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 | Friday, April 14, 2000, updated at 13:57(GMT+8) | ||||||||||||
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China Refutes Western Accusations against Falun Gong CrackdownChina's actions against the evil Falun Gong cult are carried out in accordance with Chinese law and have been widely acclaimed by the Chinese people, Liu Jing, a special adviser to the Chinese delegation, said in Geneva Wednesday.No responsible government would take a laissez-faire attitude toward an evil cult and allow it to endanger people's lives, Liu said at a press briefing on the sideline of the on-going 56th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights. Preliminary figures show that the Falun Gong cult is responsible for at least 1,559 deaths among its followers as a result of committing suicides or refusing medical treatment, he said. The cult has also led to more than 650 cases of psychological disorder, with 11 practitioners becoming homicides and 144 others physically disabled, while ruining the normal life of thousands of Chinese families. The illegal activities by Falun Gong have inflicted serious harm to society with cult ring leader Li Hongzhi and some key members, in addition to illegally amassing wealth, tricking their followers into besieging educational and research institutions as well as government and media offices. It is fully lawful and justified for the Chinese government to bring key cult members, including Li Chang, to justice and to issue a warrant for the arrest of Li Hongzhi, said Liu. "All these actions were carried out strictly in accordance with law. Before court, Li Chang and other convicts had pleaded guilty." The campaign against Falun Gong has nothing to do with religious freedom. As a matter of fact, it was some prominent religious leaders who first revealed the true nature of Falun Gong, Liu said. Outlawing the evil cult is for the very purpose of ensuring religious freedom of some 100 million believers of religions in China. Answering a question, Liu said that like other evil cults in the world, Falun Gong concocted and propagated numerous fallacies to fool its practitioners, so as to control them organizationally and spiritually. Regrettably, some Western countries' accusations against China are based on such lies spread by Li Hongzhi, Liu said. He said that the actual number of Falun Gong followers was 2 million, far fewer than the 100 million claimed by Li Hongzhi, and that up to now 98 percent of them have distanced themselves from Falun Gong and returned to normal life. Liu also refuted a report dished up by Falun Gong on so-called crackdown by the Chinese government on the cult. Investigation revealed that among the 103 cases of "persecution " contained in the report, 91, or 88.3 percent, are sheer fabrications and distortions; while 12, or 11.7 percent, are totally false or non- existent. "In other words, none is true," he noted. Some obsessed practitioners, who gathered in Beijing and attempted to hold unlawful meetings after the outlawing of the cult, were persuaded to leave or led away and sent home by the relevant authorities. The fact was that 35,000 dispatches were made. But when Falun Gong mentioned it, it turned out to be 35,000 people arrested. "In order to fabricate lies, Falun Gong has made the best use of their imagination," Liu said. "It is not strange that evil cults usually start with spreading lies and heresies. For without cheating, they could not exist." The Chinese people cannot but feel outraged and amazed when some Western countries make accusations against China based on Falun Gong's fabrications and lies, Liu said.
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