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CHINA – THE
SPIRITUAL FUGITIVES Sept 1999 DUR 13’51” Dawn, Beijing Driving sequence Morning exercises
in Ritan Park Hong Kong – in the
Park Exercise video:
graphic of the spinning wheel Shot of Flying
Buddha which turns into Master Li Show shots of him
turning wheel in his stomach 1995 Qigong
Convention – Master Li on stage Li Hongzhi on stage throws something at crowd (After I/V Master
Li looking through his books and posters) Hong Kong Practitioners
watching home video of Master Li – some put their hands together when he
speaks I/V Professor He FLG in the Park Focus on Belinda Belinda and Jane at
computer Crackdown pictures Driving sequence
with the Cult-Buster, Sima Nan Sima Nan addressing conference Crackdown pics Wide shot of
underground gang |
Music It’s 4:30 in the morning and we’re searching for ghosts on the streets of Beijing. Jane & Li The police came and searched here in the
daytime, so they have already gone. Lin Yanbo is one of them… a businessman from the industrial northwest, he’s now one of China’s spiritual refugees. Mr Li (overlay with
driving) Some of us are living on the road, some
living in guesthouses, some living in even more dirty places. We are living
everywhere, on the road, in the underpasses. Forced from their homes by suspicion and fear, they live day-to-day, hand to mouth. We’re hoping to find them before they rise and move on – one stop ahead of the authorities. Overlay walking
vision with Mr Li At least hundreds of thousands of people
are from all over the country. Some of them can be recognised, some of them
cannot be recognised. Amazingly, we discover some members camped under the government’s nose at the gates of a national ministry. If the authorities knew of their presence, we could all be detained. Confused and frightened, they don't know exactly why they’re here or what they’re going to do. It’s taken us weeks to find anyone prepared to talk openly. Ms Bi No matter whether you are man or woman,
young or old, they beat us up. They tore the clothes off little girls, the
girls ran back home holding their clothes. They treated us as
counter-revolutionaries. They claim they threaten no one but China’s authorities disagree. The leadership says it will spare no effort to crush the movement it calls an evil cult known as Falun Gong. Shouters At daybreak millions of Chinese head to the park for a ritual known as Qigong. It’s gentle exercise, which calls upon a kind of invisible energy to strengthen body and mind. Pause There are hundreds of types of Qigong; based on traditional Chinese beliefs. But one brand you won’t find here is Falun Gong. Exercise aside, its philosophy describes a unique view of the universe known to believers as Great Law or Falun Dafa. Its creed, ‘Truth, Benevolence and Forbearance’. Kooky, mystical
music Falun Gong’s founder Li Hongzhi emerged from obscurity in China’s industrial northeast to reveal what he calls the Law of the Universe in his 1992 book the Zhuan Falun. The doctrine involves self-improvement, and say followers, the answers to life’s mysteries. Master Li’s mystical repertoire includes implanting a Falun or wheel in the abdomen of each practitioner, so cultivation can continue even after physical exercise stops. Pause – convention Until a few years ago, Master Li was feted by China’s official Qigong Association. During one convention he gave a sample of his supernatural healing powers. Li (translation) Okay. Now relax. After you’ve thought of
an illness then concentrate your eyes on me. Okay, relax, relax, relax,
RELAX! All right, now stamp your feet. Do you
feel good? (Crowd roars “yes!” and
starts clapping). It’s unclear why Master Li left China in 1996, but he now lives in the United States, a reclusive figure who conveys his thoughts to practitioners via the internet. From his outpost in New York, Master Li claims a legion of 100 million devotees, most of whom hang on his every word. But unlike other Qigong groups, this one doesn’t tolerate criticism. He Zuoxiu (translation) I think Falun Gong cannot tolerate even a
small criticism from society and the people, because this extreme reaction
shows that they don’t allow anyone to criticise even slightly. This is the man who incurred the wrath of Falun Gong. When Professor He wrote that the sect could mentally impair young people, members staged a sit in at the University which published the article. It shows that Falun Gong intends to become
the super religion in the world. This super religion will crack down on
anyone who doesn’t agree with its creed. Dozens of practitioners were dragged away by police and beaten up. Undeterred, they returned with a bigger protest. Pause Ten to twenty thousand practitioners quietly surrounded Beijing’s most sensitive government building – the central leaders compound. Pause It was an eerie sight – a silent, almost motionless protest, but for the government it was an outrageous act of defiance. Pause In the months ahead police rounded up hundreds of suspects. Practitioners who were also Party members were forced to renounce their allegiance to the sect and to denounce Master Li. Then came a nationwide crackdown on superstition, pushing devoted practitioners underground. Hong Kong Such is the hysteria surrounding the crackdown; we have travelled to Hong Kong, the only place in China where Falun Gong can be practiced in the open. Devotees like Belinda Pang looked on helplessly as the crackdown intensified on the mainland. Belinda Pang
(English) The overall propaganda is based on
fabricated evidence, and only the government has their way of saying – and
all the practitioners, there are a hundred million in China or more than that
– they don't get a chance to speak out, they don't get a chance to appeal,
they don't get a chance to express their opinions. Pause – exercise
music from exercise video Belinda Pang became a practitioner two years ago. Since then, she says she’s rid her body of illness and disease, raised her moral standards and now faces problems more positively. The Dafa or Great Law has become her creed, Master Li, her teacher. Belinda Pang
(overlay – park exercises) Master Li, he knows something, he knows a
lot of things that we don't know. And that’s why he’s someone very special. Reverse: Is it a belief? You can call it a belief, but it’s not
just a belief. This is the universal law. The law of the universe for the
first time is revealed to us. We can, by understanding, by reading Zhuan Falun, it teaches us how to cultivate, how to
return to our original self. As Belinda Pang and other devotees follow the leader and his thoughts on the internet, back on the mainland a different message has been filling television screens. Pause – TV In an intense propaganda blitz, Chinese television has accused Falun Gong of contributing to the deaths of 700 practitioners in the most gruesome of circumstances. One man even tried to cut out the mystical wheel from his stomach. Others reportedly died after failing to seek medical help believing Master Li’s claim that illness arises from bad karma and faith is the only curse. The government’s message; Falun Gong is a dangerous, obsessive devotion, a threat to followers and to social cohesion. And that’s made Sima Nan a man in demand. He’s China’s top cult-buster. Sima Nan (translation) I always said that Master Li Hongzhi is like a piece of ice, floating on the sea. It
looks like a small piece, but the culture of magic power and the Masters are
like the bottom of a huge iceberg. If they have a chance, they will stage a
comeback. Pause If Falun Gong is a dangerous obsession, Sima Nan is just as obsessed in his crusade to crush it. Every waking hour is spent taking his message to each wrung of Chinese society, debunking the mystical devices and tricks of the mind deployed by Master Li. Huffing and puffing He uses not magic but a simple act of strength to show how the minds of Falun Gong followers can be bent as easily as a spoon. (Translation) (Blowing sound) They twist around their Falun, or the
Wheel of Law, to gain energy and then they twist their hand, what will
happen? What do you think will happen? Jane: It will turn
into a knife? Sima:
Look! See!! (He reveals a twisted spoon) Sima Nan This organisation, due to our large-scale
exposure and criticism, will become more political. In the past, they were
against the government and slandered the government from all aspects. Now
it’s become apparent. This is Falun Gong organisation is a political
organisation. Pause In the heat of the crackdown we tried to convince frightened practitioners to reveal their side of the story. Our first contact was harassed into silence, the second was detained. People in office It's a measure of how frustrated yet determined they are that this group of people finally came forward to speak out. Middle-class, educated, they’re determined to have their good names restored. Bi Wen They covered up the facts; they blamed us
for some non-Falun Gong people committing suicide. We wonder whether they
should blame us for people who die in hospital. There are many unfair things,
for instance a lot of practitioners are still in detention centres, we want
to have justice, we want to report real situation to the Government leaders. If Falun Gong remains banned, says Li Yanbo, he and millions of others can never again live a normal life. Li Yanbo (translation) Because we believe that we do everything
correctly, behave correctly, we are good people in the world, why will we be
caught. Why do they call us a sect with evil theories? They are China’s new spiritual dispossessed. Millions of once law-abiding citizens are now faced with a difficult choice – relinquish their belief, or risk persecution. |