The image depicts Beijing's Tiananmen Square. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
[People News] On August 12, former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and Premier Zhu Rongji passed away. In light of his passing, I am reminded of the time when he addressed the peaceful petition incident involving Falun Gong practitioners.
During his lifetime, Zhu Rongji had a direct encounter with Falun Gong practitioners. This meeting occurred on April 25, 1999, when tens of thousands of practitioners peacefully gathered at Zhongnanhai to petition.
It was a bright and sunny Sunday. Early that morning, Falun Gong practitioners arrived from all directions and, under police guidance, stood along the roads outside the north and west gates of Zhongnanhai.
According to recollections from Shi Caidong and others, who were pursuing their doctoral studies at the Institute of Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences at the time, around 8 a.m. that day, Zhu Rongji emerged from the west gate of Zhongnanhai accompanied by several staff members and approached the Falun Gong practitioners who were petitioning.
Zhu Rongji asked, "Why are you here? Who asked you to come?" A practitioner responded, "We want to practice; we want to cultivate ourselves." Zhu Rongji then inquired, "Who is preventing you from practicing?" A practitioner replied, "People were arrested in Tianjin."
Zhu Rongji stated, "If you have any issues, send representatives, and I will take you in to discuss them."
Zhu Rongji encouraged the practitioners to select representatives to go in and present their concerns. Since the practitioners all claimed to represent themselves, Zhu Rongji casually pointed to three practitioners in front of him, saying, "Can you come in and talk with me?" All three practitioners agreed. Consequently, Zhu Rongji led them towards the west gate of Zhongnanhai.
As Zhu Rongji approached the west gate of the Zhongnanhai transmission office, he remarked, 'I am looking for the director of the Letters and Visits Bureau to speak with you.' He then turned to the staff and instructed them to find someone. Subsequently, the staff led three trainees to turn left into the transmission office, while Zhu Rongji proceeded to work in Zhongnanhai.
Inside the transmission office, the head of the Letters and Visits Bureau of the General Office of the Central Committee and the State Council attentively listened to the three trainees' concerns and recorded their three demands: (1) Release the more than 40 Falun Gong practitioners who were arrested in Tianjin; (2) Provide a legal environment for Falun Gong practitioners to practice; (3) Allow the public publication and distribution of Falun Gong literature.
Following this, the head of the Letters and Visits Bureau stated that they would report these matters to the relevant leaders of the Central Committee and the State Council.
That afternoon, to gain further insight into the situation, the relevant leaders of the Letters and Visits Bureau invited Li Chang and other staff from the Falun Gong Research Association to Zhongnanhai to discuss the matter.
Around 9 PM that evening, after Li Chang and his colleagues emerged, they informed everyone that all more than 40 Falun Gong practitioners in Tianjin had been released and asked everyone to return home. The Falun Gong practitioners present then left in an orderly fashion, leaving no litter behind; even the cigarette butts discarded by the police were picked up by the practitioners.
On the day of the April 25 incident, Zhu Rongji personally addressed the issue of the Falun Gong practitioners' petition, emphasizing three key points:
First, Zhu Rongji did not shy away from the contradictions but confronted them directly.
The peaceful petition of 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners to Zhongnanhai on April 25, 1999, was a consequence of Jiang Zemin, the then highest leader of the Chinese Communist Party, government, and military, consistently avoiding, concealing, and accumulating contradictions, ultimately exacerbating the situation.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a high-level Buddhist practice introduced by Mr. Li Hongzhi on May 13, 1992, in Changchun City, Northeast China. Its remarkable effectiveness in curing illnesses and enhancing health led to its rapid spread across 32 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in mainland China, as well as to Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and numerous countries and regions in Europe, America, Asia, and Australia.
However, as the saying goes, 'A tree that stands out will be blown down by the wind.' With the growing number of practitioners, some individuals with ulterior motives began to create disturbances.
On July 24, 1996, the General Administration of Press and Publication issued a directive prohibiting the publication and distribution of Falun Gong books, including 'Zhuan Falun,' and ordered the confiscation and sealing of existing copies.
On July 21, 1998, the Ministry of Public Security released a 'Notice on Investigating Falun Gong,' which unjustly accused Falun Gong of 'illegal activities' and instructed local public security agencies to conduct secret investigations and gather evidence of alleged 'criminal activities' associated with Falun Gong.
Following this, many grassroots public security agencies across the country began to interfere with, disrupt, and obstruct Falun Gong practitioners from studying the teachings and practicing. The Public Security Bureau of Chaoyang City in Liaoning Province even issued Document No. 37 (1998), titled 'Notice on Prohibiting Illegal Activities of Falun Gong,' which mandated an immediate ban on Falun Gong.
On April 23 and 24, 1999, a violent incident occurred in Tianjin, where more than 40 Falun Gong practitioners were beaten and unlawfully arrested.
Since 1996, Falun Gong practitioners have persistently written letters to Jiang Zemin, the then top leader of the Chinese Communist Party and military, to address issues related to Falun Gong.
For instance, in early August 1998, approximately nine months prior to the April 25 incident, Professor Yu Changxin and 21 other Falun Gong practitioners sent a joint letter to Jiang Zemin, but it went unnoticed.
In mid-August 1998, eight months before the April 25 incident, I, an official in the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection's Supervision Department and a Falun Gong practitioner, wrote a letter addressing the issues concerning Falun Gong and sent it to Jiang Zemin via registered mail, yet it also failed to garner any attention.
By the end of August 1998, more than seven months before the April 25 incident, Ge Xiulan, a deputy-level official in the same department, along with 135 other Falun Gong practitioners, sent another joint letter to Jiang Zemin, which similarly did not attract any notice.
This indicates that since 1996, no matter how many letters Falun Gong practitioners sent to Jiang Zemin, regardless of their length or the sincerity of their wording, Jiang Zemin completely disregarded them.
It was only after the violent incident in Tianjin on April 23 and 24, 1999, where over 40 Falun Gong practitioners were beaten and unlawfully detained, that the practitioners felt compelled to petition at the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council in Beijing.
Upon the arrival of the petitioning Falun Gong practitioners at Zhongnanhai, Premier Zhu Rongji did not adopt a dismissive or confrontational stance. Instead, he engaged with the practitioners to understand their situation, selected representatives to meet with him at Zhongnanhai, and instructed the leaders of the General Office of the Central Committee and the State Council to listen to the practitioners' concerns. Thanks to Premier Zhu Rongji's direct involvement, that evening, all over 40 Falun Gong practitioners from Tianjin were released.
Contradictions are omnipresent and inescapable. For leaders, when contradictions arise, the most crucial task is to confront them directly and resolve them; this is essential for maintaining social harmony and stability.
On the day of the April 25 incident, Premier Zhu Rongji's handling of contradictions was praiseworthy.
Additionally, Zhu Rongji held a positive view of Falun Gong at that time.
On May 11, 1998, the management of qigong, which was previously overseen by the Ministry of Public Security and eight other ministries, was transferred to the General Administration of Sport of China for unified management.
On May 15, 1998, Wu Shaozu, the director of the General Administration of Sport, personally visited Changchun, the birthplace of Falun Gong, to inspect the practice conditions of Falun Gong practitioners. That evening, China Central Television reported on this in its 10 PM news broadcasts on both the first and fifth channels.
In October 1998, the General Administration of Sport dispatched a research team to Changchun to investigate Falun Gong. The team was led by Qiu Yucai, with members Guan Qian and Li Zhichao. Guan Qian was a former political commissar of the Communications Department of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and was then serving as the deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Qigong Science Research Society. Li Zhichao was a professor and senior engineer at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.
The research team conducted a week-long investigation in Changchun, which included both open and covert visits to practice sites. On October 20, they held a seminar attended by 52 Falun Gong practitioners, including former Red Army members, current military officials, government officials, university professors, entrepreneurs, community committee directors, and workers.
After attentively listening to the practitioners' statements, Qiu Yucai remarked: 'Concerning the issue of Falun Gong, the State Sports Commission has tasked me, along with Guan Qian and Li Zhichao, to gain a better understanding of Falun Gong in Changchun.'
An investigation revealed that over a hundred thousand people in Changchun are practicing Falun Gong, with a notable number being professors, doctoral supervisors from more than a dozen colleges and universities, and senior officials, alongside individuals from various backgrounds, including workers and intellectuals. The effectiveness of these practices is indeed significant, and there is no doubt about this.
"We believe that the practices and effects of Falun Gong are commendable, contributing positively to social stability and the development of spiritual civilization, which deserves full recognition.
"I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone present for responsibly sharing your experiences with practicing Falun Gong and your perspectives; we will accurately and truthfully report your situations to the comrades at the National Sports General Administration and the evaluation committee."
In February 1999, the American magazine 'US News and World Report' published an article discussing the 'qigong craze' that was emerging in China at that time. The article noted: "The director of the National Sports General Administration stated: 'Falun Gong and other qigong practices can save each person 1,000 yuan in medical expenses annually. If there are 100 million practitioners, that could save 100 billion yuan.' Zhu Rongji was very pleased with this, believing that the country could utilize this money more effectively."
On September 10, 2009, Voice of America reported, citing a report from the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Information Center, that "Zhu Rongji engaged in two debates with Jiang Zemin during the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau, arguing that if the Falun Gong issue was not handled with caution, it would intensify conflicts. Jiang Zemin believed that during the highly sensitive period of the tenth anniversary of the June Fourth incident, it was essential to take strong measures against Falun Gong; otherwise, the party and the country would face disaster. The center noted that this information came from a fairly reliable source."
Thirdly, Zhu Rongji observed that Falun Gong practitioners did not 'besiege' Zhongnanhai.
After the Chinese Communist Party initiated the crackdown on Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, they used the practitioners' petition on April 25 as a pretext to label it a so-called 'siege' of Zhongnanhai.
What does 'siege' mean? As the term implies, it refers to surrounding and attacking. On April 25, 1999, although the number of Falun Gong practitioners who petitioned exceeded ten thousand, they did not 'surround' Zhongnanhai. Instead, they stood along the roads outside the north and west gates of Zhongnanhai, following the police's guidance and instructions. Not a single Falun Gong practitioner was present outside the main gate of Zhongnanhai—Xinhua Gate.
They did not 'attack' Zhongnanhai. The petition that day was peaceful and calm from morning until night, orderly and well-organized. Falun Gong practitioners did not display banners, shout slogans, give speeches, distribute flyers, make loud noises, block traffic, or engage in any extreme remarks or actions. Most participants stood quietly, reading, practicing their exercises, or conversing softly. The police stood to the side, either smoking, chatting, or walking back and forth, all appearing very relaxed.
Zhu Rongji was notably at ease as he walked among the Falun Gong practitioners outside the west gate of Zhongnanhai, engaging in conversation and even selecting representatives to enter Zhongnanhai to voice their opinions. This was largely because he did not observe any negative behavior from the practitioners, and he felt no security concerns while approaching them.
If there had truly been an incident where Falun Gong practitioners 'besieged' Zhongnanhai, would Zhu Rongji have been able to approach them so calmly?
It can be said that at that time, Zhu Rongji, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party and Premier of the State Council, was a witness to the fact that Falun Gong practitioners did not 'besiege' Zhongnanhai.
Conclusion
In stark contrast to the 4.25 incident, the attitudes of Jiang Zemin, the leader of the Communist Party, and Zhu Rongji were completely opposite. Jiang viewed Falun Gong practitioners as enemies and regarded their reasonable and lawful appeals as hostile actions. That evening, Jiang concluded in a letter to the members of the Politburo Standing Committee that it was necessary to 'defeat Falun Gong.'
What Jiang Zemin cared about most was the power he held. He was concerned that the growing number of people practicing Falun Gong could threaten his authority, and he refused to listen to any truths about Falun Gong, insisting on suppressing it at all costs.
Following Jiang Zemin's imposition of his personal stance on 'defeating Falun Gong' on the entire party through his authority, Zhu Rongji, compelled by the principle of 'party supremacy', had no option but to align with Jiang. In the matter of Falun Gong, he ultimately failed to maintain his principles, which has become a profound regret.
Dajiyuan
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