Zhang Hongbao in Blast Furnace
---- A documentary on how the outstanding spiritual leader transformed to a political leader
Guan Kaicheng: Zhonggong "99.8"
National Campaign: An Exposure
Guan Kaicheng
On October 29, 2000,
almost all major news media of the world, including the United Press, AFP, the
Reuters, and CNN, reported that Huang Wanping, director of Zhonggong Jiangsu
Branch, and three other key Zhonggong members, had been sentenced by a Chinese
court to 2-4 years in prison respectively, under the charge of "inciting to
overthrow the government." How could Zhonggong, a spiritual community devoted to
promoting good health and cultivating high ethics, bear any relationship with
such a charge? To find out the truth surrounding the case, I took advantage of
some clues provided by Hong Kong Information Center on Chinese Human Rights and
Democratic Movement and conducted an investigation. My investigation led to the
discovery of a secret that had been concealed from the public for more than 500
days.To know what really happened, let me bring the reader back to 1999, a very
sensitive year for the Chinese Communist government. In domestic politics, the
year happened to be the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese
government, the 10th anniversary of the "June 4" Democratic Movement, and the
20th anniversary of the demolishing of Xidan Democracy Wall.
The international arena saw China's desperate bid for a successful entry into
WTO and PNTR.
The Chinese government had to put up a facade of prosperity. Therefore, long
before the arrival of these important anniversaries, the highest Chinese
authorities were in a state of extreme nervousness and high vigilance.
Under these circumstances, the top Communist leaders were shocked and outraged
by a peaceful demonstration, participated by thousands of Falungong members, at
Zhongnanhai (the headquarters of the Communist Party) on April 25.
A nation-wide crackdown on Falungong launched by Jiang Zemin on July 20. It
spread rapidly throughout the country, involved Zhonggong on the second day, and
soon affected the entire Qigong circle.
The government-sponsored media began an overwhelming campaign of coercion, and
everyone was forced to make public his stand on the issue before he was cleared
of political suspicion. The campaign coincided with a crucial stage in the
procedure of national evaluations of Qigong methodologies of various Qigong
sections. The survival of each section thus hinged upon a public clarification
of its attitude towards Falungong.
Any suppression is bound to encounter resistance. During the period of red
terror in China at the end of the last century, the Zhonggong leadership headed
by Zhang Hongbao challenged the current leadership by launching a nation-wide
movement call "Action 99.8," "Action 99.8" called upon people everywhere to send
"the two letters of criticism" to the leading government facilities and police
departments at
various levels.
Even police officers working within CCP dictatorial facilities listened to the
call and wrote two letters. The first letter was entitled "Do not Exercise
Dictatorship against the People;" and the second bore the title, "A Letter from
a Young Police Officer."
Outspoken and acrimonious, the two letters decry China's abominable political
climate under the Communists' one-party dictatorship. A dictatorship that "does
not allow people to lead a single day of peaceful life and subjects the country
to perpetual disturbance."
The letters suggest that Jiang Zemin's policy of "stability is of paramount
importance," whose true meaning is, "the stability of Jiang's reign is of
paramount importance."
After going over in retrospect the numerous political movements launched under
the one-party dictatorship of CCP, movements that have brought about countless
disasters to the Chinese people, the letters reject any connection between the
one-party dictatorship of CCP and democratic politics. CCP has never accepted
the existence of another voice or the validity of a different thought. With zero
tolerance for different political views, CCP has always managed to eradicate any
dissident movement in "its embryonic stage." The two letters condemn Jiang Zemin
for his wanton violation of the Constitution and respect for law, and relentless
demolition of the traditional Chinese culture. The all-out crackdown on Qigong
organizations such as Falungong and Zhonggong, by Jiang Zemin, as the letters
point out, Jiang has launched the second "Cultural Revolution." He has moved
against the historical trend, and revealed himself as an intransigent
reactionary.
The two letters are openly pejorative of the ignominious performance of Jia
Chunwang, the Public Security Minister, in his desperate aspiration for the
position of Secretary of the National Committee of Politics and Law.
Jia played the role of "a contemporary Lai Junjie (a treacherous official in
ancient China), and ingratiated himself with Jiang by collaborating in the
suppression of Qigong organizations.
The two letters make sincere appeals to the police and public security officers,
who were involuntarily ordered to create the real terror on the people, not to.
The letter called upon them not to participate in a crackdown on the people, not
to abet the tyrant in his evil deeds!
The two letters demand a response from China's highest authorities why were they
following Jiang's blueprint of ruin? Where are they leading the country?
Almost simultaneously, by fax, mail, or manual delivery, "the two letters" were
distributed to approximately 100,000 local police offices, 2,300 county police
bureaus, more than 300 municipal public security bureaus, 31 provincial
departments of public security, and nearly 10,000 procuratorates, courts,
judiciary bureaus, major government facilities at provincial, municipal and
county levels, as well as departments of armed police throughout mainland China!
Next morning, almost at the same time, the first thing people came into contact
with in every police station when they arrived to work was the two letters. The
departments of public security at the provincial and municipal levels were to
receive the letters by mail later.
This campaign, unprecedented in its scale, scope and speed in the 50 year
history of CCP regime, Zhonggong mobilized all of the five ranks of its networks
involving more than 100,000 units throughout the country, and shook every
juncture in the power structure of CCP dictatorship. The rapid dissemination of
the two letters threw Jiang Zemin into a fury.
Very soon, the public security system, as well as the various government
facilities in charge of industry and commerce, internal revenue, science and
technology, education, interior affairs, sports, and public health, received an
order issued by the highest level of the government: an immediate shutdown would
be enforced on all Zhonggong facilities.
The armed police and public security officers take over all large and medium
Zhonggong operations and enterprises, and commence an all-out hunt for key
Zhonggong members begin at once.
According to reliable sources, since mid-August of 1999, when the public
security bureau of Xining municipality arrested Rui Guojie, director of
Zhonggong Qinghai Provincial Branch, Xiang Renbo, director Zhonggong Xining
Branch, as well as his assistant Chai Jingchun, and sentenced them to one year
of labor camp under the charge of "inciting to overthrow the government," it has
been known that more than 20 important Zhonggong members were arrested and
sentenced to forced labor and imprisonment.
According to relevant documents, the consensus and courage displayed in this
risk-all battle waged against the CCP did not derive from a sudden impulse. The
action demonstrated a concerted strength built up over a long period of
preparation.
As early as in late May of 1998, Zhonggong obtained the information that
Zhonggong had been labeled by the government, at a meeting held by the
Department of Public Security in Chengdu on May 27, 1998, as "a reactionary
political group" and was selected to be the target of a crackdown scheduled for
an appropriate time in 1999.
Cherishing no illusion about CCP regime, the policy makers of Zhonggong
immediately began comprehensive preparations for the inevitable advent of a low
tide.
Taking advantage of the Enterprise Day once a week, within a year, Zhonggong
carried out a general mobilization of its rank and file by arranging more than
70 readings of some 90 articles. Through its special communication networks,
Zhonggong conducted more than 20 million person/times of ideological initiation
or brainstorming.
Confronted by an imminent crackdown from Jiang regime, Zhonggong members
maintained an effective communication system through the publication of two
internal journals, News Briefings and Exchange, which kept a daily record of
persecution cases and offered a routine analysis of the situation.
When the storm clouds of the crackdown were gathering, Zhonggong headquarters
called on the members to "Protect the Banner, Safeguard the Cause, and Struggle
for Survival." As a result, the whole organization reached a general consensus
and kept a high morale. At the launch of the national campaign of "99.8," all
Zhonggong members were able to rise to the occasion, take immediate actions, and
succeeded in creating the momentum of an avalanche.
As directed by Zhang Hongbao, every effort was made to minimize the loss. After
the "99.8" national campaign, Zhonggong members followed a centralized plan to
carry out a strategic shift. Except for a few key members, who were arrested in
some particularly dangerous districts, the majority of Zhonggong cadres were
able to disperse among the masses that are Zhonggong devotees.
However, faced with the brutal retaliations meted out by the CCP dictatorial
facilities, several Zhonggong leaders at the provincial level voluntarily
exposed themselves to the government and took over the liability in order to
ensure the safety of their subordinates.
There are countless examples involving senior members helping apprentices, and
teaching staff assisting other members. When the disaster fell upon them,
Zhonggong members demonstrated the Zhonggong ethics of human bond, a spirit of
mutual commitment, altruism, and compassion that served as a bright spot set
against a gruesome background of suppression.
Jiang regime managed to cover up the unprecedented "99.8" national campaign
organized by Zhonggong. Up till now, no media have been allowed to carry any
news about this incident. It is impossible, however, for a piece of paper to
wrap up the fire. As more and more people come to know the facts about the
persecutions Zhonggong members have endured and the resistance they have
organized, Zhonggong will gradually unveil itself as a vital new force in the
struggle for China's political reform.
Two months before the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese
Communist regime, the unified national campaign against tyranny and dictatorship
launched by Zhonggong did not adopt the form of street demonstrations, but the
political impact this campaign produced upon, and the damage it caused to, the
structure of Jiang's one-party dictatorship should not be underestimated.
The direct exposure of "the two letters" to the armed police and major
government facilities all over the country shocked every neuron of the regime
and threw the Communist authorities in panic.
According to an anonymous high government official, Jiang Zemin almost passed
out at the news of Zhonggong "99.8" national campaign.
If the peaceful petition staged by Falungong members at Zhongnanhai has been
compared to a deafening clap of thunder that shocked Jiang Zemin into a fury,
then the "99.8" national campaign launched by Zhonggong can be compared to a
muffled thunder that shook the internal organs or even the nerve ends of CCP
dictatorship.
Jiang Zemin designated Falungong as an evil cult because of its peaceful
demonstrations. The "99.8" national campaign, on the other hand, was launched as
an overt decry of Jiang's totalitarian dictatorship.
While Falungong was engaged in quiet protests, Zhonggong "99.8" national
campaign explicitly conveyed the urgent messages from the people to the
government at various levels. While Falungong activities represented the
intransigence of a non-traditional religion that suffers from persecution,
Zhonggong "99.8" national campaign was a resistance movement of an explicitly
political nature. A brilliant display of courage under CCP's suppression, a
forceful stride in China's tortuous journey towards democracy.
The people have to muffle their rage at Jiang Zemin's tyranny and evil deeds in
Mainland China's abominable political environment. Under the high political
pressure, even the petitions at Tiananmen Square had to be made quietly.
Zhonggong members with their dauntless determination, broke the silence, stood
up to confront the tyrant, courageously expressed their political views and
admonished the armed police officers that participated in the crackdown.
Zhonggong members in this way have carried forward the anti-tyranny tradition of
1911 Revolution and promoted the anti-totalitarian spirit of "May 4" and "June
4."
Zhonggong's struggle was carried out not only to seek the survival of the
organization and its peers, but also to express the Chinese people's demands for
basic human rights. The key Zhonggong members incarcerated as political
prisoners have persisted in their beliefs and refused to yield to pressure or to
compromise their principles. Their commitment to the cause and their spirit of
total devotion command our respect and admiration.
Furthermore, Zhonggong "99.8" national campaign also reflected the political
aspirations of a rising propertied class, marked the initial participation of
organized economic entities in China's political reform, and signaled a new
stage in China's democracy process. A stage that involves the participation of a
new propertied class and more people from different social stratifications.
Mr. Zhang Hongbao was the supreme architect and general director of Zhonggong's
"99.8" national campaign. This is probably one of the most important reasons why
Jiang Zemin has been so unscrupulous in his persecution of Mr. Zhang.
The far-reaching significance of Zhonggong's "99.8" national campaign on China's
political scene will be increasingly evident. The dauntless spirit of
Zhonggong's "99.8" national campaign will live on.
We salute those Zhonggong members, men and women of courage and idealism, who
were arrested and incarcerated for their participation in Zhonggong's "99.8"
national campaign.
Finally, we take this opportunity to pay our highest respect to Mr. Zhang
Hongbao, who remains in incarceration in Guam, the United States.
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