For over a month now, Falun Gong practitioners in Flushing have been the targets of verbal and physical attacks by mobs supporting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime. Why are these attacks taking place?
The CCP is using a common tactic to divert attention from itself. On May 12, an earthquake tore through China's Sichuan Province, taking the lives of over 80,000 people. The disaster shook not only the province, but also the CCP's image.
Soon after, it was learned that party officials had withheld warnings about the earthquake from respected seismologists —warnings that could have saved thousands of lives.
Faulty building practices directly attributable to corruption and the diversion of funds by CCP officials were also found to be a major cause of building collapse. Photos released from Chinese media showed buildings for CCP officials seemingly unaffected by the earthquake standing next to school buildings that had collapsed completely.
The CCP's guilt is also shown in other incidents. For example, an article published by Radio Free Asia on June 26 reported that when parents of students who lost their lives in the XinJian Elementary school in Dujiangyan gathered to demand an investigation, police intervened, beating some, and arresting at least three.
As this information began to leak into Chinese communities, the Service Center for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party, a volunteer organization which focuses on helping Chinese withdraw their membership from the CCP, reported a large influx of withdrawals.
With the eyes of the world turned on the CCP, party officials were left with few excuses to give. The CCP's difficulty was compounded by the poor press caused by the bloody suppression of the Tibetans, and the fiasco of the Olympic torch relay as the Tibetans and others gathered to protest the Chinese regime's human rights abuses wherever the torch appeared. Poor environmental conditions also put pressure on the Olympics. Party officials seemed to have no place to hide.
And so the CCP pulled out some of its old tricks: Fabricating lies against one of its "class enemies," and diverting attention by inciting hatred.
CCP Incites Flushing Mobs
According to the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party:
"Whenever the Communist Party encounters an important issue that demands obedience from the populace, it uses 'patriotism' and 'nationalism' to mobilize people on short notice. In all cases, including matters related to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Falun Gong, and the collision between a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet, the CCP has used the combined method of high-pressure terror and collective brainwashing, thus bringing people to a war-like state of mind. This method is similar to that used by the German Fascists.
"By blocking all other information, the CCP's brainwashing has been incredibly successful. Even though the Chinese people do not like the CCP, they think in the twisted mode instilled by the CCP."
On May 17, the plot took form when an angry mob of Chinese surrounded and attacked participants in a rally held by the local Falun Gong practitioners at the Service Center for Quitting CCP office in Flushing.
The rally was held to celebrate the 36 million Chinese who had signed declarations to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. The attackers threw eggs and spat on the Falun Gong practitioners who were present there. Others attacked the Falun Gong practitioners with threats and physical violence.
This organized violence against the rally was the first of its kind: The Service Center had operated peacefully in Flushing for four years.
The mobs showed up in large numbers in a highly organized fashion. Some members of the angry crowd passed out drinks and communist flags to participants.
One person heard one of the attackers shouting in Chinese into his cell phone, "Hurry! Bring more people over here. Each person will be paid 90 dollars." On June 25, Mao Yang, a Flushing local also told reporters that he was offered 90 dollars to do bad things against Falun Gong practitioners.
On May 21 an investigator for the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong recorded a phone call made to the Chinese Consul General for New York, Mr. Peng Keyu, in which the consul general boasted about his involvement in the protests.
"They came over after they fought with Falun Gong and I shook hands with them one by one and thanked them," Peng is recorded saying.
"I went there the day before yesterday, and also three days ago," said Peng in a translation of the phone call. "I usually park my car far from the scene because I must avoid being seen."
Also, in a strange twist, nearly all of the local media controlled by the CCP had shown up at the rally, including CCTV. The CCP's media normally does not cover stories about the Service Center or the Quitting the Party movement, in fear that more Chinese will find out about these activities.
Immediately following the event, the CCP-controlled media published and broadcast stories claiming that the participants in the rally "do not care about the victims of the Sichuan earthquake" and "do not love China."
According to the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, "The CCP uses slogans of 'patriotism' and 'nationalism' to incite people. They are not only the CCP's main rallying cries, but also its frequently issued orders and time-tested strategies."
Similar attacks and lies have continued in Flushing, although now, after at least 12 of the thugs have been arrested, many of those involved seem to have learned that violence is not tolerated on American soil.
Now, the mob's focus has changed from violence to distributing fabricated propaganda slandering Falun Gong and making death threats to Falun Gong practitioners.
Through all of this, the CCP has used lies and deceit to manipulate Chinese nationalism and the Chinese people's deep feelings for the earthquake victims. The CCP diverts attention from its own crimes while simultaneously creating a way to attack those whom it perceives as threats.