A Fatal Attack on China's Economy - Condemning the Jiang Regime's Misappropriation of Vast Amounts of Money to Persecute Falun Gong

By Zhong Yan

(Clearwisdom.net)

It was immediately after I read through the "Investigative Report on Jiang Zemin's Regime Appropriating Both China's Capital and Foreign Investment Funds on Persecution of Falun Gong" from World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) that I heard that China's state-run bank, the "People's Bank," had announced that as of October 29, 2004, the minimal interest rate for financial organs' deposits would be raised. The news source claimed that it was the first time for People's Bank to take the measure of raising interest rates in the past ten years. According to financial analysts, the rise in prices has caused people to reduce their savings in China's banks. Also the high percentage of bad debts, have resulted in a fatal attack on the financial systems in China. Raising the interest rate is a solution to a financial crisis when there is no other way out.

I also heard recently that China has allowed foreign investors to acquire A type stocks. (In China's stock market, A type stocks used to be restricted to purchases with Chinese yuan and B type stocks were open to foreign exchange transactions). As of early this year, according to news from official Chinese source, the Chinese government will have a national debt of over 700 billion yuan.

Financial Measures of State-Run Banks Versus Economic Black Holes

Be it in financing the national debt or putting the money in the bank, the people's concern is whether or not they can get back their principal and interest when the time is due. Be it issuance of national debt, a raise in the interest rate or attracting foreign investments, those in power are hoping to alleviate the economic crisis. However, what China is encountering now is a huge economic black hole as a result of the five-year long persecution of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

Corruption, embezzlement and flight of capital are not the only threats to China's economy. In the past five years, Jiang's regime spared no expense to persecute Falun Gong. Huge investments have been made in administration, law enforcement and forced-labor systems, in the departments of propaganda, culture, education, medical care, diplomacy, science and technology, internet monitoring, as well as the nationwide, large-scale renovation, relocation, expansion projects for forced labor camps, brainwashing centers and prisons. Numerous economic black holes have become a fatal attack on China's national economy.

The reality of China's current economy is such that the national debt is increasing every year. The national deficit is increasing every year as well, and likewise, bad debts in state-run banks are increasing every year. According to figures provided by Chinese authorities, the national debt this year has reached 700 billion Yuan, an 11% increase from last year's 628 billion Yuan, a 18% increase from 2002. The deficit in 2003 rose to 335 billion Yuan, a 25 billion increase compared with the deficit in 2002.

According to economists, if it wasn't for the continued infusion of foreign capital to support China's economic growth, China's economy would have collapsed a long time ago. Even faced with such a severe economic situation, Jiang's five-year long persecution of Falun Gong is still going on.

Suppression on one hand and buying off persecutors and accomplices on the other hand

Statistics from the WOIPFG's report show how obvious it is that national capital funds and civilians' hard earned money have been used in persecuting Falun Gong. Jiang's regime requested public funds for political and judiciary systems to be at least twice that of other administration units.

Since the persecution began, the growth rate of Beijing's various municipal infrastructure investments either increased little or decreased dramatically, while growth rate expenditures of the political and judiciary systems topped the list three years after the persecution began. A similar trend can be found at Qingdao City, Dalian City, and so on, where the persecution is most serious. In 2001 alone, the Department of Finance for Jilin Province raised 175 million Yuan to persecute Falun Gong.

According to a news report from a foreign source in July 2001, close to one-half of the detainees at the time were Falun Gong practitioners. Large numbers of arrests of Falun Gong practitioners resulted in explosive demands to expand the capacities of forced labor camps and prisons. Large expenditures to expand forced labor camps nationwide soon followed.

In 2002, the Xin'an Forced Labor Camp in Beijing held 800 people, of which 613 were Falun Gong practitioners. This is close to 77% of those labor camp inmates. Six out of the seven camp divisions were responsible for reforming Falun Gong practitioners.

Investments in labor camp infrastructures -- large-scale relocation, remodeling, expansion, and building projects -- grew rapidly. A construction project in the Falun Gong Education and Transformation Base, located in Chongqing's Shapingba Reeducation-Through-Labor Ranch totaled 35 million Yuan. Similar building construction was taking place in Shuanghe Reeducation-Through-Labor Camp's Falun "Education and Transformation Base" located in Qiqihar City. Relocating Yangquan City Reeducation-Through-Labor Camp in Shanxi Province used 19.37 million Yuan. Expenses in reeducation-through-labor system at the Provincial level were also staggering. The Yunnan reeducation-through-labor system received a subsidy totaling 160 million Yuan from the central and provincial government for labor camp construction within the last five years.

Up to the end of 2001, 130 million Yuan was invested in Sichuan Province's reeducation-through-labor infrastructure, which included completion of new construction and expansion projects of three forced labor camps and in-progress expansion projects of five forced labor camps. Xinjiang Ughur Autonomous Region reeducation-through-labor system invested a total of 220 million Yuan to build four new forced labor camps, expanding six existing camps, rearranging and relocating two labor camps and redeveloped all other camps.

Liaoning Province invested 930 million Yuan over three years, starting from 2002, in reconstructing the prisons throughout the province. In just one location, that is, Masanjia in the Yuhong District in Shenyang City, over 500 million Yuan was allotted. In 2003, in Masanjia, the first prison city in China occupying 2,000 mu (329 acres) was built, which increased the prison capacity by 10,000 people.

The WOIPFG report reveals that in addition to state appropriations and self-raised funds, local and special project appropriations also contributed to labor camp relocation and expansion funds. However, a large component of the funds came from national debt capital. For example, of the aforementioned thirty-five-million Yuan invested in the Shapingba Reeducation-Through-Labor Ranch's Falun Gong Education and Transformation Base, 19.5 million (55.7%) has been joined with a plan for national debt capital. National debt capital also accounted for 23% of the 19.37 million Yuan invested in relocating Shanxi Province's Yangquan City Reeducation-Through-Labor Camp. Investigation found that this capital is a part of the 21.4-million-yuan national debt subsidy given cumulatively to Yangquan City's public security, prosecution and court establishments' eleven projects within the last five years. Until 2004, Yangquan municipal government's work report still emphasized, "keep away from and severely strike against Falun Gong." In 2002, out of 125 investment projects in Guangdong Province, public security, prosecuting organs and the courts had 64 projects, which counted for a total investment of 185 million Yuan.

As of December 2001, Jiangxi Province's political and judiciary systems had arranged for fifty national debt projects. 168.65 million Yuan of the total 533 million Yuan were national debt funds. Investment to reconstruct dangerous elementary school buildings, on the other hand, amounted to 58 million Yuan, which only matched one-tenth of the investment in the political and judiciary systems.

The report concluded that national capital is unable to sustain the gigantic expenditure for the political and judiciary systems. In order to fill the economic black holes, the Chinese authorities encouraged civilians to purchase the national debt, and Chinese civilians thus unknowingly supported the persecution. At the same time, they are also victims of the persecution, because the money they put into the black holes cannot be retrieved and without knowing the truth, they are constantly putting the money into an abyss.

Also, many funds used in the persecution of Falun Gong were obtained through other means or using other names. For instance, the Wuchang District in Wuhan City received a four million Yuan appropriation designated officially as a flood-prevention headquarters, but instead used the funds to build a prison-like brainwashing base, surrounded by tall walls and electric wires. This facility officially started operation in June 2001.

In addition, it is impossible to estimate how much has been used for the brainwashing centers directed at Falun Gong practitioners throughout China. Wu Xiuping, the chairwoman of the Beijing's Women's Union, once revealed that the amount of "transformation money" spent on each individual Falun Gong practitioner averages about five to six thousand Yuan. With this information one should be able to deduce what an astronomical figure it is in terms of expenditure for brainwashing centers.

Jiang's regime concurrently adopted another method to persecute Falun Gong practitioners--buying off persecutors and accomplices. Those who personally participated in the persecution, those who keep track of and/or report Falun Gong practitioners, and overseas investors who participated in the persecution by investing in China have all been rewarded by Jiang's regime with economic incentives. Officials at all levels get promotions for going all out to suppress Falun Gong. As persecutors, they are not held responsible for their corruption crime. What follows has been unprecedented political and economic corruption.

What are the consequences for appropriating vast amounts of money to persecute Falun Gong practitioners?

All Chinese people are paying the price for the former ruler's envy and resentment, including economic loss as well as spiritual and moral decline. Vast amounts of people's hard earned money are used to attack the conscience of humankind to an unprecedented extent. During the persecution, so many people have fostered the vicious side of human nature--violence, hatred, deceit, discrimination, apathy, sacrificing principles to seek personal gain, and have, at the same time, inhibited their benevolent nature -- their kindness, tolerance, understanding, honesty and sense of justice. Vast funds being invested in the persecution is not only a fatal attack on China's economy but also a fatal attack on the nation's spirit.

October 29, 2004

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/10/30/87932.html

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