Spring
Festival (Chinese New Year) is almost upon us and in China that means the
biggest annual migration of people is about to commence so that workers spread
all over the country can return home to be with family and take part in
activities that celebrate the nations long and rich cultural history. Witnessing
this event first hand as an outsider, as this writer has had the privilege to
do the past few years, is quite astonishing and heartwarming. Major cities like
Shanghai are emptied as everyone returns to their hometowns and lonely travelers
are welcomed into homes across the country with warm smiles, mountains of food
and far too many bowls (yes, bowls) of Chinese spirits. For most people it is a
time of joy, camaraderie and pride in one’s community, society and the country.
For others, with darker motives, it’s an opportunity for mischief,
grandstanding and horrific displays of wanton cruelty.
I am of course talking about the many
cults that exist in the shadows of modern China and infect societies all over
the world. The chief amongst these is Li Hongzhi’s Falun Gong. For those who
are unaware of this cult, Falun Gong is a group that hides it’s destructive and
hateful teachings behind a seemingly gentle public face and enormous PR machine
(very much like Scientology). On the surface, they are a meditation/yoga group
which preaches truthfulness, tolerance and forbearance, but it doesn’t take
much to scratch below that top layer and reveal the destructive, homophobic and
racist cult beneath (look here) Spring Festival has often been targeted by this cult as a
prime PR opportunity to shape public opinion and gain sympathy for their cause.
The main avenues of propaganda that Falun
Gong has exploited in the lead up to this festival over the years have been “cultural
extravaganzas,” Chinese New Year parades and a horrific self immolation event
in January 2001. These also show the clear division between their activities in
mainland China (sabotage, extortion and murder) and in the rest of the world
(arts performances, public displays and leafleting).
