When Falun Gong first accused the Chinese government of harvesting organs from the group's imprisoned members, few in the media listened – then it found a new strategy.
When news of organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China hit the media in Canada last week, it marked yet another victory for the group's members in bringing attention to an incident the Chinese government denies exists.
The news was relayed to the media through a press conference on Parliament Hill. Two high profile individuals, former MP and cabinet minister David Kilgour, and David Matas, a Winnipeg-based international human rights lawyer, released a gruesome report accusing the Chinese government of illegally harvesting the organs of imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners in China. The report said an estimated 41,500 transplants were performed using organs of Falun Gong members who were killed while in prison between 2000 and 2005.
Not only did the success of getting major media attention highlight the plight of the high-profile Chinese group (the story was covered in all the major news media including the Globe and Mail, National Post and the CBC) but it also showed how savvy Falun Gong members in North America have become in using the media to further their objectives.
I would compare them to the Moonies, who 20 years ago were successful in publicizing themselves, says Maria Hsia Chang, author of a book on the group titled Falun Gong The End of Days.
But reports of the forceful removal of organs of Falun Gong practitioners did not start to surface just last week. In March this year, Falun Gong practitioners mounted a campaign on Parliament Hill to highlight the problem. Topped with fasting and an ad campaign replete with gruesome pictures of victims who allegedly had their organs removed, the three-day event garnered little media attention.
An Embassy survey of Canadian media reports from March to July shows that most of the major news outlets ignored the event.
But this time it was different. First, the Falun Gong, wary of cynicism about the horrific reports of organ harvesting, commissioned independent individuals to investigate the issue. Mr. Kilgour and Mr. Matas say they were asked by the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of the Falun Gong in China (CIPFG), a little-known non-profit organization registered in Washington, D.C., to write the report free of charge.
The CIPFG itself is barely a coalition in the real sense of the word. Founded in April this year, it has yet to attract other human rights associations under its wing. On its website, the CIPFG lists no partners. However, CIPFG president John Jaw says the group has so far managed to recruit five permanent academics and more than 20 professors, lawyers and priests in Australia.
At the moment, we are only inviting individuals, but once [human rights associations] find out what is going on, they will join, says Mr. Jaw, a Falun Gong practitioner since 1997. While admitting that the CIPFG was initiated by Falun Dafa, (which represents Falun Gong internationally), Mr. Jaw denies that the coalition is a Falun Gong organization. He says investigations about organ harvesting in China will continue.
Politics a Defence Mechanism
Falun Gong, like countless religious groups in China's long history, began as a quasi-religious movement. But the persecution of its members and their increasing skills in organization and lobbying in North America points to the fact that the group is increasingly becoming political, says Ms. Chang.
[It] was apolitical in nature [but] because the government finds its size and popularity a threat, the government then starts oppressing it, says Ms. Chang.
Then, of course, in reaction – and I will add in self-defence – it has become political.
Currently, Falun Gong practitioners can be found all over the world, though the exact number remains unknown because the group says it is an informal organization. The group has several websites affiliated to it and at least one newspaper, The Epoch Times, which is published in several cities in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The paper is published in at least 30 countries and translated into more than 10 languages, according to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. It is also distributed free of charge in public places like supermarkets and libraries. Its editorial tone is highly critical of China and focuses on exposing the Communist regime's human rights violations.
In its lobbying efforts in North America, Falun Gong is also reaching out to politicians to trumpet its cause. In the United States, the group has succeeded in getting a sympathetic ear from members of Congress and other politicians at the state level, but has not been able to gain the attention of the executive branch, says Ms. Chang. She says the executive branch's reluctance to embrace the Falun Gong cause is because of the fear of jeopardizing economic ties with Beijing.
In Canada, Falun Gong's human rights crusade has garnered the attention of some MPs like Paul Szabo and Richard Harris. A couple of months ago, Mr. Szabo, a Liberal MP, presented a petition in the House asking the Canadian government to condemn the Chinese government for human rights violations allegedly committed in a concentration camp for Falun Gong members in the city of Shenyang in March. The Chinese government denies that such a camp exists, insisting that the purported camp is a state-designated suburban pilot agricultural area.
Regarding the organ harvesting allegations, the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa dismissed the claims as groundless and biased. The embassy called attention to a statement on its website which says reports of organ harvesting are rumours, which the Canadian public should not believe.
It is very clear that Falun Gong's rumour has ulterior political motives, the statement said.
brian@embassymag.ca
Original text from: Canada's Foreign Policy Newsweekly http://www.embassymag.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=2006/july/12/Falun Gong/
