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FALUN GONG'S CHALLENGE TO CHINA:
Spirtitual Practice or "Evil Cult"?A Report and Reader by Danny Schechter Non-fiction | Hardcover
"Schechter lays bare the Chinese dictatorshipıs hysterical response to an innocent organization, which will, without intending to, educate the Chinese public in mass resistance. Schechterıs book is must-reading for those who want to understand the Chinese governmentıs fear of its own people." -Gregory Palast, The Observer (London) In October 2000, China's president Jiang Zemin declared that Falun Gong, a spiritual movement with an estimated 100 million practitioners, was bent on "overthrowing the Chinese government, and undermining socialism." He branded them "counter revolutionaries" and vowed to crush their spiritual practice. The last time this type of rhetoric was heard was just before the government in Beijing sent tanks into Tiananmen Square in 1989 to crush a worker and student movement for democracy. Falun Gong's response to this latest threat by a regime that had already banned itand denounced it as "an evil cult"was to mobilize a large non-violent protest in the center of Beijing. Over a thousand people were arrested in a scene reminiscent of Martin Luther King Jr's protests in the American South and Mahatma Gandhi's passive resistance campaigns. The ongoing Chinese government crackdown on Falun Gong has led, according to human rights groups, to nearly 70 deaths, 50,000 arrests, pervasive torture, and the burning of as many as 7.8 million books written by the controversial founder of Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi. Why is this happening? What is Falun Gong and how has it attracted an estimated 70-100 million practitioners? Why has the Chinese government declared it an "evil cult" and sought to "smash it"-unsuccessfully so far, despite the involvement of thousands of police and government officials. What is it that China's leaders fear? What role has been played by the Internet in this crisis? What is the real story behind the story? This timely non-fiction book presents the inside story of China's crackdown on Falun Gong. Based on the last interview given by Li Hongzhi before he went underground, as well as information supplied by scores of practitioners and various independent third-party sources, human rights journalist Danny Schechter describes the rise of an enigmatic and sometimes mystical movement that has captured the imagination and loyalty of millions of members of the Communist Party itself. "Falun Gong's Challenge to China" relates these recent developments in the context of the current crisis in China, providing an informative look at a dramatic, underreported and unfolding story. In China, Falun Gong's point of view has been banned. Now it can be heard. Schechter's report is followed by an extensive reader offering documents on all sides of the controversy including government studies, propaganda reports, and Li Hongzhi's own writings. Schechter's careful monitoring of the situation cites experts, studies, human rights activists, intelligence reports, and original research to make sense of a story that has only been told episodicallyand with little depth. He documents and details what has happened and why. "This is a fascinating story that challenges all of us, Americans and Chinese alike," says Schechter. "Horrible abuses against people who have committed no crimes have occurred with little condemnation, because money-not morality-defines US policy towards China." Here for the first time: * How and why 10,000-15,000 Chinese citizens surprised the government by surrounding the center of its power in l999 with a day long vigil. * The debate inside the Communist Party on how to address the rise of Falun Gong, with hard-liners ultimately prevailing with a campaign reminiscent of the extremism of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. * Li Hongzhi's little-publicized plea for a dialogue with the Chinese government. * How a dispute over inflated fees demanded by government agencies helped fuel the conflict. * How the transition to capitalism in China-and not just Communist totalitarianism-has led to unrest and a spiritual crisis for millions. * First-person reports from inside Chinese prisons and mental hospitals where Falun Gong practitioners are being tortured. *The Internet's function in amplifying voices of dissent from inside a country with a closed and tightly controlled media; the Internet's role in the world's most rapidly spreading spiritual movement. *How the Chinese government's has been unable to suffocate Falun Gong, despite extensive attacks on Falun Gong websites and other facets of the group's elusive "network." * How and why Western press coverage tends to resemble and even mimic the one-sided Collected of the Chinese state media. * The mixed messages emanating from the White House and the failure of US government attempts to stop the human rights abuses. The Washington Post recently reported: "You wouldnıt know it from listening to deferential Clinton administration officials, but China is carrying out one of its more ferocious assaults against freedom of speech and freedom of association in recent years . . . A Hong Kong-based human rights group reported that police beat to death one Falun Gong adherent, Zhao Jinghua, when she refused to renounce her beliefs . . . Given the absence of a free press, itıs impossible to know how many have been arrested and how many have died in custody." Note: An excerpt from Falun Gong's Challenge to China appears in Censored 2000: The Yearıs Top 25 Censored Stories (Seven Stories, 2000) Veteran journalist and Emmy Award-winning broadcaster DANNY SCHECHTER has been reporting on and producing programming about human rights issues, including Chinese affairs, for years. A former CNN and ABC news producer, he executive produced "China Now" for a public television broadcast in 1991, and has been working on a TV documentary about Falun Gong. He has written about China for Newsday and Z Magazine. He visited the country in 1997 to speak at an international symposium sponsored by Beijing TV. He is the author of The More You Watch, The Less You Know (Seven Stories Press) and News Dissector: Passions, Pieces, and Polemics 1960-2000 (electronpress.com). He is the executive producer of Globalvision and executive editor of the Media Channel. "As 'News Dissector' on Boston radio, Danny Schechter literally educated a generation..." -Noam Chomsky "Danny Schechter, a kind of journalist without borders, has shaken up public broadcasting, among many other media institutions, in the course of his career as a self-styled 'News Dissector' and human rights advocate..." -The Nation "We need 50, 100, 1000 Danny Schechters. And we need everyone to take his words to heart..." -Professor Robert McChesney, Media Historian |
