Soon after the groups of hundreds began gathering, shouting hate slogans, and attacking Falun Gong practitioners, a recorded phone conversation revealed that the Chinese consul general in New York had encouraged and congratulated the attackers.
City Councilmember John Liu, who is now running for comptroller, and then-State Assemblywoman Ellen Young, also took stances that were construed as openly supportive of the attackers. Over a dozen individuals involved in the attacks were arrested. (Please see: Two Flushing Politicians Reported as Encouraging Thugs to Attack Falun Gong.)
The Epoch Times launched an independent investigation. What was found is a global network of foreign infiltration and espionage by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), involvement of the Chinese consulate, and the involvement of various Chinese community leaders and groups.
On the Heels of the Sichuan Earthquake
The incidents began less than a week after May 12, 2008, when an earthquake struck China’s Sichuan Province, taking the lives of over 80,000 people, thousands of whom were children. While the disaster shook the province, the aftermath shook the CCP’s image.
As information about collapsed school buildings made its way to the Chinese diaspora, the Global Service Center for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party, a volunteer network staffed by Falun Gong practitioners that facilitates Chinese renouncing the Party, reported a spike in renunciations.
On May 17 hundreds of Chinese gathered in Flushing and began attacking and abusing the staff of the Service Center, who were marking 36 million Chinese people who renounced the CCP.
Videos show Falun Gong volunteers being attacked, having eggs and other objects thrown at them, being spat on, and threatened with death.
Falun Gong practitioners said they are an especially likely target for the CCP as a long-running propaganda campaign had already vilified the practice in the minds of many Chinese.
Organized Violence in Flushing
The group who attacked the Falun Gong practitioners operated in a highly organized fashion. Some of its members passed out drinks and communist flags, while multiple witnesses claimed that they were offered money to participate in the attack.
A number of Chinese state-media entities, including China Central Television (CCTV), had shown up for the rally before the attacks began. CCP-run media have a standard embargo on any news related to the Service Center or other dissident groups, so their presence at the rally was unusual.
Their cameras were rolling when the attacks started, however, and not long afterwards reports that twisted the events were broadcast across mainland China and on the Internet.
The central lie in state media reports, according to the Service Center, was that Falun Gong practitioners were trying to somehow block donations for victims of the Sichuan earthquake.
Similar attacks continued for months, and were often followed by arrests of the attackers. Antagonists later switched from physical abuse to verbal defamation, and began distributing anti-Falun Gong propaganda from tables on the street.
Under the Guidance of the Chinese Consul General
When Peng Keyu received a phone call from an investigator on May 21, congratulating him for his role in masterminding the attacks on Falun Gong practitioners, he replied: “They came over after they fought with Falun Gong and I shook hands with them one by one and thanked them.”
Peng boasted of his efforts to encourage Chinese community leaders to intimidate and harras, in a translation of the recording, “I went there the day before yesterday, and also three days ago,“ Peng said. ”I usually park my car far from the scene because I must avoid being seen.”
The conversation was recorded and is available online. The U.S. Department of State verified the recording. (Please see: Chinese Consul Boasts He Rallied New York Mob.)
Soon after, the Web site of the Chinese Consulate General in New York pulled down all audio of Peng Keyu.
New York attorney Robert Gottlieb, who followed the case in Flushing, accepts the recording as proof of Peng’s involvement in the incident. He argued that it could lead to his expulsion from the United States.“That tape, which is a vicious signal by a foreign national of conspiring with other individuals to gather together to incite them to go out to beat people up merely for expressing their beliefs … really leaves no doubt of his complicity,” Gottlieb said.
Investigations of John Liu and Ellen Young
After the attacks began in Flushing, victims tried multiple times to meet with their local representatives, City Council Member John Liu and State Assemblywoman at the time, Ellen Young, yet were unsuccessful. It was later discovered that both Liu and Young had been instead meeting with the people who had attacked the Falun Gong practitioners in Flushing.The Epoch Times and other media attended a press conference in Liu’s office on July 2, 2008, where he repeatedly denied any knowledge of violence. Chinese-language media known to be sympathetic to the CCP then began asking questions on unrelated topics such as transportation.
Following the press conference, Falun Gong practitioners came to Liu’s office in hopes of presenting their cases and asking Liu for support. Liu then kicked the Falun Gong practitioners out of his office, and is recorded saying, “Bye! Bye! Bye!” as he did so. (Please see: Queens Councilmember Meets With Alleged Criminals, Shuns Falun Gong.)
The meeting with Ellen Young was similar. Young repeatedly dodged questions and requests to condemn the attacks, changing the subject of conversation each time a request was made.
Falun Gong volunteers of the Service Center scheduled another meeting with John Liu, this time bringing video evidence of violence, hatred, and religious persecution against them. After seeing the video Liu acknowledged only a banner being ripped from a table—disregarding the scenes of angry Chinese that saw one man have his ear torn when a group of assailants attacked him and another who was similarly shoved around, shouted at, and spat on.
Following the meetings, Flushing residents formed a committee to remove Liu and Young from office. They collected more than 769 signatures from supportive residents, and passed them to the New York City Council and State Assembly.
A request was filed to the U.S. Department of Justice to launch an investigation into Peng Keyu, John Liu, and Ellen Young.
They then requested the U.S. Department of Justice launch an investigation into Peng Keyu, John Liu, and Ellen Young.
People manning a table in Flushing continue to distribute anti-Falun Gong propaganda.
