Torture and Killing of Falun Gong Continue in China, Hidden Behind Toned-Down Rhetoric

NEW YORK (FDI) – China’s state-run media has toned down its propaganda offensive against Falun Gong, but cases of torture and abuse continue to pour out of China. (See recent cases of torture victims CAUTION: Contains graphic material)

When the former head of the Chinese Communist Party, Jiang Zemin, launched the campaign to “eradicate” Falun Gong in 1999, many China watchers called it a throw back to the extreme periods of the Cultural Revolution.

State-run media outlets ran shrill, continuous programs vilifying Falun Gong, and virtually ever sector of society was mobilized to demonize and isolate those who practice the ancient Chinese exercise and meditation discipline.

All the while, hundreds of thousands were hounded by local police, with most winding up in police detention centers or labor camps where torture, and sometimes death, was the norm.

In recent months, however, the CCP’s violent campaign against Falun Gong has taken a deceptive turn: it’s gone underground.

A Change in Rhetoric, Not Policy

As the plight of Falun Gong in China has gained more and more attention in the international community, the CCP leadership has faced increasingly difficult questions from government leaders and human rights watchers abroad.

In response, to avoid public condemnation inside China and thwart criticism from abroad, the media blitz against Falun Gong that once flooded China’s state-run airwaves have been reduced to a trickle. But the relative silence does not represent a softened policy toward Falun Gong.

More than 100 deaths of Falun Gong practitioners were reported in each of the past several months. For the past five years, and continuing through to today, up to dozens of cases of torture or severe abuse are reported from inside China every day.

To date, more than 2,800 deaths from torture or abuse have been confirmed, with the actual death-toll believed to be 7,000 or more. More than 44,000 cases of torture or severe abuse have been documented.

For the 100 million people in China who practice Falun Gong, beneath the front of relative normalcy projected by CCP propagandists, the terror continues.