footage of five people in flames, said to be taken by nearby surveillance cameras.

The government immediately used the twelve-year-old Liu Siying as an example that Falun Gong was harmful to children. After having had a tracheotomy, according to Government sources, she was able to speak through "approved media outlets", saying that her own mother told her to set herself on fire to reach the "heavenly golden kingdom". The media parade incited 8 million students to join the "Anti-Cult action by the Youth Civilised Communities Across the Nation". Posters, leaflets, videos and lectures began in the class rooms nation wide about the supposed detrimental effects of the practice. Regular anti-Falun Gong classes were scheduled in schools on the orders of the authorities, with 12 million children submitting writings disapproving of the practice.

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 featuring color photographs of charred bodies. The State Council's "Office for the Prevention and Handling of Evil Cults", declared after the event that it was now ready to form a united front with the global anti-cult struggle. The IHT reported state controlled media attacked Falun Gong and Li Hongzhi morning and night, on a daily basis. Meetings took place in factories, offices and universities; schools were ordered to "educate" pupils about Falun Gong. The Government announced that religious leaders from across the country had delivered denunciations. In Kaifeng, the post office issued an anti-Falun Gong postmark, and 10,000 people signed a petition denouncing the group.

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. An anti-cult exhibition targeting Falun Gong was held in July 2001 at the China People's Revolution Military Museum in Beijing; Beijing newspapers have run exhibits of former practitioners thanking the Communist Party of China for rescuing them; in the form of a cartoon of Li Hongzhi covered in swastikas, the Chinese government compared Li to Adolf Hitler.

The surviving victims' fate

Liu Yunfang was sentenced to life imprisonment, 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.

At the time of the April 2002 meeting with foreign press, Chen Guo and her mother were still in the hospital. Chen 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 hands, ears and nose; both eyes were covered with skin grafts. The fire had left Wang Jindong with scarred, leathery cheeks and blackened fingers.

See also

• Tiananmen Square protests of 1989

References

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2. John Pomfret and Philip Pan, "Torture is Breaking Falun Gong, China Systematically Eradicating Group", Washington Post, 5 Aug 2001 at A1, as cited by Chrandra D. Smith, "Chinese Persecution of Falun Gong", October 2004, retrieved July 8, 2006
3. ^ Staff and wire reports, Tiananmen tense after fiery protests, CNN, January 24, 2001, accessed 2007-02-09
4. ^ Judith Sunderland. From the Household to the Factory: China's campaign against Falungong. Human Rights Watch, 2002. ISBN 1564322696
5. "The Issue of Killing" from Zhuan Falun, Falun Dafa
6. ^ Elizabeth J. Selden, Mark Perry. Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance. Routledge, 2003. ISBN 041530170X
7. Asia Source Interview: An Interview with Danny Schechter, Director of Falun Gong's Challenge to China
8. ^ Amnesty International, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA: The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called heretical organizations, 23 March 2000, accessed 11 September 2007
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10. Amnesty International, China: Falun Gong deaths in custody continue to rise as crackdown worsens, accessed September 11 2007
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