1.3 “Black Hole 3″: State-Run Propaganda Machine Used to Spread Lies and Hatred
Since 1999, all of China’s media outlets have been actively abetting the persecution. When talking to Mike Wallace on the CBS program 60 Minutes on August 15 2000 at Beidaihe government resort, Jiang Zemin acknowledged straightforwardly, “Media should be the mouthpiece of the Party.” (http://mgrlife.diy.myrice.com/cover/cover09031.htm) It was a direct claim that in China, the state-run media is not objective and only serves the needs of political authorities.
After being introduced to the general public in 1992, Falun Gong’s benefits of improved health and outlook quickly attracted millions of people in China. And although practitioners had no political aspirations, Jiang Zemin felt threatened by the practice’s fast-growing number of followers and was jealous of its popularity. To justify persecution, the regime manipulated the state-controlled media into fabricating stories, slanderous material, and false accusations against Falun Gong in order to incite public hatred of the practice.
According to incomplete statistics, since the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20, 1999, the state-run newspaper People’s Daily published 347 articles to disparage Falun Gong in the first month alone. China’s Central TV station (CCTV) has been actively supporting the persecution and has fabricated numerous news items to falsely accuse and slander Falun Gong. From April 25, 2002 to the end of 2003, programs such as Focus Interview, News, Science and Technology Channel, Viewpoint Weekly Publication, China Diplomacy Forum, TV Critique, China Network and Media Forum and the Life Channelbroadcast at least 332 such items. These defamatory programs have been telecast extensively by local media.
There are 2,000 newspapers, 8,000 magazines, and 1,500 TV and radio stations in China. Together, these media outlets constitute a formidable venue for distributing propaganda.
1.3.1 Internet Monopolized by Chinese Authorities
As a media tool, the Internet comes in fourth after newspapers, radio, and TV. It has also become instrumental in the persecution of Falun Gong, being used to control information and subsequently people’s minds both inside China and abroad.
Online news sources such as People’s Daily On Line, Xinhua News Agency, CCTV Net, China’s Central Radio Broadcast Net, China Daily On Line, China International Radio Website, Center of China’s International Internet have all become the Jiang regime’s puppet media in terms of reporting on Falun Gong. According to incomplete statistics, from January 2000 to October 2003, there were 522 articles slandering Falun Gong on the Xinhua News Agency website alone. These reports were circulated extensively on Chinese Internet media both within China and abroad.
On July 24, 2000, Sun Yusheng, the deputy general editor of CCTV, passed down the decision made at the “government monopoly of the Internet” meeting during CCTV’s routine meeting. He announced that the central government supports five major websites: People’s Daily On Line, Xinhua News Agency, China Daily On Line, China International Radio Website,and Center of China’s International Internet, and advocates five additional websites: Oriental Web in Shanghai, Thousand Dragon Web in Beijing, China Youth Net, CCTV Net, andChina’s Central Radio Broadcast Net. Sun indicated that there should be no additional promotion for other commercial websites.
From Jiang’s supportive policy favoring the major state-run Internet media, it is obvious that the purpose of the vast investment of technology and funds in these media is to further control them so as to promote anti-Falun Gong propaganda.
1.3.2 Production of Anti-Falun Gong Movies and TV Programs
In the past five years, the Jiang regime has invested money in producing movies, TV series, Chinese traditional operas, and dramas to defame and slander Falun Gong. These programs are broadcast all across the country. The official organization dedicated to suppressing Falun Gong, the Anti-Cult Association of China, has by itself participated in editing 37 anti-Falun Gong movies and TV series. Among them, production of one of the many anti-Falun Gong films, Abyss – Essence of a Cult, was funded by the government, which invested 2.6 million yuan (US$ 314,142) in its production.
Another government-funded production was the 24-program series of TV plays called Life Is Innocent. The average cost of making one play was 200,000 to 300,000 yuan (US$ 24,164 to 36.247). It would cost 4.8 million to 7.2 million yuan (US$ 0.58 to 0.87 million) for the entire 25 programs.
In addition to movies and TV series, the Jiang regime ordered media groups to produce a great number of large-scale artistic performances, Ping Opera performances, dramas, and Beijing Opera performances to slander Falun Gong. For example, in 2001, the Politics and Law Committee of the CCP in Dalian and the Department of Propaganda of the CCP Committee of Dalian jointly presented the Ping Opera “Broken Moon,” a large-scale comprehensive show entitled “Life is Beautiful,” and the drama “Fallacy in the Sun.” The drama “Fallacy in the Sun” was presented 40 times in Dalian in various districts and townships. According to an official report, the Dalian authorities “organized a total of 179 performances of Ping Opera and dramas. The central government and provincial department applauded Dalian’s use of artistic performances to expose and denounce Falun Gong. ” It is hard to estimate the huge expenditure in editing these programs and forcibly promoting them across China.
1.3.3 Propaganda Materials Circulated to All Corners of China
At the beginning of year 2001 alone, the official publishing houses in China published more than 60 anti-Falun Gong books. These publishing houses included those affiliated with the Department of Justice, Department of Propaganda, People’s Daily, Popular Science Publishing House, Publishing House for the Masses, Publishing House of Beijing City, Law Publishing House, and so on. In addition, CCTV edited VCDs to include its TV programFocus Interview, which attacked Falun Gong. China International TV Corporation helped to release large quantities of these VCDs.
One can find large-scale exhibitions and anti-Falun Gong display boards all over China. Books, DVDs, brochures, and posters are being produced, printed, and promoted in almost every city and village.
For example, on the day of February 6, 2001 alone, eight million juveniles in nearly 1,000 communities throughout 100 mid-to-large-size cities in China posted over 500,000 propaganda pictures, distributed over 10 million flyers, and held over 200 rallies to defame Falun Gong. All this was under the close supervision of the Director of the central government’s “610 Office,” Wang Maolin; first secretary of the Central Youth League, Zhou Qiang; and the head of the Central Youth League’s Party Secretary Committee, Zhao Yong.
Let’s assume the flyers were printed at the lowest available rates. For 20,000 copies, it would cost 1,050 yuan (US$ 127) for single-sided black and white, 1,150 yuan (US$ 139) for double-sided black and white, 1,750 yuan (US$ 211) for single-sided color flyers, and 2,250 yuan (US$ 272) for double-sided color flyers. For the 10 million flyers used in one day, it would cost at least 525,000 yuan (US$ 63,432), equivalent to the monthly subsidy for 3,000 laid-off workers in China.
The Children’s Publishing House in Hunan Province edited four series of books titled “Advocating Science, Eliminating Superstition” (this is CCP’s typical, official propaganda used to attack Falun Gong) for junior students in elementary school, senior students in elementary school, middle-school students and adults, respectively. The volume of publication was 3.1 million.
Large-scale photo and caricature exhibitions attacking Falun Gong can also be found everywhere in China. Jiang Zemin personally attended some of these exhibitions. In August and September 2000, Xiangtan City in Hunan Province alone held several such photo exhibitions at the city level and county level. Two local organizations—the Association of Science and Office of Civilization—were the sponsors of these exhibitions. Throughout the city, more than 90,000 viewers attended 43 exhibitions at 35 display sites.
Preface
Before World War II, when Hitler came into power and started to control and manipulate Germany’s economic lifelines, the economy of Nazi Germany demonstrated explosive growth, which many called the “miracle of the twentieth century.” Foreign investment in Germany accelerated. Attracted by the cheap labor, some foreign-owned manufacturing bases in Germany used the forced labor of Jewish people in the concentration camps to achieve high profitability. Foreign investment not only secured Hitler’s dictatorship, but also fueled the economy of Nazi Germany and the Nazi power base.
With the support of a powerful economy, the Nazis trampled more than half of Europe, and no less than six million Jews were slaughtered under the Third Reich. At the Nuremberg Trials, the free world’s leaders vowed that “Never Again” would such a situation be allowed to come into existence. We made the solemn promise to uphold the principles of freedom and justice forever, for our own well-being and our own future.
History repeats itself. At the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century, China has displayed the fastest growing economy, which many call the “miracle of the twenty-first century.” But behind the economic “boom” is the Jiang regime’s policy of genocide and state terrorism against Falun Gong. This persecution has, through a globally integrated economy, involved everyone in the world. By investing in stocks, establishing joint ventures, and doing business with China, people may have unwittingly and unwillingly participated in this persecution.
“[It is a] great truth that industry, commerce and security are the surest roads to the happiness and prosperity of [a] people,” wrote Thomas Jefferson to the Italian merchant Francisco Chiappe in 1789. Today, as Jiang’s regime uses China’s government, economy, and human resources to persecute a group of people having no political pursuits and seeking only to cultivate truthfulness-compassion-tolerance, and then to extend the persecution overseas, the “surest roads to happiness and prosperity” have been turned into instruments for implementing and executing the systematic global persecution of Falun Gong. The consequences have gone well beyond the scope of the economic and the territorial borders of the People’s Republic of China.
At this very moment the crimes are still being perpetrated. It is our hope that this report will provide insight about the persecution from an economic perspective. In order to protect the freedom, happiness, and prosperity of the international community, the people of the world must join together to end the persecution.
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Why Jiang Zemin and CCP Persecute Falun Gong?
[VIDEO] Why Jiang Zemin and CCP Persecute Falun Gong?
