Jiang Zemin Is Dead

Jiang Zemin Is Dead
Falun Gong practitioners march in Washington on July 14, 2016, calling for Jiang Zemin, the former dictator who instigated the persecution of Falun Gong in China, to be brought to justice. (Larry Dye/The Epoch Times)
Editorial Board
12/1/2022
Updated:
2/16/2023
0:00
Editorial

On Nov. 30, former leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Jiang Zemin died in Shanghai.

Jiang’s life was a shameful one.

His administration brought disaster to China and its people. Corruption as a result of his rule has been rampant. The persecution of Falun Gong initiated by him has resulted in crimes against humanity.

Jiang Zemin is a sinner, against the nation and history, and his crimes must be judged.

Jiang was the son of Jiang Shijun, deemed by many to be a traitor to the country. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Jiang Shijun served as the deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Wang Jingwei regime’s puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Nanjing, eastern China.

After Jiang Zemin ascended to the top position of the CCP following his role in enacting the bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, he spared no effort to push the Chinese nation onto the path of moral destruction.

Before Jiang came to power, with the open attitude of leaders Hu Yaobang, Zhao Ziyang, and Qiao Shi, the CCP’s control over society was loosened, and the legal system began to improve. People looked forward to the dawning of political and societal transformation toward rule of law.

At the same time, the Falun Gong spiritual practice—which is based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance—began to spread in China. This ancient mind-body practice benefited the tens of millions of people across the country who had taken up the discipline. As a result, society was on a trajectory to a return to high moral values and kindness.

In July 1999, however, when there were an estimated 100 million Chinese practicing Falun Gong across the country, out of his jealousy of its popularity, Jiang launched a vicious persecution of the group while disregarding the aspirations of the public and general opposition of officials at all levels, including that of the six Politburo Standing Committee members.

Former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin attends the 18th Communist Party Congress in Beijing on Nov. 14, 2012. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin attends the 18th Communist Party Congress in Beijing on Nov. 14, 2012. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Since then, he has brought an unprecedented catastrophe to the Chinese nation.

Spiritual practices such as Falun Gong, which besides its moral teachings incorporates gentle exercises and meditation, benefit the country and the people. Even the CCP’s own constitution and laws don’t prohibit one from practicing Falun Gong.

In order to suppress Falun Gong, Jiang bypassed China’s normal governmental and legal system, took advantage of the evil nature and powerful machinery of the CCP, and established the extrajudicial “610 Office,” similar to the Gestapo of Nazi Germany, specifically to engage in the persecution campaign, which has completely destroyed China’s human rights, legal system, morality, and economy.

This persecution suppressed the righteous belief of tens of millions of innocent Chinese and affected the lives of hundreds of millions of citizens. The entire country was affected by his persecution campaign. Millions of Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally imprisoned in labor camps, prisons, and mental hospitals. They’ve been tortured in all manner of ways, with untold numbers of adherents having been killed for their organs. It’s a heinous crime that infuriates heaven and earth.

In order to persecute Falun Gong, Jiang completely destroyed China’s legal system and what human rights it did have, reversed the promising turnaround of Chinese society, brought historic changes to China’s destiny, and completely destroyed the future of the CCP.

In order to carry out this outrageous persecution, Jiang engaged in governance by corruption and lewdness, destroyed traditional Chinese culture by encouraging greed and evil, promoted unscrupulous and corrupt officials, and even changed the number of members of the Politburo Standing Committee to overshadow his successor, Hu Jintao, just to sustain this persecution. Since the launch of the persecution, Falun Gong has become the epicenter around which China’s politics revolves.

Falun Gong practitioners hold a vigil to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the persecution of Falun Gong in China in Taipei, Taiwan, on July 18, 2020. (Minghui)
Falun Gong practitioners hold a vigil to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the persecution of Falun Gong in China in Taipei, Taiwan, on July 18, 2020. (Minghui)

The persecution has been so extensive and has lasted so long that China’s social morality has plummeted and chaos abounds, causing the Chinese people to become callous and amoral to a shocking degree.

In order to maintain the persecution, Jiang, via the 610 Office, made the order internally that the “death of Falun Gong practitioners from beating is nothing and shall be counted as suicide;” concocted countless lies about Falun Gong, including the infamous self-immolation hoax staged on Tiananmen Square; flooded China’s TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, textbooks, and social media with hateful propaganda to confuse the public and sow hatred toward Falun Gong among the populace; and coerced hundreds of millions of innocent Chinese into participating in the persecution.

In order to maintain this persecution, the CCP’s politics, economy, diplomacy, and education were tailored around persecuting Falun Gong, leading Chinese society to gradually drift further away from humanity, the consequences of which are now emerging in China.

Jiang continued to maintain the persecution using the evil CCP machinery and its villains until his death.

However, the impact of this persecution goes far beyond China.

Jiang directly spread the lies and exported the persecution around the world. The CCP exploited the Chinese market and economy to coerce world powers, financial groups, and media outlets to keep silent about the most horrific and largest human rights violation and crime of mass organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners.

Falun Gong practitioners in Vienna stage a mock demonstration of organ harvesting of imprisoned practitioners in China during a protest against the importing of human organs from China to Austria on Oct. 1, 2018. (Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images)
Falun Gong practitioners in Vienna stage a mock demonstration of organ harvesting of imprisoned practitioners in China during a protest against the importing of human organs from China to Austria on Oct. 1, 2018. (Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images)

Jiang Zemin is dead, but his crimes can’t be erased.

The CCP has committed crimes against the Chinese people and the Chinese nation, as well as the divine.

As the current CCP leader, Xi Jinping isn’t the one who initiated the persecution. Instead of continuing the persecution, he should end it and not become the one to bear the blame for Jiang’s crimes. Nor should Xi try to maintain this malevolent party that’s doomed to fall.

A large number of perpetrators who targeted Falun Gong have already received retribution. Jiang’s death signals the accelerated disintegration of the CCP. Those who are still trying to maintain the persecution would do well to recognize the current situation immediately, stop persecuting, and atone for their sins.

CCP leader Xi Jinping (L) and former leader Jiang Zemin (R) at the Communist Party Congress in Beijing on Oct. 24, 2017. (Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)
CCP leader Xi Jinping (L) and former leader Jiang Zemin (R) at the Communist Party Congress in Beijing on Oct. 24, 2017. (Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)
Chinese society is currently undergoing unprecedented changes. The CCP has come to an end and is about to be eliminated by heaven. As a result of the “quit the CCP” movement spurred by the editorial series “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party” published by The Epoch Times in 2004, more than 405 million Chinese people have publicly renounced the party.

We call on Xi to immediately stop the persecution, release all detained Falun Gong practitioners, and hold the perpetrators accountable. We hope that more Chinese people will see the CCP for what it is, withdraw from the Party, and choose a better future for themselves amid a critical juncture in history.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.