April 25th 1999 was an historic day. 10 thousand Falun Gong practitioners appealed outside the Chinese leadership’s compound at Zhongnanhai in Beijing. It was one of the largest peaceful demonstrations in China’s recent history, but later became a pretext for a decade-long persecution.
The appeal was for a group of Falun Gong practitioners who were beaten and detained by police in northeastern Tianjin days earlier. Falun Gong is a traditional meditation practice that had grown hugely popular in China since 1992.
In April 1999, an academic from the China Academy of Sciences published an article in a Tianjin magazine slandering Falun Gong. A group of practitioners then tried to voice their concerns with the publisher, but authorities later sent in police to disperse them. Some practitioners were beaten and detained. Others were told that the arrest orders came from central authorities.
And so on April 25th, thousands converged on Beijing to appeal. Terry Xu, a professor at Tsinghua University at the time, was one of them. He says practitioners followed police directions, and lined up along the streets around Zhongnanhai.
[Terry Xu, Former Tsinghua Professor, Falun Gong Practitioner]:
“When I got close to Fushi street, it was the first time I had seen so many Falun Gong practitioners. They were from all walks of life. So many people standing on the street peacefully, without moving, and shouting no slogans. I felt astounded. Everyone there was astounded.”
China’s then Premier, Zhu Rongji, met with five practitioners and agreed to release those detained in Tianjin. By 10pm that night, all practitioners outside Zhongnanhai had left.
[Terry Xu, Former Tsinghua Professor, Falun Gong Practitioner]:
“There were three police officers walking in front of me, chatting amongst themselves. They said they hadn’t even seen Falun Gong practitioners drop one bit of litter on the ground.”
Despite this positive outcome, the then leader of the Communist Party, Jiang Zemin, disapproved of Zhu’s actions. Jiang soon accused practitioners of besieging Zhongnanhai, and used it as one of the reasons to launch an all-out campaign to wipe out the practice on July 20th 1999.
Overnight, an estimated 70 to 100 million Chinese citizens became the target of a nationwide persecution campaign. Terry Xu was detained by police and spent two years in a labor camp. He later escaped to the United States.
The persecution of Falun Gong continues to this day. Rights groups have cited the campaign launched by Jiang Zemin as one of the worst human rights atrocities in the world.
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Why Jiang Zemin and CCP Persecute Falun Gong?
[VIDEO] Why Jiang Zemin and CCP Persecute Falun Gong?
