Exporting smear

>> Falun Gong and their opponents are splitting loyalties in Chinatown

by PATRICK LEJTENYIR

A slander case with global connections has been simmering in Chinatown since November. At issue are weighty concepts like press freedom, freedom of belief and, of course, human rights.
The case began with the Nov. 3 publication in the Chinese Press, a local Chinese-language weekly, of a paid advertisement supposedly written by a practitioner of Falun Gong, the esoteric pseudo-religion whose followers have become case studies of repression in communist China.
According to translations forwarded to the Mirror by the plaintiffs’ lawyer, the article allegedly contained descriptions of Falun Gong practitioners being driven to commit suicide and murder, overthrowing the Chinese government and surrendering their will to the movement’s founder, Li Hongzhi. The article also accuses Li of practicing bestiality.
Articles published in the Nov. 10 and 24 editions allegedly contained material that, according to court documents, are “all false or grossly inaccurate distortions made for the purpose of inciting hatred against the practitioners of Falun Gong, causing derision from the Chinese community against Falun Gong in Canada and justifying the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in the PRC [People’s Republic of China].” Each of the 126 plaintiffs, all Falung Gong practitioners from Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto, are suing the Chinese Press and the author for $100,000.
“It’s very strange,” says Yumin Yang, a 38-year-old engineer, Falun Gong practitioner and plaintiff. “There must be some reason for publishing something against the Falun Gong. I compare it to the international-wide smear campaign from China appearing in other papers. The Chinese government is trying to get other papers to publish similar material.”
The PRC’s clampdown on the Falun Gong is no secret. It banned the organization in July 1999, and since then, according to the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, over 350 practitioners are known to have died in Chinese custody, although Yang puts the number at over 1,500. Thousands more have been detained. Other reports play down the numbers, putting them in the hundreds rather than thousands.
Representing the plaintiffs is Michael Bergman, a well-known Montreal human rights lawyer. To him, this is a case that has wider implications than just slander. “This kind of case is relatively novel in Canada,” he says. “It’s rare that a lawsuit of this nature is engendered by what might be termed hate literature. We have to send a message to stop the publication of this material.”

Meditation in disharmony

Crescent Chau, the owner and publisher of the Chinese Press, denies holding any prejudice against the Falun Gong. Because the article was allegedly written by a Falun Gong practitioner, Chau thinks the author, identified as a local woman named Bing He, had legitimate grievances. But he denies having any editorial policy when it comes to the movement.
“It is a personal story,” he says, “and I don’t see what was said about the Falun Gong as slander or defamation. Maybe it was a little bit strong… but we are outsiders, we are trying to know the facts.” Chau thinks that the Falun Gong have even been spreading false allegations about him personally.
“They think they are above the law,” he says of the Falun Gong. “I don’t think the people in the community are really happy about the Falun Gong in Chinatown.”
Which raises some interesting questions. Bill Wong, the vice-president of the Montreal Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, knows of local resentment against the practitioners, especially over their daily congregations at Sun Yat-sen square on Clark and de la Gauchetière.
“After doing this for a year or a year and a half, occupying the park, they’re not that welcome,” Wong says. “They just shouldn’t take it for granted. They are there almost every day and they’re taking it away from the community.”
But Wong also feels that the local feelings go beyond just a few hours of meditation in the park. Many local Chinese, he thinks, are angry because they see the Falun Gong as a disruptive force, which is the last thing the PRC needs right now.
“What’s developing now in China is very good for the Chinese people,” Wong says. “It is a very progressive country compared to 15 or 20 years ago, with its entry into the WTO and the beginning of local democracy. After Tiananmen Square, China really opened up. It’s ready to really blossom, but it needs a stable environment, and for people not to create a populist type of movement.”
As for Yumin Yang, he says that all he and the 100-million Falun Gong practitioners worldwide (Falun Dafa claim), want to do is live their lives according to their three principle beliefs: truth, compassion and forbearance. But he feels the Beijing government has already scored some victories in Montreal and Chinatowns across the world. “The Chinese community is divided,” he says. “There is a lot of propaganda coming from the Chinese government’s side.” :