Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 17, 2000, Page 111
The Western Press in China
Western reporters in China have a difficult job1 since the government puts restrictions on
their movement and ability to conduct research or interviews, and people are often unwilling
to speak their minds to reporters. Also, according to James Mann, foreign policy columnist
for the Los Angeles Times and author of About Face: A History of America‟s Curious
Relationship with China from Nixon to Clinton, the American press tends to pick a particular
image or concept for reporting on China in any particular decade, and in the 1990‘s,
according to Mann, the media has reduced their reporting to the topic of a repressive
China.2 Therefore most stories tend to center around this theme and refrain from covering
other angles. This has been true of the coverage of the Falun Gong. Most stories on the
Falun Gong have centered around the theme of human rights abuses in China.
The Falun Gong
A major source of information to the Western press has been the Falun Gong office in New
York through the Rachlin Management and Media Group, owned by Falun Gong
spokesperson Gail Rachlin who is a practitioner. Information is provided via press releases,
interviews with Li Hongzhi (interviews with Li have been discontinued since the summer of
1999), and information provided on the Falun Gong Web site. The information from this
source is understandably biased and serving self-interests. This raises the larger question
of the use of the Internet for information and the absence of any standard of accuracy,
verification, or accountability for information provided on personal and interest group Web
sites, as well as the Web sites‘ impact on individual internet users, the news media, and
political policy.
The Information Center on Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China
This is an organization based in Hong Kong and run by Lu Siqing, also known as Frank Lu.
According to Lu, the three main news sources: Associated Press (AP), Agence France Presse
(AFP), and Reuters, issued in 1998 1,110 reports that were based on his Center‘s
information. Lu‘s organization is a one-man operation and he receives his information via
phone calls from mainland China. Lu states that he gets his information out faster than
―other famous‖ human rights groups and that his reports are quoted ―first‖ by the western
press.
Comment
I believe that there needs to be more independent verification of information.3 If it cannot
be verified, then that should be stated, as did the New York Times when it added in several
of its reports that ―This information cannot be independently verified.‖4 Also, sources of
information should be identified more clearly whenever possible. It will also be beneficial if
the American press continues a trend it has already begun, which is to cover the Falun Gong
in fuller context and in broader scope.5
An Evaluation of the Falun Gong: Potential Problems
I think there are four areas of the Falun Gong teaching and organization that are
problematic and that deserve further study and a continuing awareness. They are:
1. Li‘s absolute authority
2. A strong us/them division with a highly negative view of ―ordinary‖ people
3. An environment conducive to abandoning medical care
4. The use of misinformation to influence practitioners
Li’s Absolute Authority
Li insists that his practitioners believe his teachings 100%. You are not allowed to read any
other books that touch upon the topics of philosophy, religion, new age beliefs, qigong, etc.6

Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 17, 2000, Page 112
There can be no room for doubt, no room for questions, no room for complaints. You must
accept it all to be considered a true practitioner. Any feelings of doubt are seen as a trial, a
test of your faith that you must overcome. In essence, you are asked to drop personal
evaluation and critical thinking and to accept his version of reality.
Since Li‘s teachings contain a number of irrational and strange ideas, coming to believe in
these and accept them as truth becomes part of one‘s initiation. This may be a particularly
meaningful test for western practitioners when they come upon Li‘s teachings about
demons, animal spirit possession and aliens, to name a few. Although Li insists that Falun
Gong practitioners must not reinterpret his teachings or modify them in any way, it is
possible that American practitioners may begin to do so. As one practitioner said of Li‘s
demon warnings, they can be likened to Western medical concepts such as multiple
personality disorders.7 Another practitioner admitted that she was initially ―wary‖ of these
aspects of Falun Gong and at first chose to believe only the parts she liked and to ignore the
others. But, as she says, she has since ― ‗refined her understanding‘ ‗so that now ―I accept
everything totally. It all makes sense to me now‟”8 (italics added for emphasis).
As an example: to be a true practitioner, one must not only believe that the three principle
characteristics of the universe are Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance, but one
must also believe that there are people living in the ocean who are half-fish and half-
human.9
There are often references in the teachings to being a ―true‖ practitioner as opposed to
someone who is not, and there are consequences for failing to live up to the requirements.
If you somehow fail to be a true practitioner,10 Li will take back all the good things he has
given you and return the bad things. You will become susceptible to illness again, you will
lose the instantly high level of enlightenment he gave you, and you will lose his guaranteed
protection from harm and his unconditional love. If you fail to be a true practitioner and fall
back down to the level of the ―ordinary person,‖ then you have no hope of ever being
saved.11
The Us/Them Split and the Negation of Ordinary People
Li says all non-practitioners are ―ordinary people.‖ These ordinary people are degenerate,
likely to be bad, likely to disturb you, and likely to contaminate you. Li tells his practitioners
that after reading his book or watching his videotape, there will be a great gap between
themselves, the practitioners, and ―ordinary people.‖ He warns that if you have contact
with a non-practitioner you run the risk that he may possess something ―evil,‖ so ―you had
better not have contact with him‖.12 One of the potential effects of a strong negative ―us
verses them‖ distinction is the possibility of isolating practitioners from family and friends as
well as non-practitioners in general. It can also help create a feedback loop in which
practitioners only relate to other practitioners, thereby mutually reinforcing belief in the
teachings, identification with the group, and eradication of any conflicting or alternative
views.
Li‘s strongly negative view of ordinary people is also found in his talk about the Last Days of
Havoc, the Ending Period of Catastrophe, and the annihilation of humans.13 Li‘s theory is
that humans were originally all kind and composed of Truthfulness, Benevolence, and
Forbearance, but through association with others into communities they became bad and
dropped down to lower and lower dimensions until they reached the earth and ―this
dimension of ordinary people.‖ In the lecture ―Degeneration of Mankind and Appearance of
Enlightened Beings‖ Li says,
You are expected to become enlightened and return as soon as possible ...
This is what the enlightened beings think, so they have opened a gate for
you. If you fail to return, you have to continue to live in the cycle of birth