With reference to The Straits Times news article, “China’s Taosim Revival Breathes Life into Qigong” dated Fri 03 Feb 2012, we would like to point out the many defamatory remarks about Falun Gong mentioned within, such as “militant qigong group” and “cult”. We bring this matter up as this is not the first time this newspaper has published such defamatory articles. Clarification letters have been written to the editorial board and the forum over the past few years without response. Instead the newspaper continues to publish baseless articles demonising our practice.
1. The article mentions the phrase “militant qigong group Falun Gong" in both the photo caption and in the article. Yet despite over twelve years of violent and brutal persecution by the Chinese Communist Party, there has never been any documented instance of Falun Gong practitioners participating in any form of violence or “militant action”, inside or outside of China. Instead practitioners believe in opposing the violent persecution through peaceful means like truth clarification. Falun Gong’s teachings ban any form of violence on the part of its practitioners, and furthermore, all true practitioners must adhere to Falun Gong’s core values of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. Calling us a “militant qigong group” is clearly a slanderous accusation of our belief without any clear evidence or qualification to back it up.
Could the paper be allowed to get away with slandering any other religion with the term “militant religion XXX”?
2. The article ends with a quote from a Chinese citizen, Madam Li, insinuating Falun Gong as a "cult". The term “cult” carries a very derogatory connotation, and can be used to insinuate “a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre”. This term is only used in Chinese propaganda machines to describe Falun Gong, and nowhere in western free media can one find articles describing Falun Gong as a “cult”.
Despite 12 years of brutal persecution and denouncement by the government in China, Falun Gong has grown in popularity throughout the world.
The belief is now openly practiced by hundreds of millions of practitioners in 114 countries and cities throughout the world, and publicly supported by the major governments of many developed nations.
Why then does The Straits Times continue to blindly brand it as a cult?
3. The article mentions that "Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi fled to the United Sates in 1998, and remains there." In the same article, the reporter also alluded to the fact that the crackdown on Falun Gong began in 1999. So how could Li Hongzhi have "fled" in 1998 when the crackdown only began in 1999? In reality, Li Hongzhi was invited in 1995 to give a series of lectures on Falun Gong in the major cities of the West. He chose to permanently reside in the United States in the year 1996.
This again is a very defamatory and baseless attack made towards Falun Gong’s founder and Falun Gong itself.
4. The article states that in 1999 "The (Chinese) authorities struck back" in response to an organised sit-in by Falun Gong practitioners. The phrasing used insinuates that practitioners employed forceful means of protest and brought this violent response from the Chinese government upon themselves, when in fact they had only legally and peacefully gathered to show their disagreement with the government’s unfair policies against Falun Gong. This phrase also lends legitimacy make it possibly the largest religious persecution in the world that continues to this day against millions of innocent practitioners in China, despite universal condemnation from the United Nations and many other international human rights groups.
Finally we would like to state that any information regarding Falun Gong is openly available. Reports with reputable references to support their credibility can be found easily online.
The Straits Times claims to be “an authoritative provider of news and views”, and we are deeply disappointed that the reporter, or her editors, not exercise due diligence in verifying their facts before publishing this article defaming Falun Gong.
As the main newspaper in Singapore read by millions of residents, The Straits Times is duty bound under Singapore’s constitution to foster harmony and religious tolerance in society. Yet its publications have blatantly discriminated against Falun Gong, and instigated ill will towards us through biased reporting of untruths to the general public.
As a formally registered society in Singapore since 19 July 1996, Falun Gong practitioners are members of a lawful group with the right to practice our qigong in an open and dignified environment. We have not committed any wrongdoing nor have we harmed anyone. We hope that The Straits Times will take our feedback to heart, conduct their own investigation and take measures to rectify this mistake.
Video - Are Falun Gong Practitioners what Chinese Communist Party have described?
Who are Falun Gong practitioners? (1) by tlysg
PLEASE WATCH - A TRUTH all Singaporean must KNOW ^o^
(Website – http://falundafa.org.sg/ , http://faluninfo.net/ , http://fofg.org/)
