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this articleZhang Hongbao in Blast Furnace
A Documentary on How the Outstanding Spiritual Leader
Transformed to a Political Leader
Jiang Zemin’s Orders to Keep a Close Watch on
Zhong Gong embers Indicates More Severe Suppression on Zhong Gong is on the Way
REUTERS: Another
spiritual group targeted (Excerpt)
August 21, 2000 in Beijin:
President Jiang Zemin has called for strict surveillance of members of the
banned Zhong Gong meditation group in an internal memo, a rights group said
yesterday.
The document could herald a much harsher clampdown on the popular spiritual
group, whose members say about 600 followers have been detained and millions of
dollars in assets confiscated. The Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human
Rights and Democracy did not say how it learned of the contents of the memo, but
it has in the past been a reliable source of information about mainland human
rights.
In the memo, issued this month, Mr Jiang was said to have called for intensified
surveillance and a thorough investigation into the "backbone" of the group to
prevent purported threats to social stability.
Zhong Gong is similar to the Falun Gong spiritual movement …
Both movements incorporate traditional qigong meditation exercises, but also
have philosophical or quasi-religious doctrines that the Communist Party views
as a threat to its authority.