NEW YORK — Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) first launched its campaign
in 1999 to "eradicate Falun Gong," it has often taken incidents of injustice
or violence in China and through state-run media, either framed them on Falun
Gong or used them to incite hatred against Falun Gong.
The protests in Shishou in June are a clear example where local citizens protested
over an injustice having nothing to do with Falun Gong, while the state-run
media aimed to portray it as Falun Gong-incited unrest. Since the Olympics last
year, CCP officials have used this tactic with greater frequency. The purpose
is apparently two-fold: 1) to divert attention away from the injustice at hand
and 2) to utilize and build upon the stigma against Falun Gong that has been
fostered by the Chinese state-run media over the past ten years in an effort
to facilitate a systematic, CCP-run campaign that has left thousands of Falun
Gong practitioners dead from torture and abuse, and millions victimized by arbitrary
detention or imprisonment.
The Falun Dafa Information Center, like all who care deeply about the Chinese
people, is saddened by the lead poisoning of children in Wugang. While covering
the story of the victims in Wugang, we ask that international media also investigate
and expose how the CCP — instead of addressing the grievances of these distraught
parents directly — is merely spinning them in an effort to further vilify the
peaceful faith of Falun Gong practitioners.
Posting date: 16/Sep/2009
Original article date: 3/Sep/2008
Category: Media Report