Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 17, 2000, Page 117
stop this group, a group that seemed not only willing but also able to hold mass gatherings
and continued protests, the teachings of which they saw as anti-scientific,34 anti-social, and
part of a personality cult with the potential to become a political threat. The irony is, that by
banning the group they have politicized its practitioners and drawn international attention
and criticism onto its actions. The potential political aspect of the Falun Gong thus became a
reality.
Conclusion
Politically, the Falun Gong is a group that has focused attention on China and induced
outside sources to put pressure on the Chinese government to broaden its concept of and
increase its respect for human rights and civil liberties.
As a movement and teaching in its own right, the Falun Gong has moved outside of China
into roughly thirty countries, having at the time of writing sixty-two Web sites in the United
States alone. It is difficult to state with any accuracy the size of the movement, but for the
past year the Falun Gong has been claiming one hundred million followers. It remains to be
seen how the teaching is accepted outside of China and how the originally Chinese-based
beliefs will be accepted or changed by practitioners outside of China. It also remains to be
seen whether the aspects of the Falun Gong teaching that appear potentially harmful, will
have harmful affects, and if so, to what degree. Certainly further study and observation is
indicated.
I believe that it would be beneficial if the press continued to broaden its coverage of the
Falun Gong beyond the human rights issue in China, if researchers studied the group in the
United States, if the Chinese press were allowed more freedom to research and report on
the issue, and if the Chinese government allowed independent research to be conducted
within China. Finally, as I suggested at the beginning, I feel it is important to avoid
demonizing anyone, whether it be the non-practitioners that Li Hongzhi demonizes, the
Falun Gong that the Chinese government demonizes, or the Chinese government that
political elements in the West demonize his support and early discussions on this topic, and
for his generous spirit.
Endnotes
1. For an excellent discussion of media issues see Media Studies Journal: Covering China 13, no.1
(Winter 1999).
2. James Mann. ―Framing China.‖ Media Studies Journal: Covering China 13, no.1 (Winter 1999)
102-107.
3. As an example: In the 1999 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: China it states that ―late
in the year, according to some reports, the Government started confining some Falun Gong
adherents to psychiatric hospitals.‖ And in the Human Rights Watch Report of its China Update
2000 (which came out in February), it stated that ―A police officer did confirm a report that fifty
FLG members, reportedly repeat offenders, have been held in a psychiatric hospital near Beijing
since December.‖ In a 16 February 2000 report by John Leicester of the Associated Press, he
interviewed 7 of the 54 people who had been held at the psychiatric hospital in the suburbs of
Beijing. They said they had not been treated as psychiatric patients. Apparently, they were
locked up because they were known to be ―repeat‖ protestors and it was to ―stop them from
protesting during the December 20 hand-over of Macao‖ that they were locked up. But the
impression was given that the FLG members were being locked up for psychiatric treatment
because of their belief in Falun Gong.
4. Erik Eckholm, ―Beijing Quickly Detains Sect's Protesters‖ New York Times 26 Oct.1999. ―Followers
abroad have reported dozens of cases in which arrested members were mistreated by police,
although the accounts cannot usually be independently verified.‖ Numbers reported by the Rachlin
Management Media Group and also from the Information Center on Human Rights and Democratic
Movement in China, are often higher than numbers reported from western press on location in
China. Example: FLG practitioners protested in Tiananmen Square over a three-day period in
stop this group, a group that seemed not only willing but also able to hold mass gatherings
and continued protests, the teachings of which they saw as anti-scientific,34 anti-social, and
part of a personality cult with the potential to become a political threat. The irony is, that by
banning the group they have politicized its practitioners and drawn international attention
and criticism onto its actions. The potential political aspect of the Falun Gong thus became a
reality.
Conclusion
Politically, the Falun Gong is a group that has focused attention on China and induced
outside sources to put pressure on the Chinese government to broaden its concept of and
increase its respect for human rights and civil liberties.
As a movement and teaching in its own right, the Falun Gong has moved outside of China
into roughly thirty countries, having at the time of writing sixty-two Web sites in the United
States alone. It is difficult to state with any accuracy the size of the movement, but for the
past year the Falun Gong has been claiming one hundred million followers. It remains to be
seen how the teaching is accepted outside of China and how the originally Chinese-based
beliefs will be accepted or changed by practitioners outside of China. It also remains to be
seen whether the aspects of the Falun Gong teaching that appear potentially harmful, will
have harmful affects, and if so, to what degree. Certainly further study and observation is
indicated.
I believe that it would be beneficial if the press continued to broaden its coverage of the
Falun Gong beyond the human rights issue in China, if researchers studied the group in the
United States, if the Chinese press were allowed more freedom to research and report on
the issue, and if the Chinese government allowed independent research to be conducted
within China. Finally, as I suggested at the beginning, I feel it is important to avoid
demonizing anyone, whether it be the non-practitioners that Li Hongzhi demonizes, the
Falun Gong that the Chinese government demonizes, or the Chinese government that
political elements in the West demonize his support and early discussions on this topic, and
for his generous spirit.
Endnotes
1. For an excellent discussion of media issues see Media Studies Journal: Covering China 13, no.1
(Winter 1999).
2. James Mann. ―Framing China.‖ Media Studies Journal: Covering China 13, no.1 (Winter 1999)
102-107.
3. As an example: In the 1999 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: China it states that ―late
in the year, according to some reports, the Government started confining some Falun Gong
adherents to psychiatric hospitals.‖ And in the Human Rights Watch Report of its China Update
2000 (which came out in February), it stated that ―A police officer did confirm a report that fifty
FLG members, reportedly repeat offenders, have been held in a psychiatric hospital near Beijing
since December.‖ In a 16 February 2000 report by John Leicester of the Associated Press, he
interviewed 7 of the 54 people who had been held at the psychiatric hospital in the suburbs of
Beijing. They said they had not been treated as psychiatric patients. Apparently, they were
locked up because they were known to be ―repeat‖ protestors and it was to ―stop them from
protesting during the December 20 hand-over of Macao‖ that they were locked up. But the
impression was given that the FLG members were being locked up for psychiatric treatment
because of their belief in Falun Gong.
4. Erik Eckholm, ―Beijing Quickly Detains Sect's Protesters‖ New York Times 26 Oct.1999. ―Followers
abroad have reported dozens of cases in which arrested members were mistreated by police,
although the accounts cannot usually be independently verified.‖ Numbers reported by the Rachlin
Management Media Group and also from the Information Center on Human Rights and Democratic
Movement in China, are often higher than numbers reported from western press on location in
China. Example: FLG practitioners protested in Tiananmen Square over a three-day period in
