Investigative Announcement on Anti-Falun Gong Comments Made by Director of Olympic Media Center

WOIPFG: An Investigative Announcement on the Anti-Falun Gong Comments Made by Li Zhanjun, Director of Beijing Olympic Media Center

On November 8, 2007, Li Zhanjun, Director of Beijing Olympic Media Center, announced that the Chinese authorities would allow those athletes and tourists of major religions to carry religious-related items with them during the Beijing Olympic Games and that the Beijing Olympic Village would provide facilities to accommodate Christians, Catholics, Muslims, Orthodox Jews, Hindus and Buddhists. But Li Zhanjun added that this policy would not be applied to Falun Gong, a religious group banned by the Chinese authorities.

“We do not acknowledge Falun Gong because it is a cult. So Falun Gong texts, Falun Gong activities are forbidden in China. Foreigners who come to China must respect and abide by the laws of China.” Li Zhanjun added.

Lately, China has been condemned for its worsening human rights abuses in China ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games and accused of supporting Sudan government on its genocide crime. In response, China announced to open doors for foreign media before the Olympics, but it has escalated its domestic control and repression. In April 2007, China's Ministry of Public Security secretly issued an order to require strict nation-wide background checks on all the people in China and from overseas that will be participating in the Olympic Games. The notice targets and will possibly ban 43 types of people during the 2008 Olympics. The secret notice went to security officials and agencies throughout China. On the other hand, China made a public announcement to open for foreign media during the Olympic Games to mitigate public criticisms from international society. Meanwhile, the Chinese authorities retaliated by denouncing that the public criticisms on its worsening human rights condition turns the Olympics into political games.

China's official media and the Olympic Games official website try to avoid public discussions on China's ban on specific group or people from participating in the Olympic Games, but Li Zhanjun has made a public announcement to comply with the Chinese Communist Party's policy on the suppression of Falun Gong by banning Falun Gong from the Olympic Games. Li Zhanjun's announcement has fully illustrated that no one except the Chinese Communist Party is turning the Olympics into a political game. More specifically, Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games is politicizing the Olympic games.

The Chinese Communist regime has been using the security of the Olympics as an excuse to arrest Falun Gong practitioners at will and throw them into forced labor camps. Officials from Beijing 2008 Olympics Games Bidding Committee and Organizing Committee are incorporating the Chinese Communist Party's political policy on the suppression of Falun Gong into its agenda. The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) will now release part of its investigation and will continue to keep a close watch on further developments on the issue.

Those Chinese officials that have openly attacked Falun Gong in the name of Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee are:

Liu Jingmin (male), Vice Mayor of Beijing and Executive Vice President of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games
He Zhenliang (male), Advisor to and Executive Member of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games
Li Zhanjun (male), Director of Beijing Olympic Media Center
Tian Yixiang (male), the head of the Military Department under the 2008 Olympic Game Security Command Center

In addition, Liu Qi (male), Chairman of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Organizing Committee and Mayor of Beijing was sued in the U.S. and Chen Zhili (female), First Vice-President of the Beijing Organizing Committee and former Minister of Education, faced a lawsuit in Tanzania because they both have been actively suppressing Falun Gong. In Liu Qi’s case, the court entered a default judgment in favor of the plaintiff.

In addition, WOIPFG has listed Jiang Xiaoyu (male), Executive Vice-President of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games and former Department of Propaganda of the municipal CCP committee, and Zhang Mao (male), former Vice Mayor of Beijing, on it’s investigative report for their roles in the persecution of Falun Gong.

WOIPFG hereby emphasizes that anyone who uses the Olympic Games as a mandate to slander, attack or suppress Falun Gong shall face his/her personal legal consequences ultimately. WOIPFG will continue to assist and cooperate with the criminal investigation agencies and all the righteous individuals around the world to thoroughly investigate all the individuals and organizations involved in the persecution of Falun Gong, hold them accountable for their legal responsibilities no matter how long it will take. We shall assist the victims of the persecution of Falun Gong to bring all the criminals to justice as a lesson to the world's people.

World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong

Tel：1-347-448-5790；Fax：1-347-402-1444；
Mail Address：P.O. Box 84， New york, NY 10116
Website： http://www.upholdjustice.org/, http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/