Wang Jindong: My Personal Statement on the Tiananmen Square Self-immolation Incident(I)
Wang Jindong: My Personal Statement on the Tiananmen Square Self-immolation Incident(II)
Wang Jindong: My Personal Statement on the Tiananmen Square Self-immolation Incident(III)
Wang Jindong: My Personal Statement on the Tiananmen Square Self-immolation Incident(IV)
Editor’s note: Wang Jindong used to be an obsessed follower of Falun Gong. On the eve of Chinese New Year on January 23, 2001, he participated in the self-immolation incident in the Tiananmen Square, and was the first self-immolator. On August 17, 2001, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the First Intermediate People's Court of Beijing Municipality with political rights suspended for three years. In May 2003, he wrote this article in prison, recalling the years of being obsessed by Falun Gong, recollecting the "1.23" self-immolation incident and surveying the process of waking up after the incident. This article reveals facts about the self-immolation incident in Tiananmen Square on January 23, 2001.
My response to doubts from Falun Gong
After the self-immolation incident on January 23, Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong movement neglected facts and spread rumors. The following is my response to doubts given by Falun Gong on the incident.
Why the gasoline bottles remain unchanged?
I hang the bottles over neck by ropes, fixed them with adhesive tape under our armpits, then put on the sweaters and wadded jackets. Before I flicked on the lighter, I used the blade I had prepared in my hand to cut through the clothes and slice the bottle. As I flicked on the lighter with my left hand, instantly the flames engulfed me. I did not have time to sit in the posture with both legs crossed. So I sat in the single-leg crossing posture and form the hand position. I did not know when the bottles dropped. But there were some gasoline in the bottle, which cooled the bottle. It is well known that hot air goes up, and the fire was put out quickly. So the bottles remained unchanged.
Why the extinguishers were brought so quickly?
It is a common sense that all mobile vehicles are required to be equipped with firefighting equipment. There were police cars and many tourist vehicles in the square, so it was easy to get extinguishers. As a veteran driver, I know it well.
Who am I?
Falun Gong said that I was an armed policeman, and also said I was a death-row prisoner bought over by government. Then who am I? The reason for them is that I had a pair of leather shoes of the armed police uniform. The leather shoes were delivered to us as welfare by our company; the wadded jacket was a uniform with the logo of Kaifeng Maodun Group Corporation on it. Now everyone in Kaifeng knows that I am a driver in the company.
What is more ridiculous, another rumor claimed that the three in my family were all arranged by the government. I got married to He Haihua in 1978. This can be further clarified by the group photos in different time. If what they had said were true, then the Chinese government should have arranged the incident as early as in 1978. Could the government arrange the 12-year-old student? Could the government buy over the two mothers and two daughters? I would like to ask the rumor makers, would you let your family attend self-immolation if you are given 100 million Yuan?
Is it true that Liu Chunling was beaten to death?
The video footage showed that a belt-shaped object flew off when the police were saving Liu Siying and Liu Chunling. I think that the object is the belt of the bag carrying the gasoline bottles and when the belt was burned to break, it flew off. But Falun Gong spread the rumor that Liu Chunling was beaten to death by police with a stick. Who would beat others with an iron tool in such a weird shape? There has never been such kind of weapon from the ancient time. If the police wanted to kill us, why would they save us?
Falun Gong is self-contradictory
After the self-immolation incident, Li Hongzhi denied that we were Falun Gong followers. As a number of investigation results have been revealed, they had to admit our identity as a Falun Gong practitioner, but said that we got astray in practicing. But Li Hongzhi said in his teachings that the law was indescribably huge and there would be no chance for us to get astray. Even if we got astray, why didn’t the law body of Li Hongzhi find it and give guidance to us? Li Hongzhi said that his law body was omnipotent, knowing every thought and idea of people, then why did he need to repeatedly investigate whether we are real practitioners of Falun Gong?
