Police in several Canadian cities are looking into whether a Chinese-language newspaper vilifying the Falun Gong spiritual group qualifies as hate propaganda.
"To fight against Falun Gong is to shoulder our responsibility for the Canadian society," proclaimed Crescent Chau, publisher and chief editor of the Montreal-based Chinese Press , in statement he included in his special edition.
The newspaper first appeared on Aug. 18. Thousands of copies were found in and around Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto.
"Everyone should join in the efforts to fight against Falun Gong," said Chau. "We must unite together to condemn [Falun Gong founder] Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong."
Chau's 32-page tabloid was called "Justice Special Edition" in Chinese but also carried the English title "TRUTH Magazin." It contains no ads and no news, only anti-Falun Gong articles. It was distributed free of charge.
In his statement, Chau goes as far as asking readers to send donations to fund his "fight" against Falun Gong. He promises receipts in return.
Jeff Lee, a Falun Gong practitioner in the Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill, Ontario, brought the newspapers to the attention of local police.
"We found this paper in many Chinese stores," says Lee. "When we looked at it, we found it was totally slanderous and hate-inciting."
Lee and other Falun Gong practitioners found 8,000 copies in more than 50 stores in Toronto and surrounding cities.
Others found 20,000 copies in the Vancouver area and a few thousand in Ottawa and Montreal, he said. The special edition was also included as an insert in Chau's regular Chinese Press , published in Montreal.
Reached by telephone Wednesday, York Regional Police spokesperson Const. Laurie Perks said police are looking into complaints about the newspaper.
"We do have the report. The detective is looking at the report and will follow up at some point," said Perks. "Because it is a quite serious incident, some investigation has to take place."
Sgt. Sam Hong Lea Kim, with the Montreal Police, said the same.
"We are looking into it," said Kim. "We just met with the plaintiffs. We took all the information."
On Wednesday Kim said Chau had not yet returned phone calls. He said it is too early to say whether a formal investigation will be launched or charges will be laid.
Complaints were also reportedly made to police in Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver.
Perks said that if the material is proven to be hate propaganda, only the attorney general could lay charges.
"It is quite an extensive process, so we can't just lay that charge arbitrarily," she said.
She also said investigating statements in a newspaper poses challenges.
"It's a publication so it is going to take time to figure out if there is one person responsible, or if there are a number of people responsible," she said. "The links to other people are probably vast."
Falun Gong practitioners believe the Chinese authorities were directly involved in the special edition.
The repression has included a high-powered propaganda campaign.
"The Chinese embassy is definitely behind this," says Lee, adding that it would be impossible for a local newspaper with a weekly circulation of 5000 to pull off something of this scale.
"This paper appeared in so many major Chinese stores across Canada within half a day. Who has the capacity? Who is spending the money to print this? Who is organizing the distribution network? Who has organized a big writing team to prepare this?"
Lee says the newspaper targets almost every major issue that human rights groups have criticized the Chinese regime over regarding Falun Gong.
"Crescent Chau is speaking like a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson," says Lee.
And just days after the paper was distributed, news had already Mainland Chinese state-run media.
The website for People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, published a report on Aug. 22, praising Chau and his anti-Falun Gong publication.
"The Justice Special Edition has 32 pages with a distribution of more than 100,000 copies," the People's Daily said. "The front page carries publisher Crescent Chau's special article called 'Lies cannot become truth; justice will win for sure.' It is very sharp, rich in content, and powerful."
In the special edition, Chau repeats much of the regime's official line on Falun Gong. He accuses the group of everything from shunning medical treatment to murder and suicide.
Chau labels Falun Gong "anti-human, anti-society, and anti-government" and argues that opposing the group is to "protect our next generation" and "safeguard the healthy development of our children."
However, the communist authorities have made such claims since 1999, and they are false, human rights groups say.
"The charge that Falun Gong threatens the stability of China does not hold up," said Human Rights Watch executive director for Asia, Sydney Jones, when HRW released its 117-page investigation report on Falun Gong in 2002.
"Its claim that belief in Falun Gong is a public health menace is equally bogus. The danger to health comes from the treatment its practitioners receive at the hands of the police and prison officials."
Amnesty International says instead that the Chinese authorities have used a "massive propaganda campaign" to gain support for the violent crackdown on Falun Gong.
Falun Gong practitioners worry that the special edition could incite attacks here in Canada.
Last Thursday, less than two weeks after Chau's special edition was published, Falun Gong practitioner Raymond Zhang was beaten by a group of Asian men outside the Chinese consulate in Vancouver in the wee hours of the morning.
Falun Gong practitioners keep a regular vigil outside the consulate to protest the treatment of adherents in China. Zhang's attackers fled in an SUV.
"The Chinese Communist Party tries to eliminate Falun Gong in China," says Lee. "Now they are bringing that here."
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