(Minghui.org) When I was a university student, Professor Yang taught us the subject of Marxism. He was a very articulate, straightforward and kindhearted person, and we all liked him very much.
After graduation, I worked in the same city as Professor Yang, and we often got together. Later, he was promoted to head the section of Marxism and Leninism. He was also appointed as head of the Department of Social Science and chief editor of a series of history books. He became well-known in the university. After he retired, Professor Yang returned to his hometown in the south and we didn’t see each other for many years.
At the beginning of 2004, just after I was released from detention for practicing Falun Gong, Professor Yang paid me an unexpected visit. I was very happy to see him.
I was still recovering from the maltreatment in the detention center, so I could only chat with him from my bed. He glanced at his watch and said he had just got off a train and had only ten minutes to spend with me. I thanked him for his kindness.
Then he said, “If the government forbids people from practicing Falun Gong, then just stop doing it. Why are you so stubborn? You used to be an intelligent young man. How come you are so muddle-headed on this issue?”
“Professor Yang,” I said with a smile. “I was muddle-headed most of my life and have only recently become clear-headed.”
“Oh, really?” He was surprised to hear that.
I then changed the subject and asked him what he had been doing lately. He told me he was writing books and had just finished with the Mao period and was about to start with periods of Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin.
“How would you write about the ‘June 4’ incident in 1989 and the suppression of Falun Gong launched by Jiang Zemin in 1999?” I asked him.
“I will just write according to what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) says about them,” he replied.
“No, you can’t do that, otherwise you’ll be making a huge mistake!” I quickly said.
He looked at me, startled.
I continued, “The ‘June 4th’ movement was a patriotic movement by students against corruption, but it was labeled a ‘counter-revolutionary riot’ by the government. Do you truly believe that no student was killed on Tiananmen Square in Beijing as the CCP regime claims?”
“Well, I did hear there was a crackdown on the movement. I will do more research on it,” he said.
I went on, “Falun Gong was suppressed in 1999, which amounted to a grave injustice!”
He looked at me in surprise, “Why do you say so?”
“Falun Gong was taught to the public in 1992, and within seven years, the number of people doing the practice increased to more than 100 million and had a very positive impact in society. Even in the investigation report submitted by Qiao Shi, the then-Chairman of the National People’s Congress, to the central government, it stated that ‘Falun Gong brings many benefits to people with no harm,’” I explained.
“Do you know that all the wives of the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee at that time, including Jiang Zemin’s wife, practiced Falun Gong and had all read Falun Gong books. They all know that Falun Gong is very good, except for Jiang Zemin,” I went on.
“Really?!” He was very surprised to hear this.
“Yes, it’s true. So when Jiang Zemin proposed to suppress Falun Gong at the Politburo Standing Committee, no one agreed with him, because they all knew that Falun Gong practitioners had done nothing wrong and only pursued freedom of belief guaranteed by the Constitution,” I continued.
“I see.” He sighed and was deep in thought.
I then told him how Jiang Zemin falsely labeled Falun Gong a cult, made up malicious rumors and slandered the practice and its Founder, and how Jiang Zemin used the entire state apparatus to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.
“Countless practitioners were unlawfully arrested, detained in brainwashing centers, sent to forced labor camps, sentenced to prisons, and many suffered cruel torture and lost their lives as a result,” I told him.
“Professor, you should know by now what’s right and what’s wrong,” I went on. “Jiang Zemin and the CCP committed crimes against the law, and innocent people who believe in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are suffering cruel persecution. Isn’t this a grave injustice?!”
I could tell from his expression that he was shaken.
Then he asked me, “Why did your people siege Zhongnanhai [a compound that houses the offices of and serves as a residence for the leadership of the CCP and central government] in April 1999?”
“It was not a siege, but a peaceful appeal,” I said.
I then told him what had happened before the appeal. On April 11,1999, He Zuoxiu, an academic from the Chinese Academy of Science, published an article in Science and Technology for the Youth [a journal published by Tianjin University’s College of Education] titled “I Do Not Approve of Youths Practicing Falun Gong.” In the article, he repeated some defamatory propaganda made up by the Beijing Television Station in 1998, which was proven to be false, and the Beijing Television Station even admitted what they said was untrue.
Some local Falun Gong practitioners in Tianjin went to clarify the truth to Tianjin University’s College of Education (TUCOE) between April 18 and 24, 1999. Everything went smoothly and TUCOE seemed supportive of Falun Gong at the time. However, Tianjin police sent more than 300 riot police officers between April 23 and 24, and arrested 45 practitioners, some of whom were injured during the arrest. The police told the practitioners that they needed to go to the State Council’s Appeals Office in Beijing to have the issue sorted out.
So, on April 25, 1999, around ten thousand practitioners gathered peacefully along the street near the Appeals Office opposite the west gate of Zhongnanhai, asking for the release of innocent Falun Gong practitioners and a peaceful environment for the practice.
The then-premier met with a number of representatives and agreed to the requests put forward by the practitioners. The Tianjin police released the arrested practitioners, and at around 8 or 9 p.m. that day, Falun Gong practitioners began to disperse quietly, picking up any trash on the ground, including cigarette butts tossed there by the police. The peaceful appeal was reported positively by international media outlets.
“There were no slogans or any extreme behavior. Falun Gong practitioners were either standing quietly on the sidewalk, or sitting at the back, reading Falun Gong books or doing meditation. How could such a peaceful appeal be labeled a ‘siege’ of the central government?” I asked Professor Yang.
He nodded his head in agreement.
“However, instead of investigating He Zuoxiu and the Tianjin Police who provoked the incident, Jiang Zemin, out of jealousy of Falun Gong’s popularity among the people in China, decided to suppress Falun Gong. He said that Falun Gong practitioners’ good behavior was criminal evidence of how organized Falun Gong is.
“If one is out to condemn somebody, he can always trump up a charge!” Professor Yang said angrily.
Then I told him that the self-immolation on Tiananmen Square was a hoax, which surprised him.
“Suicide is forbidden in Falun Gong practice. Our Master told us that committing suicide is sinful. So, how could genuine Falun Gong practitioners set themselves on fire? You must have watched the ‘self-immolation’ video on China Central Television (CCTV). Didn’t you find anything strange?” I asked him.
“I didn’t pay much attention to the details. I only felt that for a sudden incident like this, it would have been very chaotic where it took place, but the video footage looked very orderly, with close shots, long shots, and close-ups, just like in a TV series,” he said.
“That’s it. It’s acting! None of those involved were true Falun Gong practitioners.” I said.
I then listed a number of questionable points. Why could so many policemen immediately have fire extinguishers as soon as the fire was lit? Because they had come prepared. Why were there only self-immolators, fire extinguishers and reporters, but no tourists in Tiananmen Square? Because the place had been cleared beforehand.
“Foreign media played CCTV’s video in slow motion and found many flaws. Liu Chunling, who died on the spot, was not burned to death, but was hit with a blunt instrument by someone wearing a military coat from behind. Her young daughter also died mysteriously in the hospital after she was said to have recovered well. Their deaths had been planned and only deaths could highlight the tragedy of the ‘self-immolation’ in order to fan up hatred against Falun Gong. The mother and daughter had to die to be silenced,” I went on to expose the hoax.
“It’s so cruel! It’s inhumane!” Professor Yang sighed with emotion.
“What Jiang Zemin and the CCP didn’t expect was that their criminal conduct was soon seen through by the international community,” I said.
“On August 14, 2001, at a meeting of the United Nations, the NGO International Education Development made a formal statement which declared: ‘The Chinese regime points to a supposed self-immolation incident in Tiananmen Square on January 23, 2001, as proof to slander Falun Gong. However, we have obtained a video of that incident which, in our view, proves that this event was staged by the government,’” I told him.
Professor Yang then asked thoughtfully, “I don’t understand. Since Falun Gong was already being suppressed, why did Jiang do such a stupid thing that was condemned by the international community?”
“Well, their key purpose in staging such a hoax was to fan hatred of Falun Gong in society and to intensify and justify the persecution of the Falun Gong practice,” I explained.
We then talked about some other issues. He looked at his watch and said, “Oh my goodness! I was going to talk to you for only ten minutes, but it has been over two hours!”
“I was going to persuade you to give up Falun Gong, but now I think I need to rethink many issues myself!” he said sincerely.
I was very happy that Professor Yang could get to know the truth and, at the same time, I knew in my heart that all this was arranged by our compassionate Master.
Five years later in the summer of 2009, Professor Yang came back again. He was nearly 80 years old by then, but still looked very energetic.
“Professor, what have you been doing these past few years?” I asked.
“I have been teaching in Fudan University, Tongji University, and Jiao Tong University in Shanghai,” he said proudly, “as well as a number of universities in Beijing.”
“What are you teaching?” I asked.
“China’s modern history, of course,” he said.
“But how do you teach such a subject?” I asked.
“Well, I talk about the suppression of counter-revolutionaries, about how 5 million people were killed during the Land Reform Movement led by the CCP, how 40 million people perished during the so-called famine, how 7 million people died during the Cultural Revolution under Mao’s regime. When Deng Xiaoping was in power, students were slaughtered on Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, and then there was the persecution of Falun Gong by Jiang Zemin’s regime.”
I was so happy that the professor was exposing the CCP’s crimes in his classes!
I noticed that the number of deaths he mentioned was consistent with the figures in the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, so I asked, “Professor, where did you get all those references in your teaching?”
“Don’t forget that I am the chief editor of a series of history books, and I have a pass to various national archives and information centers. All the materials for my lectures come from the national archives!” he said with a satisfied smile on his face.
I was really touched by his uprightness.
“Professor, you are truly amazing, and your merits are immeasurable!”
We both laughed.
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