April 25, 1999: Why It Matters to the West

Falun Gong practitioners gather near Zhongnanhai to peacefully appeal for their freedom of belief, in Beijing on April 25, 1999. Courtesy of Minghui.org

Commentary

Twenty-six years ago, on April 25, 1999, more than 10,000 peaceful Falun Gong practitioners gathered outside the State Council’s appeals office at the Zhongnanhai compound in Beijing to appeal for their right to practice Falun Gong in China. Not since students assembled in Tiananmen Square in June 1989 had so many Chinese citizens gathered in public to appeal to the authorities.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice in the Buddhist tradition based on the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion, forbearance (zhen, shan, ren, in Chinese). It was brought to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in May 1992 and quickly became the most popular qigong in China. By 1998, the State Sports Commission found that more than 70 million people were practicing Falun Gong.

Zhongnanhai

Zhongnanhai is a compound in Beijing, a former imperial garden west of the Forbidden City, that houses the offices of the State Council and the offices and residences of the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The State Council oversees provincial governments throughout China and has an appeals office to receive petitions from citizens who have been treated unjustly.

What Happened on April 25, 1999?

The events of April 25, 1999, had a slow buildup. Despite the improved health and morality Chinese people found in Falun Gong, CCP hardliners, such as then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin, saw it as a resurgence of traditional culture that must be crushed by a Cultural Revolution-like campaign.

By 1996, the regime’s public security authorities started disrupting Falun Gong meditation gatherings, and state media ran articles attacking the practice. Through 1997 and 1998, there were incidents of Falun Gong practitioners being unjustly treated across China.

In early April 1999, Falun Gong practitioners in Tianjin went to a state-run news agency to request corrections to inaccuracies in its article on Falun Gong. However, the Tianjin Public Security Bureau used anti-riot police to beat and arrest more than 40 people. Local police told the practitioners to go to Beijing to resolve the issue.

When other practitioners heard about this, many went to the State Council’s appeals office on April 25 that year, hoping to ensure a peaceful and safe environment for practicing Falun Gong. The office is located on Fuyou Street, on the west side of Zhongnanhai. However, local public security forces directed practitioners to gather on the sidewalks of two streets next to Zhongnanhai, creating the appearance that they had intentionally surrounded the CCP leadership compound.

Soon, there were more than 10,000 people—some standing quietly, others sitting. They were careful not to obstruct activities on the streets or footpaths, did not chant slogans or raise their voices, and were very orderly. In the context of the communist regime’s historical response to dissent and the potential consequences, this mass gathering was brave and an embodiment of kindness and forbearance.

Zhu Rongji, then the Chinese premier, came out with several staff members to speak with the practitioners and called three of them to come inside to meet the deputy secretary of the appeals office. By nightfall, the issues appeared to have been resolved, and the practitioners all went home.

CCP Response

Although the Chinese petition and appeals system is intended to offer hope to people who have been treated unjustly, as with all regulations in China, the CCP stands above the law.

On July 20, 1999, at Jiang’s direction, the CCP launched a major arrest of Falun Gong practitioners and a brutal persecution to eradicate the practice. The persecution continues today, including the killing of practitioners to harvest their organs for the state-run organ transplant industry in military and civilian hospitals.

CCP officials often claim that the appeal at Zhongnanhai was an organized “siege” that posed a threat to the nation’s leaders. Sadly, some Western governments and media still refer to this false narrative as a reason that Falun Gong was banned.

Why Is ‘April 25’ Important?

The Chinese communist regime does not accept the rule of law, fundamental human rights, and its obligations under international trade or treaties, and is a threat to the national security and freedoms enjoyed by all Western nations. That’s not a political issue. It is an issue of humanity—the challenge of preserving our humanity, the goodness and kindness inherent in human beings.

Shi Caidong, a doctoral candidate at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was one of three Falun Gong practitioners invited inside the Zhongnanhai compound by Premier Zhu. Later, after the persecution began, Shi witnessed his academic colleagues being sent to forced labor camps and even tortured to death. He was constantly harassed and arrested, and eventually fled to the United States as a visiting university scholar.

In 2010, when asked about his experiences in an interview with Minghui.org, Shi said: “When one genuinely learns the truth, he can tell right from wrong. His choices will not change due to pressure or temptation. ... I would again stand up to safeguard the truth and try to win the right for everyone to be a good person.”

“April 25” was the beginning of a peaceful resistance movement that is changing China from within. Through embodying the principles of Falun Gong, practitioners are helping hundreds of millions of Chinese people connect with their roots and see a future without communism.

It was also the beginning of the end for the CCP, as the regime’s irrational and frenzied attacks on Falun Gong became more extreme, revealing its evil and inhumane nature to the world. The West now has a clear choice of what it will support and the future it chooses for its people.

Righteousness and justice will ultimately prevail.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.