Jul 15

Jul 15 Falun Gong

Chicago, Demonstrations, Public Declarations, Protest

At 6:30 PM tonight, a Chicago contingent of the Falun Gong held a Falun Dafa exercise and meditation session outside the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in River North. Before tonight, I did not know much about Falun Gong. My impression was that it was some sort of religious cult. I knew they were out of favor with the People’s Republic.

When I arrived, several women were eating carryout. Others would shortly begin to set up banners. Over the next hour, the yellow-shirted members grew to 40 or so people. As indicated, the demonstration involved meditation and exercise movements that resembled, at least to my mind, Tai Chi.

The polo-style shirts that most wore carried the words, “Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance.” Hard to argue with those sentiments. The demonstrators were better attired than many I encounter. Polo shirts? Any branded shirts at the typical demonstration these days are T-shirts.

In retrospect, the shirts should have come as no surprise. The banners were also of a much higher caliber than most I encounter. This seems to be a well-funded group.

As the demonstrators engaged in exercises, some distinctly Chinese music played over the portable PA system. On the opposite side of the street, several people asked passersby to sign a petition or other document. Some highly professional signs were affixed to sandwich board stands. One contained information about the Falun Gong and allegations against the Chinese government. Another sign referred to “a brutal campaign targeted [against] the 100 million people practicing Falun Gong, as well as their relatives, friends, coworkers.” It then described “a draconian crackdown not seen since the Cultural Revolution, book burnings, mass-arrests and imprisonment, torture, and forced reeducation . . .”

One of the signs alleged: “CCP has killed numerous Falun Gong practitioners. The harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners for transplant sale has taken persecution to a whole new level.” Another sign charged that “tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners are being killed for their organs.”

I am in no position to judge whether or to the extent any of this is true. I took the time after the demonstration to do some research. There are reports on the web of killings, abuse, and organ harvesting, but I was unable to determine just how widespread those practices are, or whether there is substantial proof supporting the allegations.

A June 21, 2021 UN press release carries the headline, China: UN human rights experts alarmed by ‘organ harvesting’ allegations. While the headline is clearly concerning, I note that the press release does not explicitly state that harvesting has happened, but rather, carefully states that the reports are allegations. The report goes on to speak of creditable evidence, including accounts from other detainees, but nevertheless continues to use words like “appears” and “allegations.” Much of what I found on the web was couched in terms of “allegations,” sometimes with inferential evidence.

I did find reports indicating that the Falun Gong members may not be the only people subjected to such treatment. The UN press release also references Uyghurs, Tibetans, Muslims, and Christians as potential victims.

I was very impressed with one aspect of the demonstration. Typically, leafleters at demonstrations only moderately succeed in getting passersby to interact with them, or to take the offered literature. Not tonight. I estimate that the majority of passersby I saw interacted with the individuals who tried to engage them. Those individuals included two children.

After 45 minutes of watching, I had a positive feeling toward the people standing or seated on the blue mats lining the street. From my perspective, this looked like a form of spiritual practice. In fact, I had been told that it was a higher form of Buddhism.

Although the Chinese government’s apparent response to these practices on July 20, 1989 runs counter to American values, I could understand why an autocratic regime might be threatened by such practices, particularly given the number of claimed adherents. On that date, the Chinese security forces took thousands of Falun Gong adherents into custody. Two days later, the government declared the Falun Gong an illegal organization that was ”engaged in illegal activities, advocating superstition and spreading fallacies, hoodwinking people, inciting and creating disturbances, and jeopardizing social stability.” The Ministry of Public Security made it illegal to engage in Falun Gong practices.

It, therefore, was no coincidence that the demonstration took place today. The demonstrators are remembering an important anniversary, as they have done each year.

Toward the end of my time on the street, one practitioner’s rather aggressive behavior began to sour me on the group. She persisted in trying to get me to agree with the Falun Gong viewpoint, despite my having told her that I was a neutral observer and would not take a position on the merits of their positions. Paraphrasing, she asked me, “Well, you agree organ harvesting is wrong?” I responded by indicating that I had not reviewed the factual evidence so I would not condemn the Chinese government. That was not why I was present.

At that point, either she or someone else asked me not to photograph the two children. I have two serious issues with that request. First, those children were on a public street, in plain view. Photography is a constitutionally-protected activity when it comes to public streets. There is no exception for children. See the photographic work of Henri- Cartier Bresson, Helen Levitt, and Gordon Parks.

Second, and more to the point, these children were at a demonstration. More importantly, one of them was handing out literature to passersby—he was a participant. As a participant, he was clearly fair game. The other one was much younger, and may or may not have been engaged in such activity, or possibly mimicking the older child.

For some reason, I didn’t say anything—I didn’t want an argument. Given my silence, I have decided not to publish my images of those two children.

Advice to other demonstrators: When someone identifies himself as neutral, and hands you a printed card identifying himself and explaining what he is doing, don’t try to win them over to your side. Show some respect, particularly if he showed you respect.

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