While punishing a handful of stubborn Falun Gong backbone activists according to law, policies for educating and uniting the majority of Falun Gong followers should be adhered to, Our Daily says.

A commentary published by the paper Wednesday, January 10, says the policies will help bring the majority of the Falun Gong followers out of the spiritual control by the cult and resume their normal life.

The commentary, entitled "Adhere to the Policy of Uniting, Educating and Salvaging", hails decisive victories of the anti-Falun Gong campaign, saying that the anti-cult campaign launched by the Party and the government aims to protect the interests of the people and citizens' freedom of religious belief and human dignity.

Li Hongzhi, the cult leader, has organized the cult under the name of practicing Qigong, the traditional Chinese art of meditation, according to the paper. Li has cheated some people and made big money from his followers.

However, Li's anti-government face have been exposed, especially when he went abroad to collaborate with overseas "pro-democracy" elements, "pro-Taiwan-independence" elements, and anti-China forces in the West, the commentary says.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has directed localities to strictly differentiate contradictions of two kinds in dealing with Falun Gong activists, to educate, transform and relieve the majority, it says.

It added that that over the past year, the overwhelming majority of Falun Gong followers have left the cult and begun to lead a normal life.

China will continue to adopt the policy of educating most of the Falun Gong followers, the paper says.

It condemns the cult for its plots to create ideological chaos among the people, in an attempt to topple the leadership of the CPC and the Chinese government.

In socialist China governed by law, no one and no organization is allowed to violate the law, it stresses. Those who have violated law, disrupted social order, and infringed upon others' legal rights and interests, intentionally, must be punished by law, it says.

The paper pledges to continue exposing and criticizing Li and diehards of Falun Gong to eliminate their ideological impacts and social base, and implementing the policy to unite, educate and salvage the Falun Gong victims.

(People's daily 2001/01/12)