Editor's Note: After fleeing to the West especially the United States, Li Hongzhi and his Falun Gong cult organization attempted to whitewash themselves as a “cultivation group” or “religious organization” to cover up their illegal activities. However, with the continuous disclosure of the mainstream media abroad, all kinds of ugly acts such as deceiving the public, creating rumors, amassing money, maiming “disciples” and spreading conspiracy theories have been repeatedly brought to light. The China Anti-Cult Network now launches a series of reports on exposing the Falun Gong cult organization by Western media, to see how Falun Gong is perceived by foreigners.
In the previous series of reports “Falun Gong leverages its pickup troupes of Shen Yun to continuously entice people into its fold both on and off stage …” Western mainstream media exposed how Li Hongzhi and his Falun Gong cult meticulously designed the recruitment, ticket sales, and performances of Shen Yun to deceive the uninformed public into its traps. And, its dictatorial internal management—controlling the thoughts and daily activities of its followers, especially the implementation of refusing medical treatment within the organization, is particularly alarming.
It is well known that one of Li Hongzhi's secrets to “success” is his claim that he can cure all diseases, and that practicing Falun Gong can prolong life and “eliminate karma to cure diseases.” Li Hongzhi told his disciples: “Taking medicine while practicing means you don't believe practicing can cure diseases, if you believe, then why take medicine?”(From “Falun Gong in China”). To force his disciples to completely abandon medical treatment, Li Hongzhi described the relationship between seeking medical help and cultivation as hostile: “There are only two choices, either go to the hospital and give up passing the test, or let go completely like a dignified Dafa disciple, without complaints or attachments, leaving it to the master to arrange. Being able to do this is divine.” “How can a deity ask mortals for medical treatment? How can mortals treat a deity's illness? This is the principle of the law.”(From “Teaching the Fa at the Los Angeles Fa Conference” on February 25, 2006).
However, over the years, not a single report has emerged about Li Hongzhi saving lives with his preaching of “believing in the master and the law”, but criticisms of people being deluded by the Falun Gongs' fallacious doctrines, refusing medical treatment, suffering from illness, and even resulting in death, have frequently appeared in the press.
On January 13, 2021, the American media “The Atlantic Monthly” website (Theatlantics.com) published an investigative report by Simon Van Zuylen Wood. In order to gain more insider information, the author infiltrated “The Epoch Times”. According to “Zhuan Falun”, the core text by Li Hongzhi, getting sick is due to insufficient “cultivation”, but the author observed numerous warning reports online about Falun Gong followers whose conditions worsened or even led to death because they refused medical treatment. A former employee of “New Tang Dynasty Television” told the author that two years ago, she decided to leave Falun Gong after refusing medical treatment for an ovarian cyst rupture that caused internal bleeding.
On April 7, 2022, the website of “Farrago Magazine”, the oldest student magazine in Australia (Farragomagazine.com), published an article by Joel Duggan, stating that Falun Gong was an excellent case study of the dark side of cult organizations. The article recounted the experience of Ms. Jane Doe (a pseudonym). Jane grew up in Falun Gong, and from the age of eight, she was taught that the only way to cure her illnesses was through practicing and sitting in meditation. Whether sick or recovering, Falun Gong members attributed Jane's health to meditation: when ill, she was actually using the pain to eliminate her “karma,” and seeking medical care (i.e., consulting doctors and taking medicine) would violate the cosmic “law of karmic justice.” From childhood to adulthood, even in situations of urgent need for medical attention, even when consciousness was blurred, and the body was convulsing due to pain and vomiting, Jane was still beaten severely for being too ill to meditate and study. It wasn't until the age of eighteen that Jane saw a doctor for the first time.
Original Illustration from the Article by Joel Dagen (Picture by Pamela Piechowicz)
On January 18, 2024, the British media “Far Out Magazine” (Faroutmagazine.co.uk) website published a commentary article, pointing out that Falun Gong was an extremely conservative organization that opposed modern medicine, gender equality, and homosexuality.
In response to criticism from Western mainstream media, on July 5, 2020, Li Hongzhi, under the guise of replying to “Japanese disciples,” released a so-called "new scripture" titled “Another Stick Warning," to deceive and intimidate Falun Gong practitioners. Facing increasing doubts among its members about Falun Gong's so-called “disease elimination and karma eradication” function, Li Hongzhi cunningly argued, "It depends on how the students practice and what illnesses or karma they have. Making irresponsible remarks is nothing but interference.”
Contrary to Li Hongzhi's claims, in recent years, the supposed “divinely protected” core members and disciples of Falun Gong have died one after another. Apart from a few accidental deaths, the vast majority died from illnesses.
On June 2, 2022, according to an obituary published on the website of the American local newspaper “Indiana Gazette”, John A. Nania, a core member of the Falun Gong in the United States, suddenly died on May 30, 2022, at the age of 63. His wife, a veteran and vice president of New Tang Dynasty Television, Ma Lijuan, died of illness in New York on July 30, 2023, at the age of 59.
Obituary Screenshot
Besides the couple, here is a brief list of some core members of Falun Gong living abroad who have passed away in the last 20 years:
In August 2023, Zhu Wanqi, a senior figure and spokesperson in the Taiwan region, died of complications from uremia (aged 58).
On January 13, 2022, Zhang Qingxi, chairman of the “Falun Dafa Association” in Taiwan, suddenly died on the Taipei subway (aged 74); on January 20, Stephen Gregory, the person in charge of the English version of “The Epoch Times”, died (aged 67); on the night of February 14, Yang Sen, president of the “US-China Falun Dafa Association”, suddenly died of a heart attack (aged 60); on July 21, Xi Weiguo, a supporter of Falun Gong in New Zealand, died in a car accident while participating in anti-China activities (aged 48); at the end of September the same year, Guan Guimin, an important backbone of the Falun Gong cult abroad, deputy director of the “Shen Yun Performing Arts” and leader of the “Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra” in New York, died of liver cancer in the United States (aged 78).
In September 2020, the wife of Falun Gong's second-in-command, Ye Hao's wife, Jiang Xuemei, a key member of the Canadian Falun Gong, died of illness.
On December 18, 2019, Jian Hongzhang, the leading figure of the Hong Kong Falun Gong organization, died suddenly of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (aged 68).
On February 26, 2016, Kuai Hongbing (wife of Falun Gong's financier Jiang Shanhua), a fanatic member of the American Falun Gong, died in New York, USA (aged 50).
In 2015, Ju Mei, a media elite backbone of Falun Gong, died of ovarian and lung cancer (aged 53, husband Yang Sen); on August 2 of the same year, Lin Yiming, the leader of the Macau Falun Gong, died of colon cancer.
On March 2, 2014, Li Dayong, the person in charge of the Falun Gong “Three Quits” center, died of acute liver necrosis (aged 50).
In April 2013, Liu Jinghang, a key member of Falun Gong, died in the UK (aged 72).
In early May 2012, Li Jiguang, the brother-in-law of Li Hongzhi and vice president of the Epoch Times News Group affiliated with Falun Gong, died of kidney failure (aged 48).
On February 26, 2011, Wu Kailun, a key figure of Falun Gong in the United States, died of illness at his home in New York (aged 47); in the same month, Sun Jun, the former president of the “Falun Buddha Study Association” in Hong Kong, died of illness (aged 72).
On August 21, 2010, Han Zhenguo, the administrative director of the Falun Gong headquarters at the Longquan Temple in the United States, died of lung cancer (aged 60).
On July 20, 2009, Mitsuru Sato, the editor-in-chief of The Epoch Times in Japan, died of illness (aged 49, his wife Xiao Xinli also died of illness on December 30, 2011, at the age of 43); in the same month of July, Mitsuko Sato, an editor at The Epoch Times in Japan, died suddenly of illness due to untimely treatment; in the same month of July, Jiang Qinggui, who went to the Falun Gong headquarters at the Longquan Temple in the United States to volunteer, died of illness on the way back to Taiwan (aged 50).
On May 3, 2008, Liu Jinan, a key member of the North American Falun Gong, fell to his death at a Falun Gong base construction site in Hope Mountain, New Jersey, USA (aged 54).
On June 23, 2006, Feng Lili, the “chief scientist of Falun Gong”, died of pancreatic cancer in Houston, USA (aged 54).
On July 23, 2005, Tan Shujun, a key member of the American Falun Gong, died of a stroke during a cultivation experience exchange meeting (aged 65).
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Numerous gruesome examples show that Falun Gong is a heretical cult, its fallacious and heretical doctrines have led many practitioners astray, not only causing various incidents of refusing medical treatment, but also leading to heinous acts such as murder and suicide. In 2019, a bloody and terrifying case occurred in Vietnam where four Falun Gong practitioners brutally killed two fellow practitioners and sealed their bodies in cement barrels.
For a long time, Falun Gong has not only been deceiving the public and intimidating its disciples but has also been dedicated to using its cult media mouthpiece, “The Epoch Times,” to fan the flames of skepticism towards modern science and medicine. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Elise Thomas from the British think tank “Institute for Strategic Dialogue” pointed out: “Falun Gong has a bad record of rejecting medical treatment, which coincides with the ideas of many anti-vaccine groups.” Falun Gong practitioners unanimously believe that only by adhering to Falun Gong doctrines can one prevent health troubles, and that medications cannot prevent diseases.
A former Australian employee of The Epoch Times and ex-Falun Gong follower, Ben Hurley, said: “Falun Gong practitioners have long refused medication.” Hurley also cited many examples of Falun Gong practitioners refusing medical treatment: “Many ex-followers have seen people around them die from illnesses that could have been cured. These people firmly believed they didn’t need medication because they were ‘superhuman’.”
As Qingming Festival arrives, a time traditionally for honoring and remembering the deceased, the Falun Gong cult's usual practice is to “keep deaths secret,” concealing and blocking the news of disciples' deaths to avoid sparking doubts about its “healing through eliminating karma” capabilities. Presumably, the “Lord Buddha of the Universe,” Li Hongzhi, is now hiding in the Longquan Temple, enjoying the wealth plundered from his disciples or obtained through betraying his motherland. As for those souls who have either spent their entire fortunes or dedicated their lives for him, mourning them? Out of the question!
