Right before the start of 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which will be held in mid October, the CCP regime, in the name of “ensuring security,” has started another round of mass arrests of Falun Gong practitioners and human rights activists.
As revealed by Falun Gong practitioners in mainland China, since the beginning of September, the Beijing Public Security Bureau has initiated a large-scale effort to forcefully abduct Falun Gong practitioners from their homes and work places. This large-scale abduction is similar to the one that was carried out on July 20, 1999 (start of the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China), which was a planned and organized effort. Beijing took the lead in these series of abductions, and it has since spread all over China.
Human Rights activists in mainland China also disclosed that recently the CCP has started to severely suppress political dissidents, human rights activists in Beijing and appellants who came to Beijing from other areas. The well-known “Petition Village” in Beijing will soon be demolished.
Analysts pointed out that the current large-scale arrests demonstrate the weakness of the CCP regime and the intense power struggles within the CCP top leadership.
New Round of Abduction of Falun Gong Practitioners
Since the beginning of September, the Beijing Public Security Bureau has forcefully abducted a large number of Falun Gong practitioners from homes and work places without just cause. In some cases, both husbands and wives were abducted, leaving behind babies crying for nursing or young children still attending elementary school.
As disclosed by a Falun Gong practitioner who escaped the abductions, this round of abductions was a planned and unified effort. All practitioners in a certain region, regardless of their profession or social status, and whether they were already under heavy surveillance or not, were abducted.
A Falun Gong practitioner who remains anonymous said that from September 10 to 13, five to six practitioners living close to him were abducted with the excuse that the police needed to talk to them.
As early as the beginning of this April, China’s Ministry of Public Security secretively issued a notification that Falun Gong practitioners, religious people and 43 other categories of people inside and outside of China were forbidden from attending the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In May, the Ministry of Public Security ordered the local legal organizations to more strictly suppress political dissidents, especially Falun Gong practitioners. Falun Gong practitioners all over the country were put under surveillance, and are being harassed or abducted. Now, just before the start of the 17th National Congress, the CCP has started a new round of large-scale abductions.
According to Minghui.net (www.minghui.net), security agents in some regions went door-to-door to investigate Falun Gong practitioners, and then initiated the mass abductions. At the Kaishantun Police Station in Jilin Province, the police issued an order that every police officer must arrest 3 Falun Gong practitioners.
Comprehensive Suppression of Dissidents
Beijing human rights activist Liu Anjun posted a letter on the Internet saying that the Beijing government has started a comprehensive suppression on democracy and human rights activists and petitioners who come to Beijing from other cities and provinces. The suppression has never been this extensive before and he himself fears being arrested at any time.
In an interview with The Epoch Times , Beijing lawyer Ren Hua said that the petitioners are living in suffering; they come to Beijing to disclose the corruption of local governments, but are then arrested or even sentenced before they are sent back to their local police stations. Some local governments will lock them up for at least one year until the Olympic Games are over. The regime is using all kinds of ways to suppress its people. During interviews with The Epoch Times , some human rights activists said that with the approach the 17th National Congress and the Olympic Games, the Beijing regime has come to a point where it is extremely nervous.
Beijing Petition Village Is Being Demolished
According to BBC news, the “Petition Village” is facing the fate of being demolished. The village is located in the Fengtai District of Beijing. Petitioners were requested to move out of the village before noon, September 19.
It was reported that the Petition Village has to be demolished in order to build a new train station at that location. But many believe the real reason for demolishing the Petition Village is to kick out petitioners before the start of the 17th National Congress of the CCP.
Facilities for Monitoring Overseas Delegations at Universities
Recently, some Internet users have sent letters to The Epoch Times stating that, “As some delegations will stay in the universities in Beijing during the Olympic Games, the Beijing government has requested those universities install monitoring facilities in all the buildings and in each room. The Beijing Normal University, which is in charge of hosting the U.S. delegation, has received an order to finish installing the monitoring facilities before the U.S. delegation arrives.”
‘Hostage Diplomacy’ Has Changed To ‘Hostage Internal Policy’
Beijing human rights activist Liu Anjun thinks this is a most critical time for the CCP. The CCP has started to persecute its people by using the ways that Stalin used during the period of communism in the Soviet Union. With the Chinese people realizing the value of human rights, the CCP has become afraid of its own people.
Epoch Times columnist Zhang Jie pointed out that the comprehensive arrests show the weakness of the CCP, as well as the power struggles between high level officials.
He said that when Jiang Zemin’s faction was in power in the past, they used Chinese people as hostages to bargain with the Western society. Now the Ministry of Public Security controlled by Zhou Yongkang, who is a key member of Jiang’s gang, is arresting Falun Gong practitioners and human rights activists. They want to use these as a tool to bargain with the current CCP leadership lead by Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao. The “Hostage Diplomacy” of Jiang’s time has now changed to “Hostage Internal Policy.”
