Many Taiwanese have the impression of "Falungong" as those figures holding up banners to protest against the "tyranny of the Chinese Communist Party" in the lively streets . So what exactly is Falun Gong? Why is it suppressed by the Chinese government? Today, let us talk about "Falungong" together! hiho~ Hello everyone, I am Zhiqi! Falun Gong should be both familiar and unfamiliar to many Taiwanese. Many people’s first impression of them is that they can be seen holding signs near major scenic spots in Taiwan , such as 101 and Ximending. Complaining about the atrocities committed by the CCP Sometimes I see Falun Gong practitioners meditating and practicing exercises together in squares or parks, but there may be many people who don’t really know what Falun Gong is doing and what kind of grievances it has with the Chinese government Today 's episode is a topic selected by our channel member Wishing Pool. We will introduce to you: What kind of organization is Falun Gong and why is it suppressed by the Chinese government? So what exactly did the Chinese government do to them? Before we start discussing these issues , we will take a period of business service time as usual. Do you want to buy or rent a house, but don't know where to start? Real estate terms are all super complicated, are you afraid that you will become a fat sheep if you are not careful? The online course "Super Practical Secrets of Buying a House" that I will introduce today is led by Ted, a 35-year-old online home appreciation host with many years of experience in production and sales . Together with Joeman, he asks questions from the perspective of a real estate novice, leading everyone to understand real estate knowledge in a simple way . The content of the course is very rich , such as : How to choose the property that suits you, crack the seller’s words, the key to the contract , even the decoration and Feng Shui, etc. For renters, there is also an introduction on how to protect themselves in case of legal disputes. No matter what your current real estate needs are, you can learn a lot in this class Helpful Information The more you know , the more options you have! Click the link in the information column now to learn more about real estate knowledge! 【What exactly is Falun Gong? Is it a religion? 】 Falun Gong is a kind of "Qigong practice method" taught by Li Hongzhi from Northeast China in the early 90s . "Religion" said that they did not advocate any "god" and would not regularly gather in churches, temples and other places , but the outside world still thinks that Falun Gong is a new religion , or at least has a certain religious color , because the ideas and practice methods of Falun Gong include It incorporates religious elements such as Buddhism and Taoism , and pays great attention to spiritual pursuits . It also has a set of mysterious worldviews that cannot be explained by science. For example , the so-called Falun is a " spiritual rotating high-energy material body" and so on. Practitioners) respect the founder Li Hongzhi very much. The whole Falun Gong is based on his book "Zhuan Falun" as the core guidance . Even among the students, his various "miracles" such as healing the patients who cannot walk, etc. The last point is that Falun Gong is a community with strong cohesion and action . It often holds various activities, and its students are all over the world. According to the official website of Falun Gong , there are currently more than 90 countries in the world with Falun Gong practice sites, including Taiwan. There are more than 600 practice sites. Point and in the 1990s, Falun Gong actually developed very vigorously in China [Falun Gong was once super prosperous in China? Even CCP officials are practicing? 】 After Falun Gong was founded in China, it quickly spread to various provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. There were Falun Gong practitioners from urban areas to rural areas. Even within the CCP, many people practiced Falun Gong openly. According to Chinese official estimates in 1999, the number of Falun Gong practitioners at that time may be as high as 70 million, more than members of the Communist Party of China. The reason why Falun Gong is so prosperous is related to the "Qigong craze" in China in the 1980s and 1990s. During the Cultural Revolution Afterwards, China’s traditional culture and beliefs were almost lost. In addition , China’s medical care was relatively backward at that time , and the public had a high demand for “physical and spiritual” care. Therefore , after the reform and opening up in 1978, the restrictions on culture and religion were loosened. The Qigong movement, which emphasizes "self-cultivation and self-cultivation", began to become popular . At that time, the Chinese government also believed that Qigong was good for the health of the people , so it also held a positive and supportive attitude towards this craze . Among the many schools of Qigong , Falun Gong attracted attention because it was easy to learn. Many people practiced Falun Gong. However , as the number of practitioners continued to skyrocket , the attitude of high-level government officials began to change [The Chinese government officially declares war on Falun Gong! ? 】 As the qigong craze became more and more vigorous, the government's attitude changed from support to suspicion. Since the mid -1990s , restrictions on qigong groups have been gradually tightened. published some articles critical of Falun Gong , but the government at this time had not officially banned Falun Gong activities . The key turning point was the "appeal (petition) incident" on April 25, 1999, when about 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered in the "National Appeal" in Beijing. Outside the bureau, they demanded to stop suppressing and smearing Falun Gong . Although the event ended peacefully under the mediation of the then Premier Zhu Rongji, soon after, the then General Secretary Jiang Zemin ordered the central government and all provincial and municipal governments to set up a special department "610 Office" to ban Falun Gong and After officially defining Falun Gong as an "illegal cult" , the government began to arrest Falun Gong practitioners in large numbers. At the same time , it also called on the public to boycott Falun Gong and other "cult" organizations such as Falun Gong through the official media and the education system , and strengthened the filtering and blocking of information about Falun Gong . According to the "Wall Street Journal" Victim testimonies collected by western media and human rights organizations Since 1999, Falun Gong practitioners were even subjected to torture and forced labor after being arrested and imprisoned . They were also forced to accept "thought transformation". Accused the Chinese government of "harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners." The New York Times quoted human rights groups as saying that in the ten years from 1999 to 2009 , tens of thousands of practitioners were imprisoned and at least 2,000 were killed . According to the non-profit organization Freedom House 2017 The investigation report in 2009 shows that the persecution of Falun Gong still shows no signs of easing [Chinese government, why is it persecuting Falun Gong? 】 According to the Chinese official statement, the reason to "strike hard" on Falun Gong is because they have developed into a "cult that is harmful to people's physical and mental health." However, outside scholars on China issues generally believe that the real reason is that they are worried that Falun Gong will threaten the government's rule And this kind of threat can be divided into three aspects. First , it is "ideological" . Because the Communist Party advocates atheism and materialism , although the Chinese Constitution guarantees religious freedom , it still strictly controls religious activities . Falun Gong, an unofficial religious organization The group is considered to pose an ideological threat to the CCP. Second, it is based on the "mass base". Not only did tens of thousands of people participate , but the location was near the "Zhongnanhai" where the top leadership of the CCP is located , which aroused the government's sensitive nerves. The analysis pointed out that in order to maintain the stability of the rule, the Chinese government must put an end to the existence of such large organizations outside the establishment. According to the Chinese official statement, "Falun Gong and the Communist Party of China cannot be allowed to compete for the masses." Third, it may threaten "Jiang Zemin's personal political interests." According to CNN reports, Jiang Zemin has long advocated restricting and suppressing Falun Gong. However , the CCP However, there were different opinions among the top officials. The then Premier Zhu Rongji and Jiang Zemin’s successor Hu Jintao initially advocated moderate measures against Falun Gong. Therefore , many scholars believe that Jiang Zemin’s choice of “iron fist” to suppress Falun Gong may be to consolidate and strengthen his own position in the party. The power of the central government However , under Jiang Zemin's iron-fisted suppression, Falun Gong practitioners in China still try their best to resist and continue their activities under this situation [After being banned, does Falun Gong still have activities in China? 】 After the government declared Falun Gong an "illegal cult", many practitioners continued to petition the government and protest publicly , demanding that their legal status be returned, but some people were constantly arrested because of this . Dozens of Falun Gong practitioners were also arrested during the protests. Until early 2001, Chinese state media reported Five Falun Gong practitioners set themselves on fire during the protests in Tiananmen Square. Although Falun Gong vigorously denied it, saying that the whole incident was directed and staged by the Chinese government to create a negative impression of Falun Gong , but after this incident, public opinion began to turn to criticism. Falun Gong and its practitioners have gradually stopped their public activities and instead focused on fighting against the government’s information blockade. According to Falun Gong, they have started to “clarify the truth” to the public since the end of 2001. The students will be in secret places, Make leaflets and DVDs, and distribute them door-to-door. In 2002, several Falun Gong practitioners tried to insert a video criticizing the government’s persecution of Falun Gong on a TV channel in Changchun City. It lasted nearly 50 minutes. After the suppression , Falun Gong practitioners became more and more low-key . Over the past few years, Falun Gong activities in China have gradually disappeared. On the contrary , Falun Gong communities outside China have become more and more active. What development and action? 】 Falun Gong began to spread to other countries shortly after its rise in China. Later , due to the suppression of the Chinese government, some practitioners emigrated overseas in the form of immigration, political asylum, etc. , including the founder Li Hongzhi, who also immigrated in 1998 In the United States, these Falun Gong communities scattered around the world have taken various actions to continue to confront the Chinese government. For example , some practitioners chose to resort to the law , trying to accuse Chinese officials of committing crimes against humanity and torture, etc. A more important activity is physical demonstrations and propaganda . Falun Gong practitioners around the world will set up billboards with horrifying images and slogans on the streets, or distribute leaflets , or use skits to accuse the Chinese government of violence Persecution of Falun Gong Moreover , when Chinese officials visit overseas , local Falun Gong practitioners will also protest on the spot . Media Propaganda As early as the early 2000s, Falun Gong-related media, such as The Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty Television, appeared one after another. Although they all claimed to be independent non-profit organizations , in terms of their main donors and reports, these media were incompatible with Falun Gong has a very close connection. Since its inception, the contents of these media have mostly countered China’s political propaganda, reported China’s persecution of Falun Gong , or other human rights issues in China . Overseas Falun Gong has done so many things to accuse the Chinese government . International How does society react? [How does the international community view Falun Gong? ] The international community’s views on Falun Gong are complex and diverse. There are voices of support and sympathy, as well as skepticism and criticism . After the experience of Falun Gong was disclosed by large media organizations, Falun Gong has gained a lot of sympathy and solidarity from the international community. Many countries , including the United States and Taiwan, will provide political asylum to Chinese Falun Gong practitioners . Many politicians will publicly criticize China for not respecting human rights and religious freedom based on the experience of Falun Gong. Of course, some people worry that if they follow Falun Gong too far Recently, it will anger the Chinese authorities, causing diplomatic friction and conflicts . In addition, some people do not trust Falun Gong and think their actions are too extreme . We often publish some sensational reports with unclear sources and difficult to verify, and question the objectivity and authenticity of their content [our point of view] We think that the current situation of Falun Gong being suppressed in China actually reflects that China is more Wide range of religious freedom issues When we checked the information, we found that besides Falun Gong , there are many other religious groups that have also been similarly suppressed, such as Christianity, which also resumed activities after the reform and opening up , also in the 1990s At the end of the year, the government began to suppress it . Since then, many unofficial small "underground church" members have been arrested . Moreover, the "610 Office" that originally dealt with the Falun Gong issue actually expanded to other official churches one year after its establishment. The definition of "harmful" religious and qigong groups Although the 610 Office was abolished in 2018, Xi Jinping also ordered in the same year that religions should be "sinicized and follow the party's surname." Now, almost all religions on the table in China are subject to official The candidate for the abbot or abbot to control Buddhist temples such as Shaolin Temple must be officially recognized, and the five-star flag has been raised one after another to show patriotism. We think that this is because the power of faith is really great, and for the CCP Any organization or person with such influence may affect or threaten their rule , so they will find ways to restrain and suppress these forces , or incorporate them into the official system to make religion serve the party . In this context, it is understandable why some people think that religious activities in China should be regarded as a part of China’s “big foreign propaganda” in essence . Well, let’s go back to the topic this time and want to ask Everyone Finally , if you like today's video, please share it to let more people know about "The Story of Falun Gong"! In addition, you can also click here to watch the videos of "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" and "More Neighbors on the Left". Well , today's Zhiqi Qiqi will come to an end here, and we will see you tomorrow night!
