Investigative Report on the Persecution of Falun Gong by Ye Xiaowen

Director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs of China

December 29, 2020

Full Name of Perpetrator: Ye (last name) Xiaowen (First name) (叶小文)

Gender: Male

Country: China

Date of Birth: August 4, 1950

Place of Birth: Ningxiang, Hunan Province

Title or Position:[1]

1991 – 1995: Director of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau, United Front Work Department of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee

1995 – 2009: Director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs of China (formerly Bureau of Religious Affairs of the State Council)

2009 – 2016: Secretary of the CCP Committee and Deputy Director at the Central Institute of Socialism

2016 – Present: Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Deputy Director of the Literature and History Committee

2012: Alternate Member of the 16th CCP Central Committee

1995: Served as a special commissioner of the State Council and went to Tibet to preside over the ceremony of the selection of the 11th Panchen Lama

The State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) is part of the Department of Unified Front of the CCP Central Committee. It was formerly under the State Council prior to March 2018. SARA Business Office #1 to #3 handle the five religions that it recognizes. Business Office #4 handles all other religions and faiths. Since the CCP does not recognize any beyond the five religions under its control, Business Office #4’s actual job is to monitor and persecute the religions that are not being controlled by the CCP. The Business Office #4’s mission is to “lead research and coordination to resist the infiltration of foreign religious forces, direct the religious communities to do well in the resistance against the infiltration; guide and push the religious communities to oppose cults, and cooperate with relevant departments to do a good job in cracking down on cults.”

Ye Xiaowen Actively Participated in the Persecution of Falun Gong

As a CCP high-ranking official in charge of religious affairs, Ye instigated propaganda to incite hate against Falun Gong.

On July 20, 1999, former Party Chief of the CCP Jiang Zemin started mobilizing the resources and propaganda tools throughout China to persecute Falun Gong. Two weeks later, Ye Xiaowen gave a four-hour long speech entitled, “Comprehensively and Faithfully Carry Out the Religious Policy of the Party and Unequivocally Condemn Falun Gong” at a joint meeting attended by the Working Committees for the CCP Central Office, the Central State Offices, and the CCP Central Finance Offices. [2] The videotaped version of this speech was used as an internal study material, for example, by the Beijing CCP and governmental offices. He Lizhi, a Falun Gong practitioner and an engineer at the Ministry of Construction was forced to watch this videotaped report at his work unit. As He recalled, “Ye said that Falun Gong is all about the opposite of what the CCP advocates, all this shows that Falun Gong is ‘competing for the people in the ideological field and within the CCP.’ If left unchecked, the CCP's cause will be ruined. Therefore, the struggle against Falun Gong is a major political struggle, a life-and-death ideological contest, and a matter of survival that affects the future and destiny of the CCP and China.”[3]

Further, the Research Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Science in Hefei City, Anhui Province, also organized group studies where Ye’s speech was identified as the article for the entire CCP to study. Both the CCP Central Office and the Central State Offices established brainwashing centers in forced labor camps in Beijing designed specifically to detain Falun Gong practitioners from their own offices. Falun Gong practitioner Li Baoqing said, “In 2001, when I was arrested by the 610 Office and sent to a brainwashing session under the CCP Central Office, I was 65 years old. The policemen used clothes to cover my head, dragged me down from the third floor, threw me into a car, and drove me to the Xin'an Women's Forced Labor Camp. I was nearly suffocated. In the brainwashing center, the guards constantly cursed at me and subjected me to corporal punishments. They would not allow me to rest or sleep for three consecutive days and nights. They pressed me down, holding my arms and forced my hand to ‘sign’ a statement they prepared denouncing Falun Gong.”[4]

On August 18, 1999, Ye demonized Falun Gong on the Focal Point Interview conducted by China Central TV through slanders and lies. On November 4, 1999, during an international press conference held at the State Council Information Office, Ye said that the Chinese government cannot ignore “Falun Gong.” Ye also repeated CCP’s lies regarding Falun Gong in his answers to reporters’ questions.[5]

On November 12, 1999, Life Times under Guangming Daily, a CCP Central Committee’s mouthpiece, published an interview with Ye. Ye made up fake facts about Falun Gong, and then promoted the fake facts.[6]

On September 16, 2002, Ye continued to attack Falun Gong at the 7th national representatives’ meeting of the China Buddhism Association. “Falun Gong is a cult to the letter and very harmful to the country and society. In the future, we must continue to eliminate evil cult, and remove falsehoods.”[7]

Export Anti-Falun Gong Propaganda Abroad

In August 2000, Ye led a delegation of Chinese religious leaders to attend the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders. Before the event, Ye advocated the need to persecute Falun Gong as he visited various parts of the United States. On August 25, 2000, the People’s Daily (overseas edition) published on page 2 a Xinhua News Agency report from Los Angeles: “Falun Gong is an evil cult and not a ‘qigong.’ Ye Xiaowen warns the American people against possible traps” (by reporters Wu Yuehui and Ni Xiyi) Ye Xiaowen, Director of State Administration of Religious Affairs said today that after more than one year of education and reform work, more than 98% of the “Falun Gong” practitioners in China have freed themselves from this evil cult organization and started to live normal lives. Ye Xiaowen is the counselor for a delegation of Chinese religious leaders who are currently visiting the US. He said at a press conference held by the delegation that the Chinese government is taking effective measures to firmly strike down on criminal activities by the evil cult organization ‘Falun Gong.’ Up until now, more than 150 ‘Falun Gong’ criminal elements have been prosecuted.”[8]

(Note: The persecution of Falun Gong is a persecution of faith. The entire persecution centers on the brainwashing transformation. In order to force Falun Gong practitioners to abandon their beliefs and to achieve targeted transformation rate, the CCP has used all possible means. Various methods of torture are designed and implemented as a result. All the Falun Gong practitioners who were tortured, illegally sentenced, or even persecuted and maimed were tortured simply because they refused to be converted.)

On February 19, 2001, as the Director of State Administration of Religious Affairs, Ye was invited by the Chung Chi College of The Chinese University of Hong Kong to give a speech entitled “100-Year Reflection and Future of Religion in China” as part of the Academic Lecture Series on Religion sponsored by the college. During his speech, Ye vilified and demonized Falun Gong when answering questions from Hong Kong reporters about Falun Gong. Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao published the complete question and answer session on February 20, 2001.[9]

On March 2, 2001, Ye stated that Falun Gong is “anti-science, anti-society, anti-government, and anti-humanity” when answering questions from a reporter of the U.S. Time magazine. He defended the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong and “advised” the U.S. government to “take necessary measures” against Falun Gong. He divulged, however, that the persecution of Falun Gong is a persecution of belief when he talked about the CCP taking measures to “help misled ordinary practitioners free themselves as soon as possible.”[10]

In his article entitled “Study the Thoughts of ‘Three Represents’, Improve the Level of Religious Work”, published on “China Religion” Issue 4, 2001, Ye vigorously condemned the U.S. government’s Human Rights Report on the part about the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong.[11]

In February 2003, Ye led a delegation of CCP’s high-ranking officials on religious work in a visit to Canada and held a press conference in the General Consulate of China in Toronto on February 21, 2003. Ye and other key members of the delegation ferociously denigrate Falun Gong during the press conference.[12]

On May 21, 2006, while on a trip with the Bible Ministry Exhibition of the Church in China to Atlanta, Ye spread lies about Falun Gong in Huston, Texas and met with local church members.[13]

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Reference

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20160701000000*/http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/41223/10065475.html; https://web.archive.org/web/20161001000000*/https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1434405; and https://web.archive.org/save/http://www.xinhuanet.com//politics/2016-02/29/c_1118193560.htm

[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20050815000000*/http://www.people.com.cn/item/flg/news/080506.html

[3] https://web.archive.org/web/20060515000000*/http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/4/12/3/n735798.htm

[4] http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/4/26/126122.html; English: http://en.minghui.org/emh/articles/2006/4/29/72613.html

[5] http://web.archive.org/web/20041124220505/, http://www.people.com.cn/item/flg/news/081901.html

[6] https://web.archive.org/web/20060701000000*/http://www.people.com.cn/item/flg/news/110503.html;

https://web.archive.org/web/20070601000000*/http://www.rickross.com/reference/fa_lun_gong/falun134.html; English: https://web.archive.org/web/20070601000000*/http://www.china.org.cn/e-fabuhui/download/news/English/PressConferences/991104/01e.htm

[7] https://web.archive.org/web/20021104143656/http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2002-09/16/content_563674.htm

[8] http://web.archive.org/web/20190912182945/http://people.com.cn/GB/paper39/1302/201525.html , English: http://english.people.com.cn/english/200008/24/eng20000824_48878.html; BBC report: http://www.phil-fak.uni-duesseldorf.de/oasien/china/service/bbc/010221.txt

[9] https://web.archive.org/web/2014*/http://www.sara.gov.cn/GB/jqgy/jld/ldjh/yexiaowen/26d12589-4a79-11da-a1dd-93180af1bb1a.html; English:http://english.people.com.cn/200102/20/eng20010220_62831.html