Changes

In 1989, the [[Tiananmen Square democracy protests]] were inspired by an explosion of democracy protests worldwide that resulted in the [[Fall of the Berlin Wall]], the Czech [[Velvet Revolution]], and the collapse of Soviet Communism.  The Chinese protests, however, were quashed when the so-called "People's Liberation Army" killed over 10,000 Chinese people.  The Chinese Communist Party then established a registry of social organizations, in order to head off political upheaval.  [[Falun Gong]], a revival of pre-Maoist Cultural Revolution traditions, registered with the Chinese government in 1992.  It soon attracted “tens of millions of adherents."<ref>Maria Hsia Chang, ''Falun Gong: The End of Days.''</ref>  Falun Gong started holding enormous gatherings; by the mid- 1990s, there were more than two thousand Falun Gong practice sites in [[Beijing]] alone.  Troubled by the possibility that a large part of the population was becoming more loyal to Falun Gong than to the Communist Party, the government began cracking down on groups and banning sales of Falun Gong publications.  

In 1989, the [[Tiananmen Square democracy protests]] were inspired by an explosion of democracy protests worldwide that resulted in the [[Fall of the Berlin Wall]], the Czech [[Velvet Revolution]], and the collapse of Soviet Communism.  The Chinese protests, however, were quashed when the so-called "People's Liberation Army" killed over 10,000 Chinese people.  The Chinese Communist Party then established a registry of social organizations, in order to head off political upheaval.  [[Falun Gong]], a revival of pre-Maoist Cultural Revolution traditions, registered with the Chinese government in 1992.  It soon attracted “tens of millions of adherents."<ref>Maria Hsia Chang, ''Falun Gong: The End of Days.''</ref>  Falun Gong started holding enormous gatherings; by the mid- 1990s, there were more than two thousand Falun Gong practice sites in [[Beijing]] alone.  Troubled by the possibility that a large part of the population was becoming more loyal to Falun Gong than to the Communist Party, the government began cracking down on groups and banning sales of Falun Gong publications.  

 

By 1999, the CCP estimated that the group had seventy million adherents; that year, more than ten thousand of them staged a silent protest in Tiananmen Square.  An arrest warrant was issued for Li Hongzhi, the group founder, who had by then immigrated to Queens, New York. The Chinese National Congress subsequently passed, and began [[violent]]ly enforcing, an "anti-cult law".<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20101127131821/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/16/world/china-expels-53-foreign-falun-gong-followers.html</ref>  

By 1999, the CCP estimated that the group had seventy million adherents; that year, more than ten thousand of them staged a silent protest in Tiananmen Square.  An arrest warrant was issued for Li Hongzhi, the group founder, who had by then immigrated to Queens, New York. The Chinese National Congress subsequently passed, and began [[violent]]ly enforcing, an "anti-cult law".<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20101127131821/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/16/world/china-expels-53-foreign-falun-gong-followers.html</ref>  

[[File:TiananmenSquareAppeal-minghui.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Falun Gong arrests in Tiananmen Square.]]

[[File:TiananmenSquareAppeal-minghui.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Falun Gong arrests in Tiananmen Square.]]

By the end of 2000, a year and a half after the CCP launched the suppression of [[Falun Gong]], the campaign had failed to garner support among many of the CCP's rank and file. Then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin had toured southern provinces earlier in 2000 hoping to shore up more support for the campaign among local leaders. Meanwhile, public support for the campaign more broadly had waned. On January 23, 2001, five individuals allegedly set themselves on fire in [[Tiananmen Square]]. The entire scene was caught on camera from multiple angles. Beginning just hours after the event, state-controlled media was flooded with reports that the self-immolators were Falun Gong practitioners. These reports included grisly footage of the victims, portraying Falun Gong teachings as directly responsible for the tragedy.

By the end of 2000, a year and a half after the CCP launched the suppression of [[Falun Gong]], the campaign had failed to garner support among many of the CCP's rank and file. Then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin had toured southern provinces earlier in 2000 hoping to shore up more support for the campaign among local leaders. Meanwhile, public support for the campaign more broadly had waned. On January 23, 2001, five individuals allegedly set themselves on fire in [[Tiananmen Square]]. The entire scene was caught on camera from multiple angles. Beginning just hours after the event, state-controlled media was flooded with reports that the self-immolators were Falun Gong practitioners. These reports included grisly footage of the victims, portraying Falun Gong teachings as directly responsible for the tragedy.

In the weeks following the event, a wealth of evidence, including a ''[[Washington Post]]'' article finding that two of the self-immolators had never practiced Falun Gong,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/02/04/human-fire-ignites-chinese-mystery/e27303e3-6117-4ec3-b6cf-58f03cdb4773/ |author=|title= Human Fire Ignites Chinese Mystery |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=4 February 2001|access-date=}}</ref> exposing the entire incident as staged. Other evidence surfaced by journalists and international observers indicated that CCP officials had advance knowledge of the self-immolation.  Yet, while people inside China had no access to this information, the Chinese state-run media continued a campaign to portray the "self-immolators" as Falun Gong "cultists."  People across China changed from respecting and sympathizing with Falun Gong to becoming infuriated with and attacking the practice. [[Hate crime]]s targeting Falun Gong practitioners increased and the CCP escalated its [[persecution]] with increased [[arrest]]s, [[torture]], killing, and [[forced organ harvesting]].<ref>https://en.minghui.org/cc/88/</ref>

In the weeks following the event, a wealth of evidence, including a ''[[Washington Post]]'' article finding that the self-immolators had never practiced Falun Gong,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/02/04/human-fire-ignites-chinese-mystery/e27303e3-6117-4ec3-b6cf-58f03cdb4773/ |author=|title= Human Fire Ignites Chinese Mystery |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=4 February 2001|access-date=}}</ref> exposing the entire incident as a hoax. Other evidence surfaced by journalists and international observers indicated that CCP officials had advance knowledge of the self-immolation.  Yet, while people inside China had no access to this information, the Chinese state-run media continued a campaign to portray the "self-immolators" as Falun Gong "cultists."  People across China changed from respecting and sympathizing with Falun Gong to becoming infuriated with and attacking the practice. [[Hate crime]]s targeting Falun Gong practitioners increased and the CCP escalated its [[persecution]] with increased [[arrest]]s, [[torture]], killing, and [[forced organ harvesting]].<ref>https://en.minghui.org/cc/88/</ref>

==Genocide==

==Genocide==