At 7 o'clock on the evening of July 24, the House of Representatives of US Congress, in defiance of China's repeated solemn representations, passed the motion tabled by a few anti-China parliament members, demanding the Chinese side to stop so-called "persecution" of the "Falun Gong" cult. This resolution ignores facts, flagrantly connives at the "Falun Gong" cult and maliciously slanders the Chinese government.

The Motion Has No Legal Validity

People need not feel surprised at, but they must not lose guard against, this resolution. This is a congressional resolution, not a proposed law. It is mainly a means used to express the stand and opinion of the US Congress and to exert influence on the government, it has no legal binding force on the US government. Congress of each term would adopt many similar resolutions, but the US government is not necessarily act upon their requirements, their influence varies with different matters and usually carries not much force.

Viewed from the reaction of US media, this resolution did not arouse many repercussions. Mainstream media of the United States did not give it much attention. AP only released a news item without comments on it; the New York Times even did not mention it. Most Americans do not know what "Falun Gong" cult actually is, only some American human-right organizations and Congressmen made a fanfare by means of the "Falun Gong" cult, but this is not at all surprising.

This Matter Must Not Be Slighted

However, one must not look down upon this matter. It is a resolution unilaterally passed by US Congress for the first time on the issue of "Falun Gong" cult. Previously, "Falun Gong" was mentioned only in Congress resolutions involving China's human-right issue, regarding it as one of China's human-right issues.

The fact that the resolution was unilaterally passed this time shows that US Congress would possibly make more use of "Falun Gong" to attack China on the human- right issue in the future. Although this resolution has no binding force on the US government, it would possibly become a bargaining chip for US Congress to apply pressure and influence on the government.

People should not forget that Lee Teng-hui's visit to the United States in 1995 was made on account of the resolution on this matter passed by US Congress with majority votes, the Clinton administration failed to stand up to Congress' pressure and effected a compromise on this matter and suddenly agreed to Lee's America visit, thus causing serious setback to Sino-US relations.

"Falun Gong" Acts in Collusion with Anti-China Forces

Thanks to the heretic characteristics of "Falun Gong" and its overseas agitation of anti-China actions, it is favored by certain Right-wing forces of US Congress and some human-right organizations.

With the support of US anti-China forces, the activities of "Falun Gong" in the United States have become more rampant. They not only often organized members of the "Falun Gong" cult to stage sit-in demonstrations in front of the Chinese Embassy and consulate in the United States, distribute leaflets everywhere, set up sites of "Falun Gong" newspapers, television and Internet, and even accused a Chinese-language medium at the law court for carrying articles exposing the "Falun Gong" cult.

Several days ago, some "Falun Gong" members and US human-right organizations held a grand meeting in front of the Washington Capitol Hill, at which some people even proposed that China be included on the "axis of evils" list. These activities reflect that the "Falun Gong" cult has been acting in collusion with some anti-China forces in the United States and has engaged in collaboration with them in doing evils.

This article was carried on Page 2 of Global Times on July 29, 2002.

(People's Daily August 2, 2002)