On April 25, 1999, Beijing enjoyed fine and clear weather. Yet, on this very day, a massive unlawful assembly suddenly erupted. Over 10,000 Falun Gong cult practitioners from Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, and other regions assembled in an organized manner to besiege Zhongnanhai, the Chinese government's compound. This severely disrupted the normal operations of the highest leading body of the Party and the state, disturbed the capital's social order, and caused an extremely negative impact both at home and abroad.
Scene of Falun Gong practitioners assembling near Zhongnanhai on April 25, 1999
That day, as I passed through Fuyou Street, I witnessed over 10,000 Falun Gong members—under the pretext of "petitioning" and "demanding an explanation"—besieging Zhongnanhai, the seat of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, resulting in a severe mass incident. The scene before me was shocking. Along one side of the road from Fuyou Street to the opposite side of Zhongnanhai's north gate, Falun Gong practitioners stood tightly packed. Most were from out of town or rural areas, with women making up the majority. Carrying plastic bags filled with beverage bottles, newspapers, and food, and some holding folding stools, they stood densely along the street. Some, seemingly tired, sat on the curb, while others huddled in small groups talking. Most appeared not to know one another and remained silent.
It was later understood that the crowd swelled throughout the afternoon, fully occupying the roadside from the Round City (Tuancheng) in Beihai Park all the way to the west gate of Zhongnanhai on Fuyou Street. By 4:00 p.m., the sheer number of people gathered on Fuyou Street paralyzed traffic, and the unlawful assembly severely impacted public order in the surrounding areas. After 6:00 p.m., the crowd began to disperse, leaving the ground in an absolute mess—littered with discarded newspapers, beverage bottles, and plastic bags, leaving sanitation workers scrambling to clean up the litter. Falun Gong later claimed that "upon withdrawal, the site was cleaned without leaving a single scrap of paper behind." The facts tell a completely different story.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the "April 25" large-scale unlawful assembly was an entirely purposeful, premeditated, organized, and strategically executed major political incident aimed at demonstrating against and pressuring the Party and the government, to destabilize the entire country.
The mastermind and direct commander of this incident was Li Hongzhi, the ringleader of Falun Gong. After the event, however, Li frequently accepted foreign media interviews, fabricating lies and resorting to every possible denial to absolve himself of culpability. He first claimed total ignorance of the "April 25" unlawful assembly, stating he was in transit from the United States to Australia at the time. When presented with evidence of his presence in Beijing, he was forced to admit he had indeed been there, but claimed it was merely a layover, and he had never left the airport. As facts continued to emerge and this lie was exposed, he changed his story once more, claiming he only stayed in Beijing for one day and "had no contact with anyone."
The facts are these: Li Hongzhi arrived in Beijing three days prior to the "April 25" unlawful assembly, landing at 5:10 p.m. on April 22 via Northwest Airlines flight NW087 from New York. His stay in Beijing did not last a single day but spanned across three days.
Li Hongzhi's Entry Registration Card
The catalyst for the "April 25" incident occurred in early April 1999, when Science Review for Juvenile, a journal hosted by the College of Education (now the Faculty Of Education) at Tianjin Normal University, published an article by He Zuoxiu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, titled "I Do Not Agree with Youth Practicing Qigong." In it, He wrote, "One piece of Falun Gong promotional material claimed that after practicing Falun Gong, an engineer experienced his primordial spirit leaving his body (yuanshen chuqiao), allowing him to enter a steel furnace and observe the various chemical changes of atoms and molecules firsthand." He Zuoxiu wryly noted: "The temperature inside a steel furnace is several hundred degrees higher than the Liandan Furnace of the Supreme Lord Laozi. Is it possible to enter it?" Another section of the article mentioned a student at the Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, who, due to practicing Falun Gong, "stopped eating, drinking, sleeping, and speaking," and was eventually sent to a psychiatric hospital. After recovering, the student resumed practicing, which led to a relapse.
It was this very article that provided Li Hongzhi with the pretext he needed to make trouble. On April 19, many Falun Gong practitioners suddenly swarmed into the College of Education at Tianjin Normal University to stage a sit-in and demonstration. Li Hongzhi arrived in Beijing on April 22, and by April 23, the number of people gathered at the college had reached over 6,300. But Li Hongzhi's ultimate target was not Tianjin Normal University—he aimed for a much larger impact. His target was Beijing, the CPC Central Committee.
He Zuoxiu's article "I Do Not Agree with Youth Practicing Qigong." (Left)
Falun Gong practitioners besieging the College of Education at Tianjin Normal University (Right)
Furthermore, Falun Gong members in Beijing continuously harassed He Zuoxiu at his home in Huangzhuang, Haidian District, demanding an explanation and claiming that the doctoral student had suffered qigong deviation only because his practice posture was incorrect. He Zuoxiu asked whether all their practice postures were the same. They replied that they were not. He then offered a well-intentioned warning that they all had better stop practicing as well, otherwise they too would suffer qigong deviation.
