The incident of several Falun Gong practitioners setting themselves on fire in Tian'anmen Square on January 23 revealed one fact: Li Hongzhi, ringleader of the Falun Gong cult, does not hesitate in attaining his ulterior political goals at the expense of the lives of cult members.

The suicide attempts of the Falun Gong addicts further reveals the anti-human, anti-society and anti-scientific nature of the cult.

Liu Baorong, one of the sect members who set themselves on fire, said that she did this under the influence of Li's "scripture," which teaches her to "transcend worldly life and death," "go beyond forbearance" and "attain absolute completion."

The cult "spokesmen" in the United States and Hong Kong, Zhang Er'ping and Jian Hongzhang, denied any connection between the tragedy and Falun Gong in front of international media, saying it was a "frame and malicious charge" that the Chinese Government forced on the cult.

One Western country also seized the opportunity to link this incident to the human rights issue and made unwarranted charges.

Yet, the cult members chanted Falun Gong slogans and sat cross-legged in practising Falun Gong as they doused themselves with gasoline.

After one member died and several others sustained serious burns, the survivors said that they came to Tian'anmen Square "to obtain access to heaven and salvation as instructed by the ringleader."

In attempting to dissociate Falun Gong with this statement, the cult spokesmen said the cult was against any form of killing, including suicide.

But contradicting these words is Li Hongzhi's published "scripture" under the title of "To Be Driven Beyond Forbearance" on the first day of 2001.

He called on Falun Gong practitioners to use every means to eliminate "evil," encouraging them to "stand out" to confront law so as to reach salvation.

Li's speech found an echo in the words of extremist cult leaders who displayed astonishing cruelty and foolishness by sacrificing the lives of cult members in acts of mass suicide, kidnapping, assassination and explosion.

Over the past decade, cults around the world have incurred at least 27 group suicides in each of which more than 10 people died.

In one case, 530 cult members were burned alive in a mass suicide organized by the Restoration of Ten Commandments of God in Uganda last March. Another 86 died as David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidian cult in the United States, set fire to their compound in 1993.

After knowing the police would search their stronghold, Aum Shinrikyo (Great Truth), a cult in Japan, even spread a lethal gas in an underground railway in Tokyo, killing 12 people and injuring more than 5,500.

Though Falun Gong claimed that it has always adopted a peaceful and non-violent approach, its heresy has caused the death of more than 1,600 practitioners who have committed suicide or refused to treat their illnesses.

In order to exert greater pressure on the Chinese Government, Li Hongzhi, who lives in the United States, is instigating his followers, many of whom are women and children, to burn themselves to death.

Because of its nature of running against science and the progress of human society, Falun Gong is losing followers in both China and the rest of the world. However, Li Hongzhi and the Falun Gong cult have been struggling to gain so-called "Lebensraum" by throwing themselves into the lap of the anti-China force in the West.

But it is impossible for them to accomplish what the anti-China force failed to do. We seriously warn the anti-China force in the West that their attempt to use the cult to cause chaos in China is doomed to fail and draw fire against itself.

We sternly warn Li Hongzhi that the farces he made with ulterior motives will fail at last, just as drawing water with a sieve.

The Falun Gong cult cannot elude the justice of history and will receive retribution for its cruel killings.

The tragedy of these Falun Gong practitioners has proven to be a profound lesson for those who are still obsessed with the cult and have illusions about Li Hongzhi.

They will become sacrifices of the Falun Gong cult that is condemned by hundreds of thousands of people for their opposition to society, people, the motherland and the law.

Only by waking up to their errors, resolutely breaking with the Falun Gong cult and ridding themselves of its spiritual control, can Falun Gong practitioners have bright future.

(Xinhua 2001/01/31)