Victory achieved in fight against Falun Gong cult

China's official news agency Xinhua released an article Wednesday reviewing the country's year-long campaign against the Falun Gong cult.

The article said that under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, the Chinese people have achieved a decisive victory in the fight against the Falun Gong cult headed by Li Hongzhi.

The victory has greatly raised the political vigilance of the nation, saved and protected a large number of the cheated, punished the evil, and maintained the social stability of the country.

"This has been a major political struggle that has bearing on our country's future. It has also been a big promotion of the scientific world outlook of Marxism," it said.

The article said that directed by Li Hongzhi, over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners illegally gathered outside the Zhongnanhai government compound in Beijing on April 25, 1999.

In addition to spreading fallacies like "earth explosion" and " Doomsday," Li and his followers purposely exerted pressure on the Party and government.

The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Jiang Zemin at the core took decisive measures to bring an end to the illegal gathering and expose Falun Gong's anti-science, anti-human, anti-society, and anti-government evil face.

In July, the CPC Central Committee publicized its decision on dealing with the Falun Gong cult. The Ministry of Civil Affairs outlawed the Falun Dafa Study Society and its Falun Gong organization, and the Ministry of Public Security issued a warrant for the arrest of Li Hongzhi.

The decision of the CPC and the government received the support of all ethnic groups in the country, and a nationwide campaign against Falun Gong was waged in all parts of China.

After reeducation, over 98 percent of all Falun Gong practitioners saw through the reactionary nature of Falun Gong and severed their links with the organization.

This victory broke up the Falun Gong cult and isolated the die-hards headed by Li Hongzhi, the article said.

Falun Gong has brought enormous harm to the Chinese people. Over 1,500 people died as a result of practicing it, and over 600 people were diagnosed with mental disorders.

In October 1999, the Standing Committee of the National People' s Congress passed and promulgated a decision to outlaw and prevent cults and cult activities. The Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate also made public their interpretations concerning laws dealing with cult crimes.

On December 26, 1999, the No. 1 Intermediate People's Court of Beijing sentenced four Falun Gong core members to imprisonment on charges of undermining implementation of the law, causing death as a result of preaching, and illegally obtaining state secrets.

By March 25 of this year, the courts at various levels had handled 91 Falun Gong cases, with 84 persons punished and 15 others exempted from punishment.

The article notes that cults have been a major social problem facing all countries, and China's fight against Falun Gong is a part of the international community's struggle.

According to incomplete statistics, there are over 3,000 cults in the world with many million practitioners. Anti-human, anti-society and anti-science has been the essential feature of the cults.

The latest cult incident in the African country of Uganda resulted in 530 practitioners burning themselves to death. The culprit proved to a cult called "Movement of Restoration of Ten Commandments of God".

The article said that in the fight against the Falun Gong cult, the CPC Central Committee has been wise in calling for the promotion of science and technology and the strengthening of ideological work.

The reason so many people were cheated by Li Hongzhi and his followers is that the practitioners lacked scientific knowledge and a correct world outlook to see through the fallacies spread by Li Hongzhi.

Now, more and more people in China have once again realized the importance of scientific knowledge and plunged themselves into learning science and technology.

The article notes that despite their defeat, Li Hongzhi and his followers refuse to resign themselves to it, and will continue to make trouble at home and abroad.

The fight will be a prolonged and complicated one, and the Chinese people are determined to carry through their fight against the Falun Gong cult, the article concluded.

(China daily 2000/05/10)