Commentary: Where Is Hu Jintao Headed with Falun Gong?

It's been nearly three years since Hu Jintao assumed power in China and over one year since he obtained control of the military. Although expectations were high when he first took office, his performance so far has been disappointing. The most outstanding example is that while Hu has made claims that he stands for "the people first" and "a harmonious society," the persecution of innocent Falun Gong practitioners has shown no signs of stopping.

Information from China, especially related to Falun Gong, is tightly controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). According to incomplete statistics, at least 1,500 Falun Gong practitioners are known to have died from the persecution since Hu took office in 2002. About 600 deaths have been documented since he obtained military control in September 2004.

In the past several days, arrests of Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing and in over ten cities in Heilongjiang, Liaoning, and Guangdong provinces have been reported. This is the largest mass arrest of Falun Gong practitioners since May, which had the largest number of arrests since 1999. Meanwhile, Falun Gong practitioners in Taiwan, Hong Kong, the United States, Italy, and Canada have again received harassment and propaganda via phone calls, a replay of the CCP’s telephone harassment campaign earlier this year that affected practitioners in over 20 countries.

Falun Gong practitioners as a group have never singled out Hu Jintao for criticism. During these several years of his power, only a very few practitioners have sought to reprimand him. Falun Gong has always placed the blame for the persecution on Jiang Zemin, the former head of state, and on the Communist Party system that he misused.

During Hu's visit to the United States last month, Falun Gong practitioners displayed the following messages: "Bring Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Liu Jing, and Zhou Yongkang to justice," "Bring to justice the evil police and other bad people who persecute Falun Gong," and "Hu Jintao, the time God and the people give you is limited." By contrast, when Jiang Zemin visited, practitioners filed lawsuits against him and publicized the call to “bring Jiang to justice.” Falun Gong practitioners have differentiated among officials according to their levels of responsibility for the persecution.

Practitioners and their supporters are still hopeful that Hu will come to his senses. As the highest authority and policymaker in China, Hu has responsibility for the persecution, whether to end or to continue it. But practitioners understand the difficult position he is in, so they are willing to allow him time to make better decisions.

Hu Jintao has not directly committed any injustice towards Falun Gong practitioners. Prior to 1999, Hu read the main book of Falun Gong and had acquaintances who practiced Falun Gong. When Jiang Zemin decided to initiate the persecution, Hu did not approve. Now that Jiang has stepped down, Hu will surely not want to carry Jiang’s baggage. Hu cannot possibly want the persecution to worsen and become an even greater burden and embarrassment for him.

Some sources say that these recent incidents were instigated by Jiang's remaining influences in the government, namely, Luo Gan and Zeng Qinghong, who used their control over the security and justice systems to create a new large-scale arrest of Falun Gong practitioners. Their intention appears to be to escalate the persecution and make things difficult for Hu.

The actions of Luo and Zeng demonstrate how Jiang is using his forces to trap Hu. Before handing over power, Jiang let his two accomplices, Luo and Zeng, join the standing committee of the Politburo and gave them enormous authority within the security and justice system bureaus. They were Jiang's right-hand men— back-stage plotters and onstage helpers—in the persecution of Falun Gong. Though Jiang himself was forced to hand over power, Luo and Zeng are his agents and still have the power to continue the persecution. On the surface, Zeng appears to cooperate with Hu, while behind his back, he does as he sees fit, tarnishing Hu's image, making trouble, and seeking power for himself.

Continuing the persecution of Falun Gong, whether considered from a political, economic, or social perspective, would be too heavy a burden for Hu. If Hu is unable to resist or stop the misdeeds of Luo and Zeng, he will have to take primary responsibility for the persecution, which is exactly Jiang's intention and the reason his subordinates are trying to manipulate Hu.

Though Hu Jintao was previously under Jiang's shadow and had limited ability to resist, he has been in the forefront now for over a year and must find the courage to set his own course. Hu does not have many avenues for bringing about change; however, the Falun Gong issue offers a great opportunity. If Hu wants to get out of this difficult position, he must draw a line between himself and Jiang, Luo, and Zeng, and he must immediately stop the persecution of Falun Gong. Otherwise, his weakness and his hesitation to do what's right will only cause him to fall deeper into the grave dug for him by Jiang’s political plots.