The Epoch Times has an article that purports to explain how Taiwanese businessmen are enticed into spying for the government of China. I blogged on this before, but this article gives the full text of the speech by Hao Fenjun, a defector from China, last December. I am skeptical that China is really so obsessed with spying on the Falun Gong that they recruit Taiwanese businessmen to do it. The article and its context give every indication that this is purely a Falun Gong propaganda setpiece. From the speech:And the kicker:I have to point out very bluntly that when many Taiwan businessmen, like yourselves, arrive in the mainland, as Dr. Gao Weibang said, the government officials from the Chinese communist regime will do anything for you, including kneeling down. Therefore, you feel like you are a VIP. Taiwanese businessmen are invited to dinners upon arrival, then a series of comprehensive services are arranged. From having dinner to taking a bath, to having a massage, to even visiting prostitutes, the whole process is arranged for you.
Our work unit has double-identities. My real identity was an officer responsible for collecting information, but I could also hold positions in the city government. When I met with Taiwanese businessmen, I could only reveal another identity. I could not tell them that I was a police officer responsible for monitoring them.
The major excuse for the Chinese Communist regime to arrest Taiwanese businessmen is for "tax evasion." This doesn't mean that arrested Taiwanese businessmen are cunning and own three or four accounting books for evading taxes.
For example, you invested in Heping District of Tianjin City, and built a company building there. You already paid the tax. The city gave you permission to not pay any more tax when you made another investment in a remote suburb because you are using the same permit. But during your arrest, he would say that you didn't pay the tax, and therefore, are guilty of "tax evasion." This method was used in many cases to sanction Taiwan businessmen. I was personally quite specialized in this. Of course, this is not very common. I just want to remind Taiwanese businessmen that during my trip to Taiwan, I myself am under very high pressure.
What am I stressing here? The Taiwanese government, Taiwanese media, Taiwanese business community and our Taiwanese compatriots, please don't take the withdrawals lightly. Although I can't prove the correctness of the figure of 6 million people (withdrawing from the CCP) I know the withdrawals do exist.
Why do I say they exist? Let me tell you about something. I left China after February 2005. The movement of withdrawing from the CCP started in November 2004. At the beginning, people withdrew from the CCP using their real names. Not only this website, but also all the websites including Falun Gong were under 24-hour surveillance. When we were monitoring this website, we could tell how many people withdrew from the CCP. Because we had databases for Falun Gong and databases for population and demographic information, by contrast, we could easily search for a person within the databases and find his or her home address and work unit. Then we would ask the sub-bureau to further investigate them. What we found was that 90 percent of the people we investigated used their real names and truly announced their withdrawal. Then we arrested them and sentenced them to 3 years in a labor camp.
When I met with some members of the legislation council yesterday (December 16), some committee members asked me why some people who had withdrawn from the CCP were thrown into jail for 3 years. He was shocked! (Everyone laughed.) This is considered "betraying the Party" in China. It's a severe crime to betray the Party. I committed a severe crime! (Everyone laughed.)
Why is this the kicker? Well, after discussing how the religious activities of Taiwanese businessmen are monitored, and how they are entrapped in various scams, the speaker then comes out with this Falun Gong propaganda claim -- to the point of referring to the Falun Gong. The religious focus of the speech is also on display here:
A new approach taken by the Chinese Communist regime to control Taiwanese businessmen in mainland China is to monitor their religious activities. The department I used to work with is the government agency responsible for this matter. About 80 to 90 percent of Taiwanese businessmen in China are religious, but I would say that none of the religions are legal in mainland.
Would anyone familiar with businessmen here say that 80-90% are religious? I am very skeptical of this claim. This speaker reads like a Falun Gong plant.....sure enough:
The organizer of the event for Taiwanese businessmen is
Professor Ming Juzheng from Taiwan University organized the forum, which was aimed at looking out for Taiwanese businessmen's well being under the Communist dictatorship.
If you read this article from a Falun Gong site, you will find the good professor is a Falun Gong believer and promoter.
Taiwan: Falun Dafa Seminars at a Government Institution (Part 3) (Photos)
By a Taiwan Falun Gong practitioner
(Clearwisdom.net) On March 8, the Taiwan Central Administration Building started a "Healthier Staff Campaign--Falun Dafa Lecture Series." During the past few weeks, the busy staff members in the building welcomed the lectures and exercise instruction.
Falun Dafa banners, photos and display boards were found throughout the building at lunch breaks. News about the Falun Gong lectures spread throughout the building. Those working in nearby government institutions also participated in the group exercises. Newcomers flocked to the group exercises and asked where they could find introductory classes. Some of them bought exercise instruction videotapes on their own, because they were not able to attend the exercises at lunch breaks.
Following Dr. Hu Naiwen and Dr. Ao Manguan's lectures on "Health through Compassion" and "Ultimate Health," a third lecture was given on March 24 by Professor Ming Juzheng of the Political Science Department of National Taiwan University. His topic was "No Politics Today -- The Miraculous Falun Gong."
Folks, this story and the seminar are simply Falun Gong propaganda. No truth here at all, I suspect. I can easily imagine that Chinese secret agents set up Taiwanese businessmen, but not to have conversations like this:
INTERROGATOR: Tell us everything you know about the Falun Gong!
TAI SHANG: Falun Gong! Falun Gong! What are you talking about? Look, I can explain how my new thin-wall injection molding machine works, you guys will love that technology. It's way ahead of anything you have.
INTERROGATOR: Technology! Who cares about that!? Tell us about the Falun Gong!
[Taiwan] [China] [Falun Gong]
Epoch Times is a Falungong front, as is NTDTV. I am as opposed to the Reds, the ChiComs, the Commies, as anyone, but Falungong aren't doing themselves any favours with this stuff.
ReplyDeleteI have a Chinese neighbor up the street from me and their elderly granny is a FG zealot. She keeps stuffing those annoying Epoch Times in my mailbox and I keep tossing them out. I hate the FG almost as much as the CCP.
ReplyDeleteYeah... so it's a hard position... I support freedom of religion, and it's almost certain that Falun Gong really is severely persecuted in China. On the other hand, I don't have a high opinion of religions in general, and Falun Gong is probalby one of the worst examples--it's probably a cult that maximizes publicity through propaganda, and their claims are always so difficult to verify.
ReplyDeleteBoth the CCP and KMT were like this too. Regardless of what their "end goals" were, they made full of use of propaganda and re-education, socializing people into their movements. It continues on a smaller scale in Falun Gong and the Christian derived cults in China, and I would argue, also in Buddism and Ci2Ji4 in Taiwan (though I wouldn't say Ci2Ji4 is the equivalent of Falun Gong by any means).