Falun Gong Practitioners Need Further Education

A circular from the general offices of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council today says that Falun Gong practitioners need more education to change their stance and to get them away from the cult.

According to the circular, the CPC Central Committee's decision to expose and criticize Falun Gong and its founder Li Hongzhi and ban the illegal organization has won wide support from the Chinese people. The overwhelming majority of Falun Gong practitioners have expressed willingness to extricate themselves from the cult and many former practitioners have realized their error in taking part in illegal activities.

The circular says that educating the practitioners is an important indicator of the effects and success of the fight against Falun Gong and Li Hongzhi.

Most practitioners should be treated properly, it says, because Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong took advantage of their concern for their health and most of them knew nothing about Li Hongzhi's ulterior political motives.

The education needs to be sincere, patient, and careful to help them recognize the serious harm of Li Hongzhi and the cult and understand that it is in the interest of the state and the people to ban Falun Gong, it says.

People need to believe that after practitioners know the truth they will support the decision of the Party and government and separate themselves from the cult.

And a clear line needs to be drawn between common practitioners who seek ways for keeping fit and Li Hongzhi and organizers of illegal activities who have political reasons for causing chaos, it says, emphasizing the need for a good command of policy by those carrying out the program to isolate the few organizers.

Those who practiced Falun Gong with hopes of improving their physical fitness should not be discriminated against as long as they have correctly understood the issue and stopped participating in Falun Gong activities.

Work units and grassroots organizations can declare that former practitioners have cut ties with the cult as long as they have broken away from it, exposed the true nature of the cult and its illegal activities, and promised not to take part in its activities.

Those in the cult who have made serious errors will be dealt with leniently as long as they have confessed to their illegal activities and analyzed their errors, and those who contribute to the fight against Falun Gong may be exempt from punishment.

But the few organizers behind the illegal activities who damaged social stability and have committed crimes will be punished in accordance with the law, the circular says.

The circular calls on Party, government and organizations leaders to mobilize members and officials to help Falun Gong practitioners break away from the cult and settle the problems they meet in both work and daily life.

Great efforts should be made to spread scientific knowledge and cultural activities provided to help the practitioners lead healthy lives, it says.

Even greater care and help may be necessary for some practitioners who were deeply deceived by Li Hongzhi, and among neighborhood committees and in the countryside where the numbers of practitioners are relatively high, local Party committees should send work groups to help.

After education, the circular says, most Falun Gong members can come to understand Li Hongzhi and his organization's political nature and the harm it caused to society, and this will be the base for gaining a full victory in the serious political struggle against Falun Gong and Li Hongzhi.

(China daily 1999/08/24)