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1
00:00:38,176 --> 00:00:40,281
LISA WEAVER: It was
a very cold day.

2
00:00:40,316 --> 00:00:42,145
There was snow
on the Square,

3
00:00:42,180 --> 00:00:43,353
and the snow
had been shoveled up

4
00:00:43,388 --> 00:00:45,838
and packed into
these little pyramids.

5
00:00:48,945 --> 00:00:52,121
We were wandering around,
just keeping an eye out.

6
00:00:52,155 --> 00:00:54,157
Myself and my cameraman,

7
00:00:54,192 --> 00:00:57,091
each with a camera,
but concealed.

8
00:00:57,126 --> 00:01:00,094
And we heard
from behind us

9
00:01:00,129 --> 00:01:02,269
this whooshing sound.

10
00:01:02,303 --> 00:01:04,823
[PEOPLE SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY]

11
00:01:04,857 --> 00:01:06,928
I turned around
and I could see some smoke

12
00:01:06,963 --> 00:01:09,241
on the horizon,
just a little trail.

13
00:01:09,276 --> 00:01:10,553
I got my camera out

14
00:01:10,587 --> 00:01:13,107
and got
about 20 seconds,

15
00:01:13,142 --> 00:01:15,247
25 seconds
of shaky video.

16
00:01:15,282 --> 00:01:16,766
Before any of us knew it

17
00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:19,320
somebody was on him,
a military policeman,

18
00:01:19,355 --> 00:01:20,494
and he didn't resist.

19
00:01:20,528 --> 00:01:22,151
I made a run for it.

20
00:01:22,185 --> 00:01:23,290
I thought maybe I could get

21
00:01:23,324 --> 00:01:24,705
to the other side
of the square and outrun,

22
00:01:24,739 --> 00:01:26,362
and, of course, I couldn't.

23
00:01:26,396 --> 00:01:29,399
But it gave me a window
of opportunity

24
00:01:29,434 --> 00:01:30,780
to get a small tape

25
00:01:30,814 --> 00:01:33,093
out of my camera
and into my bra.

26
00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:38,753
They ended up taking us
through the scene.

27
00:01:38,788 --> 00:01:40,962
I could clearly see
three people,

28
00:01:41,722 --> 00:01:43,586
um, on fire.

29
00:01:43,620 --> 00:01:46,727
And it was absolutely
the strangest thing
I'd ever seen.

30
00:01:59,567 --> 00:02:03,502
[FEMALE REPORTER
TALKING INDISTINCTLY]

31
00:02:03,537 --> 00:02:05,228
MALE REPORTER: China's
Communist leaders today

32
00:02:05,263 --> 00:02:06,643
escalated their campaign

33
00:02:06,678 --> 00:02:08,162
against the popular
spiritual movement

34
00:02:08,197 --> 00:02:09,474
called Falun Gong.

35
00:02:09,508 --> 00:02:11,096
They vowed to crush

36
00:02:11,131 --> 00:02:12,649
what they say is a cult.

37
00:02:14,651 --> 00:02:17,792
Members of China's
Falun Gong religious group

38
00:02:17,827 --> 00:02:20,001
attempted
a fiery mass suicide

39
00:02:20,036 --> 00:02:21,486
last week in Beijing.

40
00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,592
This whole thing was
a dramatic change
in tactics for the sect

41
00:02:24,627 --> 00:02:27,147
which has staged
many non-violent protests.

42
00:02:28,009 --> 00:02:29,563
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

43
00:02:39,262 --> 00:02:40,850
You know, first
I was distrustful

44
00:02:40,884 --> 00:02:43,439
of the whole thing
that actually happened.

45
00:02:43,473 --> 00:02:44,681
It burst out of nowhere.

46
00:02:45,924 --> 00:02:48,202
FEMALE REPORTER:
Just who they were
is now in dispute.

47
00:02:48,237 --> 00:02:50,066
The Chinese Government
news agency

48
00:02:50,100 --> 00:02:52,965
says they were
Falun Gong followers.

49
00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:54,553
But spokespeople
for the movement

50
00:02:54,588 --> 00:02:55,692
outside of China

51
00:02:55,727 --> 00:02:57,453
say that can't be true

52
00:02:57,487 --> 00:02:59,282
because a suicide protest

53
00:02:59,317 --> 00:03:01,526
goes against
Falun Gong principles.

54
00:03:35,629 --> 00:03:37,872
[INAUDIBLE CONVERSATION]

55
00:03:43,084 --> 00:03:44,810
MAN: I have
some first-hand experience

56
00:03:44,845 --> 00:03:46,985
with protests
in Tiananmen Square.

57
00:03:48,228 --> 00:03:50,126
[MAN SHOUTING IN MANDARIN]

58
00:03:55,476 --> 00:03:57,306
That's me
nearly 20 years ago,

59
00:03:57,340 --> 00:04:01,413
protesting the persecution
of Falun Gong in China.

60
00:04:01,448 --> 00:04:04,313
FEMALE REPORTER:
Jason Loftus watches
more than 50 practitioners

61
00:04:04,347 --> 00:04:05,521
of Falun Gong,

62
00:04:05,555 --> 00:04:06,625
who have come
to Queen's Park

63
00:04:06,660 --> 00:04:07,695
to urge the government

64
00:04:07,730 --> 00:04:09,697
to help stop
China's persecution

65
00:04:09,732 --> 00:04:11,354
of the ancient
spiritual practice.

66
00:04:11,389 --> 00:04:13,908
You know, the police there
they treat the practitioners
of Falun Gong

67
00:04:13,943 --> 00:04:14,944
very brutally.

68
00:04:14,978 --> 00:04:16,635
It's just too horrifying
what's going on there.

69
00:04:16,670 --> 00:04:18,258
I mean, good people
are being killed every day.

70
00:04:19,604 --> 00:04:21,606
JASON: So how does
a small-town Canadian kid

71
00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:22,745
get involved in a struggle

72
00:04:22,779 --> 00:04:24,298
between the Chinese Government

73
00:04:24,333 --> 00:04:25,575
and an eastern spiritual group

74
00:04:25,610 --> 00:04:27,750
that was largely unknown
in the West?

75
00:04:29,510 --> 00:04:31,443
I trace it back
to an RV trip

76
00:04:31,478 --> 00:04:33,203
with my family
in my early teens.

77
00:04:34,135 --> 00:04:35,275
It was a long drive.

78
00:04:35,309 --> 00:04:37,173
So I brought
an old paperback that I found

79
00:04:37,207 --> 00:04:40,866
that promised to cover
the entire history
of the world.

80
00:04:40,901 --> 00:04:43,075
The brief summary
of Buddhism caught my eye.

81
00:04:44,111 --> 00:04:45,664
It said the Buddha
had discovered

82
00:04:45,699 --> 00:04:47,666
an alternative path
to happiness.

83
00:04:47,701 --> 00:04:50,324
Rather than satisfying
every human desire

84
00:04:50,359 --> 00:04:51,705
he found
you could be happy

85
00:04:51,739 --> 00:04:54,052
by removing longings
and desires themselves.

86
00:04:54,708 --> 00:04:56,330
That blew my mind.

87
00:04:56,365 --> 00:04:57,642
So I read a ton of books

88
00:04:57,676 --> 00:05:00,438
while working a local
gas station after school,

89
00:05:00,472 --> 00:05:03,061
from yogis, Sufis
and self-help gurus,

90
00:05:03,095 --> 00:05:06,754
all in search
of how to transcend
human desire.

91
00:05:06,789 --> 00:05:08,722
Some of my friends
couldn't relate.

92
00:05:08,756 --> 00:05:10,517
But I was on a mission.

93
00:05:10,551 --> 00:05:11,690
And then at 18,

94
00:05:11,725 --> 00:05:13,313
I came across Falun Gong.

95
00:05:13,347 --> 00:05:15,625
Also called Falun Dafa.

96
00:05:15,660 --> 00:05:17,972
It was a series
of slow-moving exercises

97
00:05:18,007 --> 00:05:20,009
and a promise that
I could reach fulfillment

98
00:05:20,043 --> 00:05:22,356
by measuring each of
my thoughts and actions

99
00:05:22,391 --> 00:05:24,220
against three criteria:

100
00:05:24,254 --> 00:05:25,463
Is it truthful?

101
00:05:25,497 --> 00:05:27,085
Is it compassionate?

102
00:05:27,119 --> 00:05:28,362
And is it tolerant?

103
00:05:30,399 --> 00:05:32,746
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]

104
00:05:43,446 --> 00:05:45,862
When I took up Falun Gong
in 1998,

105
00:05:45,897 --> 00:05:47,968
millions in China
were doing the same.

106
00:05:49,107 --> 00:05:51,212
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

107
00:05:58,565 --> 00:06:00,118
At first,
the Chinese Government

108
00:06:00,152 --> 00:06:02,120
praised and endorsed
the practice

109
00:06:02,154 --> 00:06:04,225
but as Falun Gong's
numbers swelled

110
00:06:04,260 --> 00:06:07,539
the Communist Party's
attitude toward it changed.

111
00:06:07,574 --> 00:06:10,611
So you had a situation
by the late 1990's

112
00:06:10,646 --> 00:06:13,200
that Falun Gong
was not only

113
00:06:13,234 --> 00:06:14,753
the second most popular

114
00:06:14,788 --> 00:06:16,514
spiritual or religious group

115
00:06:16,548 --> 00:06:18,170
after Chinese Buddhism,

116
00:06:18,205 --> 00:06:19,517
uh, but it was also,

117
00:06:19,551 --> 00:06:21,070
going by those figures,

118
00:06:21,104 --> 00:06:23,175
more popular than
the Communist party.

119
00:06:25,246 --> 00:06:28,353
You actually had
a large number of people
within the party

120
00:06:28,388 --> 00:06:31,218
and the party apparatus
who were practicing
Falun Gong.

121
00:06:31,252 --> 00:06:33,013
And given the spiritual

122
00:06:33,047 --> 00:06:35,118
and ideological differences

123
00:06:35,153 --> 00:06:39,364
between Falun Gong
and Marxist-atheist thought,

124
00:06:39,399 --> 00:06:41,297
a number of leaders
in the Communist Party

125
00:06:41,331 --> 00:06:43,644
felt that
that really posed a problem.

126
00:06:43,679 --> 00:06:45,853
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

127
00:06:50,548 --> 00:06:53,067
[PEOPLE SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY]

128
00:06:57,417 --> 00:07:00,005
JASON: I didn't know anything
about Chinese politics,

129
00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,457
and they were saying that
Falun Gong was an evil cult.

130
00:07:03,492 --> 00:07:05,252
I questioned if there was
something I'd missed

131
00:07:05,286 --> 00:07:07,357
about Falun Gong
and the people involved.

132
00:07:08,738 --> 00:07:11,258
Had I unwittingly
joined a cult?

133
00:07:11,292 --> 00:07:14,192
But what I saw were people
who seemed to be trying
to better themselves

134
00:07:14,226 --> 00:07:15,883
through meditation
and spirituality.

135
00:07:15,918 --> 00:07:17,195
[SPEAKING INAUDIBLY]

136
00:07:19,508 --> 00:07:23,995
The Chinese Government
seemed intent on wiping out
Falun Gong entirely.

137
00:07:24,029 --> 00:07:25,617
Adherents were being sent
en masse

138
00:07:25,652 --> 00:07:26,929
to forced labor camps

139
00:07:26,963 --> 00:07:29,518
and to what were called
reeducation facilities.

140
00:07:29,552 --> 00:07:33,591
To inmates, these were known
as brainwashing centers.

141
00:07:33,625 --> 00:07:35,385
The Falun Gong practitioners
held there

142
00:07:35,420 --> 00:07:37,767
faced many counts
of torture and abuse.

143
00:07:40,667 --> 00:07:41,875
They were pressured

144
00:07:41,909 --> 00:07:43,324
and forced to watch
government propaganda

145
00:07:43,359 --> 00:07:45,775
until they agreed
to recant their beliefs.

146
00:07:47,639 --> 00:07:49,365
One Chinese Government
advisor

147
00:07:49,399 --> 00:07:52,023
explained the strategy
toThe Washington Post.

148
00:07:52,057 --> 00:07:54,335
"Pure violence
doesn't work," he said,

149
00:07:54,370 --> 00:07:57,580
"The brainwashing was needed,
but wasn't enough, either.

150
00:07:57,615 --> 00:07:59,030
He said, "None of it
would be working

151
00:07:59,064 --> 00:08:01,377
"if the propaganda
hadn't started
to change the way

152
00:08:01,411 --> 00:08:02,896
"the general public thinks."

153
00:08:05,277 --> 00:08:07,072
I wanted to help
clear the air

154
00:08:07,107 --> 00:08:08,902
and provide a voice
to those who were suffering.

155
00:08:08,936 --> 00:08:12,906
So I spoke up,
meeting with media
and government where I lived.

156
00:08:15,736 --> 00:08:17,911
Then the self-immolation
happened.

157
00:08:17,945 --> 00:08:19,326
It was horrific.

158
00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:22,363
Innocent lives lost,
others destroyed.

159
00:08:23,537 --> 00:08:24,952
I couldn't explain it.

160
00:08:24,987 --> 00:08:28,128
It was alien
to everything I knew
about Falun Gong.

161
00:08:34,030 --> 00:08:36,101
[LAUGHING, TALKING INDISTINCTLY]

162
00:08:39,588 --> 00:08:41,210
Time passed,

163
00:08:41,244 --> 00:08:43,557
and the event faded
from the public consciousness
in the West.

164
00:08:43,592 --> 00:08:45,904
And I was fine
with that.

165
00:08:45,939 --> 00:08:47,941
I was tired of worrying
whether people might think

166
00:08:47,975 --> 00:08:49,667
I was going
to set myself on fire

167
00:08:49,701 --> 00:08:52,497
just because
I did Falun Gong.

168
00:08:52,532 --> 00:08:55,120
But then I met a man
whose story
would lead me to face

169
00:08:55,155 --> 00:08:57,260
the self-immolation event
again.

170
00:09:07,961 --> 00:09:09,928
[CHEN RUICHANG
SPEAKING MANDARIN]

171
00:09:24,978 --> 00:09:28,050
[MAN SPEAKING MANDARIN]

172
00:09:29,465 --> 00:09:31,363
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

173
00:09:35,091 --> 00:09:36,610
JASON: Chen Ruichang
worked high up

174
00:09:36,645 --> 00:09:39,855
in one of China's
largest state
television networks.

175
00:09:39,889 --> 00:09:41,339
He was responsible
for research

176
00:09:41,373 --> 00:09:44,273
into making
government propaganda
more persuasive.

177
00:09:44,307 --> 00:09:47,897
And Chen took up
Falun Gong like I did
in 1998

178
00:09:47,932 --> 00:09:49,968
amidst its boom
and popularity

179
00:09:50,003 --> 00:09:52,143
and favorable coverage
in China.

180
00:09:52,177 --> 00:09:53,800
But when
the persecution began,

181
00:09:53,834 --> 00:09:57,493
and the state media
that employed Chen
turned on Falun Gong,

182
00:09:57,527 --> 00:09:58,977
pressure mounted.

183
00:09:59,012 --> 00:10:01,048
[CHEN SPEAKING MANDARIN]

184
00:10:20,033 --> 00:10:21,206
JASON: Days before

185
00:10:21,241 --> 00:10:23,139
the self-immolation
would take place

186
00:10:23,174 --> 00:10:25,107
Chen was arrested
at his workplace

187
00:10:25,141 --> 00:10:27,592
and taken to a special
reeducation facility

188
00:10:27,627 --> 00:10:31,044
specifically for staff
of the state media
and government.

189
00:10:32,252 --> 00:10:34,495
There he describes
a prolonged campaign

190
00:10:34,530 --> 00:10:36,601
to force him
to abandon Falun Gong

191
00:10:36,636 --> 00:10:39,121
and to have him accept
the Chinese state's narrative

192
00:10:39,155 --> 00:10:41,123
on the self-immolation.

193
00:10:42,055 --> 00:10:44,298
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

194
00:10:50,891 --> 00:10:52,652
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

195
00:10:59,417 --> 00:11:01,143
[MAN SPEAKING MANDARIN
INDISTINCTLY ON TV]

196
00:11:01,177 --> 00:11:03,179
[CHEN CONTINUES IN MANDARIN]

197
00:11:45,325 --> 00:11:46,809
[INAUDIBLE]

198
00:11:46,844 --> 00:11:48,673
[CHEN CONTINUES IN MANDARIN]

199
00:12:26,193 --> 00:12:27,608
[INAUDIBLE CONVERSATION]

200
00:12:27,643 --> 00:12:29,093
[CHEN CONTINUES IN MANDARIN]

201
00:12:54,187 --> 00:12:56,603
[HIGH-PITCHED RINGING]

202
00:13:00,745 --> 00:13:03,334
[CHEN CONTINUES IN MANDARIN]

203
00:13:08,857 --> 00:13:10,790
[FEMALE REPORTER
SPEAKING MANDARIN]

204
00:13:20,247 --> 00:13:21,490
JASON: Chen made me see

205
00:13:21,524 --> 00:13:23,733
that for practitioners
of Falun Gong in China,

206
00:13:23,768 --> 00:13:27,358
the self-immolation
never really passed
into the rearview mirror.

207
00:13:27,392 --> 00:13:30,499
It wasn't a scar
so much as an open wound

208
00:13:30,533 --> 00:13:33,226
and they were dealing
with the consequences of it
every day.

209
00:13:33,260 --> 00:13:34,468
SARAH: Even today,

210
00:13:34,503 --> 00:13:36,056
the self-immolation incident

211
00:13:36,091 --> 00:13:39,128
shapes the way
many Chinese people think
about Falun Gong.

212
00:13:39,163 --> 00:13:40,958
You had
wall-to-wall coverage

213
00:13:40,992 --> 00:13:43,961
of very graphic,
emotional footage.

214
00:13:43,995 --> 00:13:46,342
[IN MANDARIN]

215
00:13:53,729 --> 00:13:54,661
JASON: The self-immolation

216
00:13:54,695 --> 00:13:56,628
became part of
the school curriculum

217
00:13:56,663 --> 00:13:58,976
And then, in so-called
anti-cult rallies

218
00:13:59,010 --> 00:14:00,563
organized by the government,

219
00:14:00,598 --> 00:14:03,843
it became evidence,
that Falun Gong
was the enemy next door

220
00:14:03,877 --> 00:14:05,258
that needed
to be wiped out.

221
00:14:05,292 --> 00:14:08,537
[CHEN SPEAKING IN MANDARIN]

222
00:14:16,441 --> 00:14:17,960
JASON: I felt compelled
to revisit

223
00:14:17,995 --> 00:14:19,513
the self-immolation,

224
00:14:19,548 --> 00:14:21,722
and to investigate
Chen's claim
that it had been staged.

225
00:14:28,937 --> 00:14:30,697
According to Chinese
state media,

226
00:14:30,731 --> 00:14:32,906
on January 23, 2001,

227
00:14:32,941 --> 00:14:35,840
seven people attempted
to set themselves on fire

228
00:14:35,875 --> 00:14:37,324
in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

229
00:14:37,359 --> 00:14:39,154
to reach
an afterlife paradise.

230
00:14:39,188 --> 00:14:40,534
[NEWS ANCHOR SPEAKING
IN MANDARIN]

231
00:14:40,569 --> 00:14:42,605
JASON: It was said
that each planned

232
00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:44,193
to conceal two bottles
of gasoline

233
00:14:44,228 --> 00:14:45,436
beneath their clothes

234
00:14:45,470 --> 00:14:47,472
and use razor blades
to cut holes

235
00:14:47,507 --> 00:14:49,164
allowing the fuel to soak in,

236
00:14:49,198 --> 00:14:50,924
before setting
themselves alight.

237
00:14:50,959 --> 00:14:53,927
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

238
00:14:53,962 --> 00:14:56,171
JASON: They had agreed
to take action together

239
00:14:56,205 --> 00:14:57,448
at 2:30 p.m.,

240
00:14:57,482 --> 00:14:59,450
and were equipped
with watches.

241
00:14:59,484 --> 00:15:02,902
However, that's not
how things played out.

242
00:15:02,936 --> 00:15:04,489
This woman tells state TV

243
00:15:04,524 --> 00:15:06,422
she drank 20 ounces
of gasoline

244
00:15:06,457 --> 00:15:08,977
and poured the remainder
on her clothes.

245
00:15:09,011 --> 00:15:10,599
This cop says
he saw the woman

246
00:15:10,633 --> 00:15:12,187
drinking from
a Sprite bottle

247
00:15:12,221 --> 00:15:14,189
and that set him
into action.

248
00:15:14,223 --> 00:15:16,122
Shortly after,
police on the Square

249
00:15:16,156 --> 00:15:18,296
said they saw
a man on fire.

250
00:15:18,331 --> 00:15:20,126
White smoke
is shown emanating

251
00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:21,851
from behind
a security vehicle.

252
00:15:23,992 --> 00:15:25,786
After the smoke
had cleared,

253
00:15:25,821 --> 00:15:28,444
someone filmed
the seated man
shouting a slogan.

254
00:15:28,479 --> 00:15:30,412
[MAN SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY]

255
00:15:30,446 --> 00:15:31,758
Then, security camera footage

256
00:15:31,792 --> 00:15:33,967
shown in the state
media broadcast

257
00:15:34,002 --> 00:15:36,073
shows four figures on fire.

258
00:15:36,107 --> 00:15:37,626
They are identified
in the program

259
00:15:37,660 --> 00:15:40,456
as two sets of mothers
and daughters.

260
00:15:41,699 --> 00:15:44,322
Nineteen minutes
after the agreed 2:30 time,

261
00:15:44,357 --> 00:15:46,669
this man,
the seventh participant,

262
00:15:46,704 --> 00:15:48,395
has not acted.

263
00:15:48,430 --> 00:15:50,018
Police say they spot him

264
00:15:50,052 --> 00:15:51,329
pouring gasoline
on his clothes,

265
00:15:51,364 --> 00:15:52,572
and stop him

266
00:15:52,606 --> 00:15:54,608
before he can
set himself alight.

267
00:15:54,643 --> 00:15:56,748
[INAUDIBLE]

268
00:15:56,783 --> 00:15:58,474
One woman, Liu Chunling

269
00:15:58,509 --> 00:16:00,304
reportedly dies on-site.

270
00:16:00,338 --> 00:16:02,513
The other six survive

271
00:16:02,547 --> 00:16:04,722
and give interviews
with state-run media,

272
00:16:04,756 --> 00:16:07,000
some from
their hospital beds.

273
00:16:09,865 --> 00:16:12,661
If the event was not
as the Chinese Government
had claimed,

274
00:16:12,695 --> 00:16:14,352
I figured
a good place to start

275
00:16:14,387 --> 00:16:16,837
would be
speaking with those
who were closest.

276
00:16:16,872 --> 00:16:18,598
My team and I
reached out to journalists

277
00:16:18,632 --> 00:16:20,289
who were stationed
in Beijing

278
00:16:20,324 --> 00:16:21,946
at the time
of the self-immolation.

279
00:16:21,981 --> 00:16:24,984
But we had trouble
finding people willing
to speak with us.

280
00:16:25,846 --> 00:16:27,952
[MAN ON PHONE SPEAKING]

281
00:16:41,207 --> 00:16:42,794
Some spoke on background

282
00:16:42,829 --> 00:16:44,037
and some declined,

283
00:16:44,072 --> 00:16:46,729
citing ongoing work in China.

284
00:17:00,226 --> 00:17:02,021
But looking through
the initial coverage

285
00:17:02,055 --> 00:17:03,298
on the self-immolation

286
00:17:03,332 --> 00:17:05,852
I see several reports
quoting a CNN journalist

287
00:17:05,886 --> 00:17:07,233
named Lisa Weaver

288
00:17:07,267 --> 00:17:09,925
and she appears
to have witnessed
the burning directly.

289
00:17:13,515 --> 00:17:18,416
We really went to see
just to check it out, um,

290
00:17:18,451 --> 00:17:21,764
and we were simply
in the right time
at the right place,

291
00:17:21,799 --> 00:17:23,939
stayed a little longer
got a little colder.

292
00:17:24,526 --> 00:17:27,184
[INDISTINCT CLAMORING]

293
00:17:27,218 --> 00:17:30,463
They ended up taking us
through the scene

294
00:17:30,497 --> 00:17:32,879
in order to get
to the bus.

295
00:17:32,913 --> 00:17:35,778
So we crossed
the center of the Square...

296
00:17:37,194 --> 00:17:39,610
Once we were put
on the bus,

297
00:17:39,644 --> 00:17:42,889
no one was preventing us
watching this,

298
00:17:42,923 --> 00:17:44,442
which really surprised me.

299
00:17:44,477 --> 00:17:46,237
We were questioned
on the bus

300
00:17:46,272 --> 00:17:48,446
by a couple
of different policemen.

301
00:17:48,481 --> 00:17:50,724
They were just
very interested

302
00:17:50,759 --> 00:17:53,658
in what I'd seen,
when I'd seen it.

303
00:17:53,693 --> 00:17:55,695
"Do you have a tape?
Are you hiding a tape?"

304
00:17:55,729 --> 00:17:57,559
And I said, "No,
I'm not hiding a tape."

305
00:17:58,353 --> 00:17:59,561
At one point,

306
00:17:59,595 --> 00:18:03,012
the person who was
talking to me, uh, left,

307
00:18:03,047 --> 00:18:06,326
and came back
with a very brief,
written account

308
00:18:06,361 --> 00:18:08,190
that looked to me
to be like

309
00:18:08,225 --> 00:18:09,916
a Xinhua News Agency copy.

310
00:18:11,504 --> 00:18:13,368
Four people
immolated themselves

311
00:18:13,402 --> 00:18:15,439
earlier this afternoon
on Tiananmen Square

312
00:18:15,473 --> 00:18:17,544
and, you know,
just the facts.

313
00:18:17,579 --> 00:18:20,133
JASON: Xinhua was quoted widely
in the reports.

314
00:18:20,168 --> 00:18:21,376
Apparently the news release

315
00:18:21,410 --> 00:18:23,757
that Lisa had initially
reviewed and confirmed.

316
00:18:24,931 --> 00:18:27,865
And I see other details
attributed to Lisa, herself.

317
00:18:29,142 --> 00:18:30,385
She's said to have witnessed

318
00:18:30,419 --> 00:18:31,593
the seated man on fire

319
00:18:31,627 --> 00:18:33,698
as police put his flames out.

320
00:18:33,733 --> 00:18:36,805
She's also said
to have seen
the four women ablaze,

321
00:18:36,839 --> 00:18:39,704
to have witnessed them
douse themselves in gasoline.

322
00:18:39,739 --> 00:18:42,293
And then, after
setting themselves alight,

323
00:18:42,328 --> 00:18:44,916
hold their arms up
in a Falun Gong pose.

324
00:18:46,470 --> 00:18:47,747
But when we spoke
with her,

325
00:18:47,781 --> 00:18:50,508
Lisa didn't claim
to have seen these details.

326
00:18:50,543 --> 00:18:52,786
JASON: You said that
you saw three people,

327
00:18:52,821 --> 00:18:55,203
three people
self-immolating in total?

328
00:18:55,237 --> 00:18:56,307
Is that right, or...

329
00:18:56,342 --> 00:18:59,276
I saw three people
in total,

330
00:18:59,310 --> 00:19:01,899
not really
at the same time.

331
00:19:01,933 --> 00:19:04,522
[STAMMERING]
I... The first one I saw

332
00:19:04,557 --> 00:19:07,698
was one. I got
some footage of that.

333
00:19:07,732 --> 00:19:11,978
Then tried to run away...
Run away with the tape,

334
00:19:12,012 --> 00:19:14,532
was caught, apprehended,
brought back.

335
00:19:14,567 --> 00:19:17,259
It wasn't until I was
a lot... Brought closer

336
00:19:17,294 --> 00:19:20,193
to the center of
the square and the bus

337
00:19:20,228 --> 00:19:22,264
that they put us on

338
00:19:22,299 --> 00:19:24,715
that I saw, um,

339
00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:26,544
three people,

340
00:19:26,579 --> 00:19:28,650
two of whom
were in flames,

341
00:19:28,684 --> 00:19:30,203
and one of whom wasn't.

342
00:19:30,238 --> 00:19:32,688
He was already...
Already seated.

343
00:19:33,379 --> 00:19:34,759
JASON: Did you know...

344
00:19:34,794 --> 00:19:37,314
Would you be able to say
if they were men,
women, children?

345
00:19:37,348 --> 00:19:38,522
No.

346
00:19:38,556 --> 00:19:42,111
The only person who
I could identify as a man

347
00:19:42,146 --> 00:19:43,906
was Wang Jindong,

348
00:19:43,941 --> 00:19:46,668
as he was sitting there,
the flames out,

349
00:19:46,702 --> 00:19:48,394
you know, his clothes
were smoking.

350
00:19:48,428 --> 00:19:50,603
The other two were
just too far away.

351
00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:54,676
My recollection
as to whether these people

352
00:19:54,710 --> 00:19:56,850
were Falun Gong practitioners,

353
00:19:56,885 --> 00:19:59,646
I would say,
at first glance,

354
00:19:59,681 --> 00:20:03,616
yes, because they were
yelling the slogans,

355
00:20:03,650 --> 00:20:07,551
and, uh, you know,
doing those gestures

356
00:20:07,585 --> 00:20:10,312
that Falun Gong
members do.

357
00:20:10,347 --> 00:20:12,728
It was clear to me,
personally,

358
00:20:12,763 --> 00:20:15,214
that they couldn't have been
very representative.

359
00:20:21,668 --> 00:20:24,015
JASON: After our interviews
with Chen and Lisa,

360
00:20:24,050 --> 00:20:26,984
my wife heard from
her family members in China.

361
00:20:27,018 --> 00:20:29,469
The Public Security Bureau
had contacted them

362
00:20:29,504 --> 00:20:32,127
saying they knew what
we were up to overseas.

363
00:20:32,161 --> 00:20:35,958
No details
on what we'd done wrong,
no explicit threat.

364
00:20:35,993 --> 00:20:38,789
Perhaps a warning
or hint to make us worry

365
00:20:38,823 --> 00:20:40,998
what they might know
and what they might do.

366
00:20:45,658 --> 00:20:48,108
So my wife deleted her
Chinese social media accounts

367
00:20:48,143 --> 00:20:49,386
used to contact family,

368
00:20:49,420 --> 00:20:51,802
in an effort to shield them
from any further pressure.

369
00:20:52,527 --> 00:20:53,942
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

370
00:21:07,714 --> 00:21:10,648
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

371
00:22:36,665 --> 00:22:37,839
JASON: I see this claim

372
00:22:37,873 --> 00:22:39,530
that CNN
was behind the footage

373
00:22:39,565 --> 00:22:41,083
repeated in the Chinese press.

374
00:22:44,121 --> 00:22:46,744
And I look at the man
Chen says came to meet
with him,

375
00:22:46,779 --> 00:22:48,194
Li Dongsheng.

376
00:22:51,128 --> 00:22:52,371
As Chen described,

377
00:22:52,405 --> 00:22:54,890
Li was the vice president
at China Central Television.

378
00:22:54,925 --> 00:22:57,997
But there's more about him
that catches my eye.

379
00:22:58,031 --> 00:23:00,102
According to articles
in the state run press,

380
00:23:00,137 --> 00:23:02,553
Li oversaw
China Central Television's

381
00:23:02,588 --> 00:23:05,349
flagship news magazine programFocus Report...

382
00:23:05,384 --> 00:23:07,178
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

383
00:23:07,213 --> 00:23:08,835
JASON: ...the program
that produced

384
00:23:08,870 --> 00:23:10,423
the expose
on self-immolation,

385
00:23:10,458 --> 00:23:13,012
and many of the follow-ups.

386
00:23:13,046 --> 00:23:16,360
But Li wasn't only
a propaganda
and censorship official.

387
00:23:16,395 --> 00:23:21,054
He had another role
central to the party's
campaign against Falun Gong.

388
00:23:21,089 --> 00:23:23,229
When the Communist Party
launched its crackdown

389
00:23:23,263 --> 00:23:24,989
on Falun Gong in 1999,

390
00:23:25,024 --> 00:23:27,198
Li had been named
the first deputy director

391
00:23:27,233 --> 00:23:30,063
of something called
the 610 Office.

392
00:23:30,098 --> 00:23:33,377
When the decision was
made to persecute Falun Gong

393
00:23:33,412 --> 00:23:35,206
the 610 Office was created.

394
00:23:35,241 --> 00:23:38,658
A special, extra-legal
party mechanism

395
00:23:38,693 --> 00:23:40,936
and essentially
a secret police force.

396
00:23:43,732 --> 00:23:46,804
It really pulls the strings
behind the scenes.

397
00:23:46,839 --> 00:23:50,877
Judges, legal apparatus,
prisons to labor camps,

398
00:23:50,912 --> 00:23:52,223
to elements of the media

399
00:23:52,258 --> 00:23:54,087
and guiding the
propaganda campaign

400
00:23:54,122 --> 00:23:56,469
with regards to Falun Gong.

401
00:23:56,504 --> 00:23:58,782
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

402
00:24:02,751 --> 00:24:04,960
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

403
00:24:07,722 --> 00:24:09,309
[CHEN CONTINUES IN MANDARIN]

404
00:24:15,868 --> 00:24:17,456
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

405
00:24:18,111 --> 00:24:19,975
[IN MANDARIN]

406
00:24:25,360 --> 00:24:27,811
JASON: Chinese media had
claimed the closeup footage

407
00:24:27,845 --> 00:24:30,330
was shot by CNN journalists.

408
00:24:30,365 --> 00:24:32,091
But we obtained
a copy of the footage

409
00:24:32,125 --> 00:24:34,887
Lisa smuggled out of the Square in her clothing

410
00:24:34,921 --> 00:24:36,682
and it seems she
and her cameraman

411
00:24:36,716 --> 00:24:38,684
were filming far
from the action.

412
00:24:38,718 --> 00:24:41,065
The assertion
that we had

413
00:24:41,100 --> 00:24:43,861
any footage other than
the smoke on the horizon

414
00:24:43,896 --> 00:24:45,380
from my camera

415
00:24:45,414 --> 00:24:48,107
was just really ridiculous.

416
00:24:48,141 --> 00:24:51,490
They had plenty of people
taking video.

417
00:24:56,736 --> 00:24:58,393
JASON: In the footage shown
in state media

418
00:24:58,427 --> 00:25:01,948
we can see what looked like
security personnel
holding cameras.

419
00:25:03,225 --> 00:25:04,848
In the top left
of the screen,

420
00:25:04,882 --> 00:25:06,539
a figure appears
to be filming.

421
00:25:07,264 --> 00:25:08,403
He enters running

422
00:25:08,437 --> 00:25:10,025
then slows to a walk.

423
00:25:10,060 --> 00:25:11,855
He seems to be
steadying his shot

424
00:25:11,889 --> 00:25:13,857
just as an experienced
videographer might.

425
00:25:14,858 --> 00:25:16,963
I can see what
looks like a camera bag

426
00:25:16,998 --> 00:25:18,206
slung over his left shoulder.

427
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:20,553
But the security personnel
rushed past him

428
00:25:20,588 --> 00:25:22,451
without seizing
his equipment.

429
00:25:28,734 --> 00:25:29,907
LISA: It was a very fluid,

430
00:25:29,942 --> 00:25:31,702
fast-moving situation.

431
00:25:31,737 --> 00:25:33,566
A pro would probably
be shooting

432
00:25:33,601 --> 00:25:34,912
the way
that they were shooting.

433
00:25:34,947 --> 00:25:37,708
Some of those
really closeup shots

434
00:25:37,743 --> 00:25:40,159
of the people
burning themselves,

435
00:25:40,193 --> 00:25:42,610
in particular,
the fellow who was sitting

436
00:25:42,644 --> 00:25:44,543
cross-legged on the ground.

437
00:25:44,577 --> 00:25:46,130
Those tight shots

438
00:25:46,165 --> 00:25:48,788
definitely came from
security personnel,

439
00:25:48,823 --> 00:25:50,928
because I saw them
take those images

440
00:25:50,963 --> 00:25:52,758
and there's no way
it could've been us

441
00:25:52,792 --> 00:25:55,795
as the state media
later asserted

442
00:25:55,830 --> 00:25:58,591
because we were
being escorted to the bus.

443
00:26:02,422 --> 00:26:04,770
JASON: This individual
is facing the seated man

444
00:26:04,804 --> 00:26:07,393
who was said
to have set himself on fire,

445
00:26:07,427 --> 00:26:10,914
and he appears to be
holding a camera.

446
00:26:10,948 --> 00:26:13,779
Was this the man
who Lisa described?

447
00:26:13,813 --> 00:26:15,366
Did he wait for
the smoke to clear

448
00:26:15,401 --> 00:26:17,576
and then shoot
the footage of
the seated man?

449
00:26:17,610 --> 00:26:19,025
[INAUDIBLE]

450
00:26:19,060 --> 00:26:21,718
[PEOPLE TALKING INDISTINCTLY]

451
00:26:21,752 --> 00:26:25,169
JASON: While examining
this scene, we notice
something else.

452
00:26:26,792 --> 00:26:30,727
An officer places a blanket
over the seated man's mouth.

453
00:26:30,761 --> 00:26:33,039
But we can hear
his voice very clearly.

454
00:26:33,074 --> 00:26:35,179
[PEOPLE TALKING IN MANDARIN]

455
00:26:37,043 --> 00:26:41,358
And the recording is free of
environmental sounds like
wind and ambulance sirens.

456
00:26:41,392 --> 00:26:43,602
Unlike in this
interview with
a police officer

457
00:26:43,636 --> 00:26:46,156
describing the
event into a
nearby microphone.

458
00:26:46,190 --> 00:26:48,020
-[SPEAKING MANDARIN]
-[WIND GUSTING]

459
00:26:49,815 --> 00:26:51,299
[RECORDING STOPS]

460
00:26:51,333 --> 00:26:53,197
It seems the audio
could have been
recorded separately

461
00:26:53,232 --> 00:26:54,613
and dubbed to the footage.

462
00:26:54,647 --> 00:26:57,029
Then presented as
evidence that
the immolation

463
00:26:57,063 --> 00:26:59,031
was inspired by a belief
in Falun Gong.

464
00:26:59,065 --> 00:27:00,411
[MAN SPEAKING MANDARIN]

465
00:27:03,035 --> 00:27:04,657
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

466
00:27:10,836 --> 00:27:12,527
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

467
00:27:14,702 --> 00:27:16,600
[CHEN CONTINUES IN MANDARIN]

468
00:27:30,165 --> 00:27:31,477
JASON: In a follow-up

469
00:27:31,511 --> 00:27:32,823
CCTV'sFocus Report

470
00:27:32,858 --> 00:27:34,929
then visits the home
of Liu Baorong,

471
00:27:34,963 --> 00:27:37,552
the woman who claimed
to drink gasoline.

472
00:27:37,586 --> 00:27:39,243
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

473
00:27:49,253 --> 00:27:52,360
It just doesn't match up
with a Falun Gong
practitioner,

474
00:27:52,394 --> 00:27:54,914
let alone a dedicated
Falun Gong practitioner,

475
00:27:54,949 --> 00:27:58,504
which is what
the Chinese Government
was trying to paint her as.

476
00:27:58,538 --> 00:28:01,231
JASON: Levi Browde volunteers
for the Falun Info Centre

477
00:28:01,265 --> 00:28:02,991
which tracks the
Human Rights situation

478
00:28:03,026 --> 00:28:05,338
of Falun Gong in China.

479
00:28:05,373 --> 00:28:07,168
He was at the other end
of the banner I held

480
00:28:07,202 --> 00:28:09,480
in Tiananmen Square
in 2002.

481
00:28:11,724 --> 00:28:13,277
You're talking
about individuals

482
00:28:13,312 --> 00:28:16,039
who, apparently,
were so fanatic,

483
00:28:16,073 --> 00:28:17,316
but they are suddenly

484
00:28:17,350 --> 00:28:19,490
saying exactly what
the Chinese Government

485
00:28:19,525 --> 00:28:21,009
would want them to say.

486
00:28:21,044 --> 00:28:23,702
"I did this crazy thing
because of Falun Gong,

487
00:28:23,736 --> 00:28:26,463
"and now the government
is going to save me.

488
00:28:26,497 --> 00:28:28,189
"And I'm so glad
they're here to save me."

489
00:28:28,223 --> 00:28:30,191
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

490
00:28:37,923 --> 00:28:40,166
LEVI: And there was
no sense of protest.

491
00:28:40,201 --> 00:28:41,720
There was no statement
from them

492
00:28:41,754 --> 00:28:44,308
of the grievances they have
for the Chinese Government

493
00:28:44,343 --> 00:28:46,932
for torturing them,
putting them in prison.

494
00:28:46,966 --> 00:28:48,657
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

495
00:28:48,692 --> 00:28:51,315
JASON: As someone who had
protested for Falun Gong

496
00:28:51,350 --> 00:28:52,731
in Tiananmen Square myself,

497
00:28:52,765 --> 00:28:55,009
this is one
of the first things
that struck me.

498
00:28:55,043 --> 00:28:56,424
The lack
of any complaint

499
00:28:56,458 --> 00:28:59,392
about the Chinese regime's
ongoing persecution.

500
00:28:59,427 --> 00:29:02,464
It was the reason
behind every other
Falun Gong protest

501
00:29:02,499 --> 00:29:04,639
but here it was
missing completely.

502
00:29:12,060 --> 00:29:14,683
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

503
00:29:28,732 --> 00:29:30,907
JASON: The footage
seems to show
the seated man

504
00:29:30,941 --> 00:29:32,667
failing to perform
the hand gesture

505
00:29:32,701 --> 00:29:36,291
that begins every
Falun Gong exercise
called Jieyin.

506
00:29:36,326 --> 00:29:39,467
In Jieyin, the thumb tips
are touched lightly together.

507
00:29:39,501 --> 00:29:42,435
But the man appears
to be overlapping his thumbs.

508
00:29:42,470 --> 00:29:45,473
He also didn't correctly
cross his legs.

509
00:29:45,507 --> 00:29:47,440
In Falun Gong
seated meditation,

510
00:29:47,475 --> 00:29:49,477
the two legs are folded
on top of each other

511
00:29:49,511 --> 00:29:51,479
in what's called
the lotus position.

512
00:29:52,411 --> 00:29:54,033
Beginners can
fold one leg up

513
00:29:54,068 --> 00:29:55,897
in what's called
half-lotus.

514
00:29:55,932 --> 00:29:58,451
But this man
folds nether leg up.

515
00:29:58,486 --> 00:30:01,523
It's like someone claiming
to have dedicated
their life to yoga

516
00:30:01,558 --> 00:30:05,251
but being unfamiliar
with a basic position
like downward dog.

517
00:30:06,356 --> 00:30:08,703
He was sitting
in a manner

518
00:30:08,737 --> 00:30:11,326
that is not how
Falun Gong sit
in meditation,

519
00:30:11,361 --> 00:30:13,708
was saying things
that no Falun Gong would say.

520
00:30:13,742 --> 00:30:15,710
[MAN SPEAKING MANDARIN]

521
00:30:16,987 --> 00:30:20,301
LEVI: And there's a policeman
standing next to him...

522
00:30:22,165 --> 00:30:23,718
holding a fire blanket,

523
00:30:23,752 --> 00:30:26,100
doing nothing,
just holding it there

524
00:30:26,134 --> 00:30:28,861
until this man
says something.

525
00:30:28,896 --> 00:30:33,452
And then the policeman
puts the blanket
on to this man.

526
00:30:33,486 --> 00:30:36,489
JASON: On the surface,
we see a man
said to have been on fire

527
00:30:36,524 --> 00:30:38,871
now shouting a slogan,
and an officer

528
00:30:38,906 --> 00:30:41,184
covering him
with a fire blanket.

529
00:30:41,218 --> 00:30:43,669
But the rescue effort
appears to be on hold.

530
00:30:43,703 --> 00:30:45,982
The officer's
not in a rush
to cover the man,

531
00:30:46,016 --> 00:30:47,776
or hurry him
into an ambulance.

532
00:30:47,811 --> 00:30:49,882
And he appears to be facing
the direction of the camera

533
00:30:49,917 --> 00:30:51,435
that is shooting
the scene

534
00:30:51,470 --> 00:30:54,438
rather than the man
who was supposedly on fire.

535
00:30:54,473 --> 00:30:56,578
Is he waiting for a cue?

536
00:30:56,613 --> 00:30:58,960
It's a stark contrast
to the police response

537
00:30:58,995 --> 00:31:02,377
to every other Falun Gong
protest I'd seen
on Tiananmen Square,

538
00:31:02,412 --> 00:31:04,034
where we see
officers rushing

539
00:31:04,069 --> 00:31:05,794
to prevent
the participants' messages

540
00:31:05,829 --> 00:31:07,486
from being heard
or seen.

541
00:31:12,111 --> 00:31:14,562
As to, you know, sort of
the deeper question

542
00:31:14,596 --> 00:31:19,429
of whether or not these were
Falun Gong members...

543
00:31:19,463 --> 00:31:22,018
We didn't have time
for that, at the time.

544
00:31:22,052 --> 00:31:25,159
Also, by this stage, uh,

545
00:31:25,193 --> 00:31:28,748
CNN was an accomplice
to murder,

546
00:31:28,783 --> 00:31:31,027
according to
the Chinese Communist Party.

547
00:31:31,061 --> 00:31:35,238
Because the state-run media
test-floated that headline

548
00:31:35,272 --> 00:31:36,756
in a Hong Kong newspaper

549
00:31:36,791 --> 00:31:39,587
as it happens,
during a big conference

550
00:31:39,621 --> 00:31:43,246
with a lot
of CNN head honchos
in Hong Kong.

551
00:31:46,801 --> 00:31:50,460
JASON: I see no evidence
that Lisa was involved
in the immolations.

552
00:31:50,494 --> 00:31:52,945
This accusation
floated in Chinese press

553
00:31:52,980 --> 00:31:55,879
seems instead like it could
be a scare tactic,

554
00:31:55,914 --> 00:31:57,260
an attempt to deter Lisa

555
00:31:57,294 --> 00:32:00,401
and CNN
from pursuing the story.

556
00:32:00,435 --> 00:32:05,578
CNN was taking that allegation
very seriously.

557
00:32:05,613 --> 00:32:07,649
Not that they believed it
but, you know,

558
00:32:07,684 --> 00:32:10,169
they were taking
the reality seriously

559
00:32:10,204 --> 00:32:12,758
that maybe the bureau
would be closed down,

560
00:32:12,792 --> 00:32:15,416
maybe we'd all
be kicked out of China

561
00:32:15,450 --> 00:32:17,142
and CNN
would have no presence.

562
00:32:17,176 --> 00:32:23,182
CNN had told us
to not even talk
to the other reporters.

563
00:32:23,217 --> 00:32:25,391
I mean, I had my friends
and my colleagues

564
00:32:25,426 --> 00:32:27,980
who worked at other
news organizations calling.

565
00:32:28,015 --> 00:32:30,051
But we were really under orders

566
00:32:30,086 --> 00:32:32,640
to be very quiet
about the whole thing.

567
00:32:32,674 --> 00:32:35,470
It's unlikely that
their true identities

568
00:32:35,505 --> 00:32:38,577
will ever be
independently confirmed.

569
00:32:38,611 --> 00:32:40,613
[INAUDIBLE]

570
00:32:40,648 --> 00:32:42,201
DAVID SATTER:
Foreign correspondents

571
00:32:42,236 --> 00:32:44,997
work for news organizations

572
00:32:45,032 --> 00:32:48,000
that have
a very different agenda

573
00:32:48,035 --> 00:32:50,244
than the one
that is required,

574
00:32:50,278 --> 00:32:54,455
if you are to carry out
a major investigation.

575
00:32:54,489 --> 00:32:56,043
JASON: Writing for
The Financial Times,

576
00:32:56,077 --> 00:32:59,287
David Satter's efforts
to investigate
a government conspiracy

577
00:32:59,322 --> 00:33:03,015
led him to become
the first American journalist
expelled from Russia

578
00:33:03,050 --> 00:33:04,292
since the Cold War.

579
00:33:05,293 --> 00:33:08,503
News organizations
usually are seeking

580
00:33:08,538 --> 00:33:11,161
to have a stream
of coverage from a country

581
00:33:11,196 --> 00:33:12,542
over a period of time

582
00:33:12,576 --> 00:33:16,028
and across a wide variety
of subjects.

583
00:33:16,063 --> 00:33:19,859
There's a big investment
in terms of bureau equipment,

584
00:33:19,894 --> 00:33:21,792
staff, resources,

585
00:33:21,827 --> 00:33:23,691
all of which
can be put in jeopardy

586
00:33:23,725 --> 00:33:27,591
by pursuing a story
which seems implausible

587
00:33:27,626 --> 00:33:30,974
and which is
fiercely resisted
by the authorities.

588
00:33:35,668 --> 00:33:37,049
JASON: But one
foreign correspondent

589
00:33:37,084 --> 00:33:39,914
continued to pursue
the self-immolation story.

590
00:33:39,948 --> 00:33:43,745
In an article entitled
Human Fire Ignites
Chinese Mystery,

591
00:33:43,780 --> 00:33:45,920
Washington Post journalist
Philip Pan

592
00:33:45,954 --> 00:33:48,267
reported unusual findings
from the hometown

593
00:33:48,302 --> 00:33:51,581
of the alleged immolators,
Kaifeng city.

594
00:33:51,615 --> 00:33:53,755
Pan visits the home
of Miss Liu Chunling,

595
00:33:53,790 --> 00:33:55,412
the woman who died
on the square

596
00:33:55,447 --> 00:33:57,518
and the mother of
the 12-year-old girl.

597
00:33:57,552 --> 00:33:59,589
But a man at the door
sends him away

598
00:33:59,623 --> 00:34:02,937
and directs him
to the government
for any questions.

599
00:34:04,145 --> 00:34:06,596
Miss Lui's neighbors say
they were not just surprised

600
00:34:06,630 --> 00:34:08,184
by what she was said
to have done

601
00:34:08,218 --> 00:34:09,702
they were
caught off-guard

602
00:34:09,737 --> 00:34:12,809
by the claim that
she had taken up
Falun Gong at all.

603
00:34:12,843 --> 00:34:15,053
None had ever
seen her practice.

604
00:34:16,502 --> 00:34:18,297
"I'm not saying I don't
believe the government,

605
00:34:18,332 --> 00:34:19,988
"but I'm not saying
I believe it, either,"

606
00:34:20,023 --> 00:34:22,336
said one local woman
who was interviewed.

607
00:34:22,370 --> 00:34:24,027
"The government
controls the news.

608
00:34:24,062 --> 00:34:25,684
"We all know that now."

609
00:34:31,379 --> 00:34:32,760
WOMAN: [OVER PHONE]
I'm really sorry about that,

610
00:34:32,794 --> 00:34:35,625
but this is something
that I have to tell you,

611
00:34:35,659 --> 00:34:38,386
and I have to
like do it.

612
00:34:38,421 --> 00:34:40,250
JASON: "To do" what?

613
00:34:40,285 --> 00:34:42,494
WOMAN: To terminate
the contract.

614
00:34:42,528 --> 00:34:44,772
JASON: My company
makes video games.

615
00:34:44,806 --> 00:34:47,533
And our latest title
was being published
by Tencent,

616
00:34:47,568 --> 00:34:50,743
one of China's largest
media companies.

617
00:34:50,778 --> 00:34:52,676
The release of the game
was taking place

618
00:34:52,711 --> 00:34:54,747
just in the midst
of my work on this film.

619
00:34:54,782 --> 00:34:57,578
WOMAN: [ON PHONE]
They just say
we have to terminate

620
00:34:57,612 --> 00:34:59,752
any business relationship
with Lofty Sky.

621
00:34:59,787 --> 00:35:01,547
So this is not
about the game,

622
00:35:01,582 --> 00:35:03,101
it's about the company.

623
00:35:03,135 --> 00:35:08,140
You mean like
the censorship office
that reviewed the game?

624
00:35:08,175 --> 00:35:09,452
There's someone
in the government

625
00:35:09,486 --> 00:35:10,970
who told you
to cancel a contract?

626
00:35:11,005 --> 00:35:13,766
JASON: Our game was
pulled from storefronts
in China.

627
00:35:13,801 --> 00:35:15,906
And a Chinese mobile deal
was killed as well.

628
00:35:15,941 --> 00:35:19,979
WOMAN: I really want you
to find out what happened
in your company.

629
00:35:20,014 --> 00:35:22,430
Maybe there are staff
in the company,

630
00:35:22,465 --> 00:35:27,539
or, I don't know, maybe
your business partners
that is not working

631
00:35:27,573 --> 00:35:30,162
in the direction aligned with the government direction.

632
00:35:30,197 --> 00:35:32,578
I don't know.
I can't really tell anything.

633
00:35:38,205 --> 00:35:40,690
JASON: Considering
the participants
I've examined so far

634
00:35:40,724 --> 00:35:42,485
I start to form a theory...

635
00:35:42,519 --> 00:35:45,108
One man who doesn't seem
to know Falun Gong.

636
00:35:45,143 --> 00:35:48,422
A woman whose neighbors
suggest never practiced.

637
00:35:48,456 --> 00:35:50,631
And another woman
who was never on fire

638
00:35:50,665 --> 00:35:52,736
but co-operatively
relays her plans
to the government

639
00:35:52,771 --> 00:35:54,531
and praises the authorities.

640
00:35:55,567 --> 00:35:57,741
It all seems
to point to one thing...

641
00:35:57,776 --> 00:36:00,675
That they were actors
and it was all a stunt.

642
00:36:11,617 --> 00:36:14,102
The important part
is insulating the body

643
00:36:14,137 --> 00:36:15,414
from the heat of the fire.

644
00:36:15,449 --> 00:36:18,486
So we use these high-tech
fabrics as undergarments

645
00:36:18,521 --> 00:36:20,143
and different layers,
like base layers,

646
00:36:20,178 --> 00:36:22,352
kinda like
when you're climbing
a mountain in winter

647
00:36:22,387 --> 00:36:25,217
you use different layers
to keep yourself
from getting cold.

648
00:36:25,252 --> 00:36:26,908
I'm using different layers
in a different way

649
00:36:26,943 --> 00:36:28,669
to keep myself
from getting too warm.

650
00:36:29,808 --> 00:36:31,810
JASON: Tom Comet
is known as Danger Boy,

651
00:36:31,844 --> 00:36:35,054
and he's been
setting himself on fire
in stunts for years.

652
00:36:36,746 --> 00:36:38,817
Tom finds it plausible
that the seated man

653
00:36:38,851 --> 00:36:40,819
may have been layered up
for a fire stunt.

654
00:36:40,853 --> 00:36:42,269
TOM: One of the things
you see in this

655
00:36:42,303 --> 00:36:43,718
is what this guy
is wearing.

656
00:36:43,753 --> 00:36:47,343
It's sort of natural fibers,
bigger, cloaky-type garments.

657
00:36:47,377 --> 00:36:48,516
JASON: But he can't
say the same

658
00:36:48,551 --> 00:36:50,380
about the women
shown on fire

659
00:36:50,415 --> 00:36:52,900
or the little girl
shown in close ups.

660
00:36:52,934 --> 00:36:54,350
TOM: That was
a very legitimate

661
00:36:54,384 --> 00:36:56,179
third-degree,
deep-tissue burn.

662
00:36:56,214 --> 00:37:00,252
Like, I know, that skin
is the outer layers of skin

663
00:37:00,287 --> 00:37:02,289
and they will literally
peel off.

664
00:37:02,323 --> 00:37:08,709
Like you can just peel
those off like layers
of, you know, whatever.

665
00:37:08,743 --> 00:37:11,367
This is all looking
fairly legitimately
like a burn.

666
00:37:11,401 --> 00:37:13,265
That person
is in a terrible state.

667
00:37:16,199 --> 00:37:17,959
Oof!

668
00:37:17,994 --> 00:37:19,720
Oh!

669
00:37:21,204 --> 00:37:22,619
JASON: Tom finds the footage

670
00:37:22,654 --> 00:37:24,794
of the mother and daughter
on the square
in the aftermath,

671
00:37:24,828 --> 00:37:28,107
and of the four
burning figures
very convincing.

672
00:37:28,142 --> 00:37:31,214
He's right that
the flames engulfing
the figures are enormous

673
00:37:31,249 --> 00:37:35,045
and the human cost of that
would seem to be real,
not an act.

674
00:37:43,399 --> 00:37:46,264
[CHEN SPEAKING MANDARIN]

675
00:37:56,135 --> 00:37:58,586
[SPEAKING IN MANDARIN]

676
00:37:58,621 --> 00:38:00,554
[CHEN CONTINUES IN MANDARIN]

677
00:38:36,279 --> 00:38:39,455
[INAUDIBLE]

678
00:38:39,489 --> 00:38:41,836
[CONTINUES IN MANDARIN]

679
00:39:13,420 --> 00:39:15,939
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

680
00:39:17,700 --> 00:39:19,357
[SNIFFLES]

681
00:39:19,391 --> 00:39:22,118
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

682
00:39:23,982 --> 00:39:26,225
[LIANG CONTINUES IN MANDARIN]

683
00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:54,037
JASON: It's remarkable to me

684
00:40:54,072 --> 00:40:56,315
that Chen wouldn't bend
in the face of all this,

685
00:40:56,350 --> 00:40:59,318
with all this pressure,
the threats and brainwashing.

686
00:40:59,353 --> 00:41:00,837
How wasn't Chen swayed

687
00:41:00,872 --> 00:41:03,806
that he wouldn't go along
with what the party
wanted him to say,

688
00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:05,463
at least
on the surface?

689
00:41:08,051 --> 00:41:10,502
[MAN SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY]

690
00:41:10,537 --> 00:41:12,331
[CHEN SPEAKING MANDARIN]

691
00:41:33,214 --> 00:41:37,495
RICHARD CHEN:
What information we can get
is from Minghui net.

692
00:41:40,256 --> 00:41:43,017
And then, we always
try to see, uh...

693
00:41:43,052 --> 00:41:46,055
I don't want to see
my brother's name
in there be killed.

694
00:41:46,089 --> 00:41:49,334
I don't want to see
my brother's name is missing.

695
00:41:49,368 --> 00:41:51,370
But... one day...

696
00:41:51,405 --> 00:41:52,855
we see it.

697
00:41:52,889 --> 00:41:54,512
He's missing.

698
00:41:58,619 --> 00:42:02,278
When he's being transferred
from the brainwash class

699
00:42:02,312 --> 00:42:04,660
to an actual labor camp,

700
00:42:04,694 --> 00:42:08,456
um, it's a big worry
about his safety.

701
00:42:08,491 --> 00:42:10,320
We know how bad it is.

702
00:42:10,355 --> 00:42:12,875
Like, people
being tortured to death.

703
00:42:14,117 --> 00:42:17,189
You cannot even
like imagine
what they're gonna do.

704
00:42:18,674 --> 00:42:20,952
We do
whatever we could,

705
00:42:20,986 --> 00:42:23,368
talk to
the government officials

706
00:42:23,402 --> 00:42:26,751
and telling the media
that we believe

707
00:42:26,785 --> 00:42:30,340
to expose this is the only way
to keep him safe.

708
00:42:45,114 --> 00:42:47,081
At the time
this incident occurred

709
00:42:47,116 --> 00:42:50,706
there were probably
50,000 practitioners
of Falun Gong

710
00:42:50,740 --> 00:42:51,983
in Chinese jails

711
00:42:52,017 --> 00:42:54,641
or propaganda camps,
so to speak.

712
00:42:54,675 --> 00:42:56,228
And the issue
had been raised

713
00:42:56,263 --> 00:42:58,403
by non-governmental
organizations

714
00:42:58,437 --> 00:43:02,856
and some governments
at the United Nations
Human Rights forums.

715
00:43:04,478 --> 00:43:06,238
China really needed

716
00:43:06,273 --> 00:43:09,517
to have
the international community

717
00:43:09,552 --> 00:43:11,658
against Falun Gong.

718
00:43:11,692 --> 00:43:13,936
[TRUMPETING]

719
00:43:13,970 --> 00:43:15,282
JASON: The timing of
the self-immolation

720
00:43:15,316 --> 00:43:18,078
was very fortuitous
for the Communist Party.

721
00:43:18,112 --> 00:43:19,355
And it's not just
that Beijing

722
00:43:19,389 --> 00:43:21,495
had been attempting
to root out Falun Gong.

723
00:43:21,529 --> 00:43:23,980
The foreign media's attention
to the on-going crackdown

724
00:43:24,015 --> 00:43:25,361
was standing in the way

725
00:43:25,395 --> 00:43:28,744
of the Chinese regime's
immediate political goals.

726
00:43:28,778 --> 00:43:31,367
A year before
the self-immolations,

727
00:43:31,401 --> 00:43:34,853
uh, the Falun Gong,
they gathered
on Tiananmen Square,

728
00:43:34,888 --> 00:43:36,924
New Year's Eve
for the Chinese.

729
00:43:36,959 --> 00:43:39,651
And they threw pamphlets
into the air

730
00:43:39,686 --> 00:43:42,447
and shouted,
"Falun Gong is great!"

731
00:43:42,481 --> 00:43:43,897
And had some banners.

732
00:43:43,931 --> 00:43:45,346
[INDISTINCT CLAMORING]

733
00:43:45,381 --> 00:43:47,176
JASON: Chinese New Year's Eve
in Tiananmen Square

734
00:43:47,210 --> 00:43:49,937
had been the site of a peaceful Falun Gong protest.

735
00:43:49,972 --> 00:43:52,319
It was harshly repressed
by Beijing

736
00:43:52,353 --> 00:43:54,839
and captured
by the western press.

737
00:43:54,873 --> 00:43:58,636
We were able to film it
from inside the car.

738
00:43:58,670 --> 00:44:01,086
The police
were on to us,

739
00:44:01,121 --> 00:44:03,537
and what ensued
was a high-speed chase.

740
00:44:05,366 --> 00:44:07,714
We had the cops behind.
I floored it.

741
00:44:07,748 --> 00:44:09,129
[SIRENS WAILING]

742
00:44:09,163 --> 00:44:12,442
So, we got this footage.
We got it on the air.

743
00:44:12,477 --> 00:44:14,721
FEMALE REPORTER:
U.S. officials say
one of the key items

744
00:44:14,755 --> 00:44:16,239
on President Clinton's
agenda

745
00:44:16,274 --> 00:44:18,828
when he meets
with Chinese President
Jiang Zemin

746
00:44:18,863 --> 00:44:20,002
later this week

747
00:44:20,036 --> 00:44:22,107
will be China's
deteriorating record

748
00:44:22,142 --> 00:44:24,178
of religious tolerance.

749
00:44:24,213 --> 00:44:28,424
At that time China was trying
to emerge onto the world stage.

750
00:44:28,458 --> 00:44:30,633
When you have pictures
on a daily basis

751
00:44:30,668 --> 00:44:33,567
of ordinary citizens
being beaten up
on Tiananmen Square,

752
00:44:33,601 --> 00:44:36,328
that really undermines
the Chinese Government's
efforts

753
00:44:36,363 --> 00:44:38,917
to display itself
as a modern government,

754
00:44:38,952 --> 00:44:41,333
as a rising,
peaceful power,

755
00:44:41,368 --> 00:44:44,198
and as one that is worthy
of getting access

756
00:44:44,233 --> 00:44:46,684
to international
institutions or awards

757
00:44:46,718 --> 00:44:48,237
like the Beijing Olympics.

758
00:44:49,652 --> 00:44:51,378
MALE NEWS ANCHOR:
Whatever happened
at the labor camp,

759
00:44:51,412 --> 00:44:54,070
the timing could not
have been worse for China.

760
00:44:54,105 --> 00:44:56,383
This country is obsessed
with the Olympics.

761
00:44:56,417 --> 00:44:59,110
One thing that could
jeopardize Beijing's bid

762
00:44:59,144 --> 00:45:01,733
is China's
Human Rights record.

763
00:45:01,768 --> 00:45:04,529
JASON: Beijing
had lost out to Sydney
for the 2000 Olympics.

764
00:45:04,563 --> 00:45:08,188
In part, because of concerns
over its Human Rights record.

765
00:45:08,775 --> 00:45:10,190
For the 2008 games,

766
00:45:10,224 --> 00:45:11,743
the ILC's
evaluation committee

767
00:45:11,778 --> 00:45:14,850
was due to arrive in Beijing
in February, 2001,

768
00:45:14,884 --> 00:45:19,130
less than a month
after the self-immolation
occurred.

769
00:45:19,164 --> 00:45:23,168
The self-immolation managed
to completely flip
the narrative on Falun Gong.

770
00:45:23,203 --> 00:45:25,205
Within two weeks
of the incident,

771
00:45:25,239 --> 00:45:26,931
an ILC executive
announced

772
00:45:26,965 --> 00:45:30,589
that Falun Gong
would not stand in the way
of Beijing's Olympic bid.

773
00:45:30,624 --> 00:45:33,938
They likened the group
to the violent cult
in Waco, Texas,

774
00:45:33,972 --> 00:45:35,249
that had not prevented
the U.S.

775
00:45:35,284 --> 00:45:37,113
from hosting the Olympics
in Atlanta

776
00:45:37,148 --> 00:45:39,357
and landing another
in Salt Lake City.

777
00:45:40,565 --> 00:45:42,187
In July, 2001,

778
00:45:42,222 --> 00:45:45,018
Beijing was granted
the 2008 Olympic Games.

779
00:45:46,985 --> 00:45:48,849
In December of that year,

780
00:45:48,884 --> 00:45:51,196
China was made a member
of the WTO.

781
00:45:52,784 --> 00:45:56,063
Self-immolation had enormous
political consequences,

782
00:45:56,098 --> 00:45:57,375
shifting the Falun Gong matter

783
00:45:57,409 --> 00:45:58,756
from human rights concern

784
00:45:58,790 --> 00:46:01,620
to internal political issue.

785
00:46:01,655 --> 00:46:04,175
If you look at how
the campaign against
Falun Gong was going,

786
00:46:04,209 --> 00:46:08,593
uh, the self-immolation
was really kind of
a gift to the Communist Party.

787
00:46:08,627 --> 00:46:11,734
It gave them
the perfect opportunity

788
00:46:11,769 --> 00:46:14,461
to turn public opinion
against Falun Gong,

789
00:46:14,495 --> 00:46:18,534
to get international media
to maybe also question

790
00:46:18,568 --> 00:46:20,122
whether this group
was worthy

791
00:46:20,156 --> 00:46:22,124
of the kind of reporting
that it was receiving.

792
00:46:22,158 --> 00:46:25,058
The idea
of this self-immolation

793
00:46:25,092 --> 00:46:28,302
was to demonstrate,
you know, that Falun Gong

794
00:46:28,337 --> 00:46:29,752
was encouraging
this practice,

795
00:46:29,787 --> 00:46:34,101
even if they weren't,
to make it appear
as if they were.

796
00:46:34,136 --> 00:46:35,516
And this is
what was bought.

797
00:46:35,551 --> 00:46:37,553
I mean, we have had
self-immolations

798
00:46:37,587 --> 00:46:41,660
in Vietnam, for example,
before the Vietnam War
got underway.

799
00:46:44,042 --> 00:46:46,251
[MALCOLM BROWN SPEAKING]

800
00:47:23,806 --> 00:47:26,395
DAVID HALBERSTAM:
It hit the headlines
all over the world.

801
00:47:26,429 --> 00:47:28,811
It had enormous
political consequences,

802
00:47:28,846 --> 00:47:32,263
uh, outside of Vietnam
and inside of Vietnam.

803
00:47:32,297 --> 00:47:33,436
...city under attack.

804
00:47:33,471 --> 00:47:35,059
JASON: President Kennedy,
at the time

805
00:47:35,093 --> 00:47:39,546
called the image,
"The most impactful
news photo in history".

806
00:47:39,580 --> 00:47:43,274
It caused the populous
to change sympathies
nearly overnight.

807
00:47:43,308 --> 00:47:45,034
And for the U.S.
to cut allegiances

808
00:47:45,069 --> 00:47:46,346
with the Vietnamese president,

809
00:47:46,380 --> 00:47:48,658
who was blamed
for the monk's sacrifice.

810
00:47:48,693 --> 00:47:50,798
Instead, the Americans
backed a coup

811
00:47:50,833 --> 00:47:53,801
that would see
the Vietnamese president
ousted months later

812
00:47:53,836 --> 00:47:54,872
and executed.

813
00:47:56,356 --> 00:47:58,047
The photographer
behind the photo,

814
00:47:58,082 --> 00:47:59,704
the AP's Malcolm Brown,

815
00:47:59,738 --> 00:48:04,743
said... [JASON READING]

816
00:48:06,814 --> 00:48:09,265
The image was used
as a form of propaganda

817
00:48:09,300 --> 00:48:11,923
against the U.S.
and its anti-Communist allies

818
00:48:11,958 --> 00:48:13,338
in Vietnam.

819
00:48:16,686 --> 00:48:19,206
I find a reference
to another self-immolation

820
00:48:19,241 --> 00:48:23,038
and this one takes place
right in Beijing's
Tiananmen Square,

821
00:48:23,072 --> 00:48:25,247
but it's not
a real-life event.

822
00:48:25,281 --> 00:48:27,007
It comes from
a work of fiction

823
00:48:27,042 --> 00:48:28,319
that was written
a full decade

824
00:48:28,353 --> 00:48:30,942
before the self-immolation
incident.

825
00:48:30,977 --> 00:48:33,876
Author Wang Lixiong's political novel,
Yellow Peril,

826
00:48:33,911 --> 00:48:36,603
was known to
the censorship authorities
in China.

827
00:48:36,637 --> 00:48:40,676
They had banned his book
and put Wang
under house arrest.

828
00:48:40,710 --> 00:48:42,920
The novel lays out
an eerie blueprint

829
00:48:42,954 --> 00:48:45,784
for how communist officials
would incite chaos

830
00:48:45,819 --> 00:48:49,443
and justify
the ongoing repression
of a targeted group

831
00:48:49,478 --> 00:48:53,620
by staging a self-immolation
in their name.

832
00:48:53,654 --> 00:48:56,519
The novel was published
shortly after
the dramatic demonstrations

833
00:48:56,554 --> 00:48:59,833
for democracy
in 1989 in Beijing.

834
00:48:59,867 --> 00:49:01,007
And in the book,

835
00:49:01,041 --> 00:49:03,319
the party is concerned
with growing public sympathy

836
00:49:03,354 --> 00:49:06,495
for the democracy
activists' cause.

837
00:49:06,529 --> 00:49:09,291
In this passage,
one official hatches a plan

838
00:49:09,325 --> 00:49:12,363
to turn the tide
of public perception.

839
00:49:12,397 --> 00:49:14,882
"How to set the trap?"
it reads...

840
00:49:14,917 --> 00:49:18,610
[JASON READING]

841
00:49:20,888 --> 00:49:23,236
The book describes
many automatic cameras

842
00:49:23,270 --> 00:49:25,376
being set up
in Tiananmen Square.

843
00:49:25,410 --> 00:49:27,895
They were connected
to a control center.

844
00:49:29,276 --> 00:49:30,795
"The Minister
of Public Security

845
00:49:30,829 --> 00:49:34,178
"was awaiting the arrival
of the foreign press,"
it said.

846
00:49:34,212 --> 00:49:38,389
The participant
who would die in the plot
was a young woman.

847
00:49:38,423 --> 00:49:40,218
And just as
with the seated man,

848
00:49:40,253 --> 00:49:43,877
there was a clear way
to identify the group
to be blamed for the action.

849
00:49:43,911 --> 00:49:47,674
"The deal was that
she had to yell
some slogans", it said.

850
00:49:47,708 --> 00:49:50,021
And then the similarities
become so striking

851
00:49:50,056 --> 00:49:52,299
that the novel can
be mistaken for a telling

852
00:49:52,334 --> 00:49:53,991
of the real-life
self-immolation

853
00:49:54,025 --> 00:49:56,579
ten years later in 2001.

854
00:49:57,684 --> 00:50:01,584
[JASON READING]

855
00:50:03,828 --> 00:50:05,830
She was wearing
several layers of clothes

856
00:50:05,864 --> 00:50:08,591
to ensure that the gasoline
would be fully absorbed.

857
00:50:10,800 --> 00:50:13,458
A female foreign reporter
arrives on the scene

858
00:50:13,493 --> 00:50:16,461
and the Minister
of Public Security
gives the cue.

859
00:50:17,704 --> 00:50:20,293
"The girl became a fireball,"
the book said.

860
00:50:20,327 --> 00:50:24,366
[JASON READING]

861
00:50:25,332 --> 00:50:26,885
The woman finally falls
to the ground

862
00:50:26,920 --> 00:50:29,233
right at the foot of the People's Heroes Monument

863
00:50:29,267 --> 00:50:31,614
in the center
of Tiananmen Square.

864
00:50:31,649 --> 00:50:33,202
That's precisely where
Liu Chenling

865
00:50:33,237 --> 00:50:34,479
is said to have fallen
to her death

866
00:50:34,514 --> 00:50:36,999
from self-immolation
in 2001.

867
00:50:39,726 --> 00:50:42,625
"Her body shrank
to a sizzling charcoal",
it read.

868
00:50:43,592 --> 00:50:45,076
According toYellow Peril...

869
00:50:45,111 --> 00:50:51,600
[JASON READING]

870
00:50:52,497 --> 00:50:54,051
Even calling on
the government...

871
00:50:54,085 --> 00:50:57,675
[JASON READING]

872
00:50:57,709 --> 00:51:00,022
It reads
like a screenplay.

873
00:51:00,057 --> 00:51:01,713
But a question remains...

874
00:51:01,748 --> 00:51:04,544
What would have motivated
the woman to participate?

875
00:51:04,578 --> 00:51:07,098
InYellow Peril, they found
a terminally-ill woman

876
00:51:07,133 --> 00:51:10,481
and offered to pay her family
3,000,000 Chinese Yuan.

877
00:51:11,792 --> 00:51:14,519
So I start looking for clues
with Miss Liu Chunling,

878
00:51:14,554 --> 00:51:16,797
the woman who died
in the fire.

879
00:51:16,832 --> 00:51:19,283
The Washington Post
interviews with her neighbors

880
00:51:19,317 --> 00:51:21,319
describe a woman
who led a troubled life

881
00:51:21,354 --> 00:51:23,735
and suffered
psychological problems.

882
00:51:23,770 --> 00:51:26,635
She was abusive
to both her mother
and daughter.

883
00:51:27,739 --> 00:51:29,431
They say she worked
in a nightclub

884
00:51:29,465 --> 00:51:32,261
and took money
to keep men company.

885
00:51:32,296 --> 00:51:34,160
I keep looking for clues
in Kaifeng City,

886
00:51:34,194 --> 00:51:37,784
the hometown of Miss Liu
and the other immolators.

887
00:51:37,818 --> 00:51:39,924
And I find an article
written within months

888
00:51:39,958 --> 00:51:42,754
of the self-immolation
incident in 2001.

889
00:51:46,172 --> 00:51:47,380
The government
in Kaifeng

890
00:51:47,414 --> 00:51:48,726
had been building
blood banks

891
00:51:48,760 --> 00:51:50,314
and offering residents
money

892
00:51:50,348 --> 00:51:51,901
in exchange
for their plasma

893
00:51:51,936 --> 00:51:54,939
which officials sought
to sell overseas for profit.

894
00:51:54,973 --> 00:51:56,630
But when
tainted equipment is used

895
00:51:56,665 --> 00:51:58,184
and AIDS
spreads widely,

896
00:51:58,218 --> 00:51:59,909
the government
suppresses the news

897
00:51:59,944 --> 00:52:02,843
to the extent that
the local peasants know HIV

898
00:52:02,878 --> 00:52:06,675
only as the "strange illness"
or "nameless fever."

899
00:52:06,709 --> 00:52:08,677
To be clear,
there's nothing specific

900
00:52:08,711 --> 00:52:10,886
to connects Miss Liu
to an AIDS epidemic,

901
00:52:10,920 --> 00:52:12,681
but that's not
what intrigues me.

902
00:52:12,715 --> 00:52:14,579
It's that the government
in Kaifeng

903
00:52:14,614 --> 00:52:17,030
was luring residents
with money and a promise,

904
00:52:17,064 --> 00:52:20,171
and then casting them aside
when things went wrong.

905
00:52:20,206 --> 00:52:22,898
I go back to something
I read inYellow Peril...

906
00:52:22,932 --> 00:52:24,796
In the book's
self-immolation scheme,

907
00:52:24,831 --> 00:52:26,384
the Minister
of Public Security

908
00:52:26,419 --> 00:52:28,248
had also made a promise
to the woman

909
00:52:28,283 --> 00:52:31,320
to convince her
to set herself on fire.

910
00:52:31,355 --> 00:52:33,219
He promised she'd
be given anesthetics

911
00:52:33,253 --> 00:52:35,324
so she wouldn't feel pain.

912
00:52:35,359 --> 00:52:37,464
But after her frantic death,
he's asked,

913
00:52:37,499 --> 00:52:39,294
"Didn't you give her
the drugs?"

914
00:52:39,328 --> 00:52:42,124
"That was just
to console her..."
the book read...

915
00:52:42,159 --> 00:52:46,646
[JASON READING]

916
00:52:48,579 --> 00:52:50,132
And it hits me.

917
00:52:50,167 --> 00:52:52,790
What if Miss Liu
was promised
something else?

918
00:52:52,824 --> 00:52:55,793
Perhaps something dangerous
but not deadly.

919
00:52:55,827 --> 00:52:58,209
What if she
didn't sign up to die?

920
00:53:00,142 --> 00:53:01,385
[BUTTON CLICKS]

921
00:53:01,419 --> 00:53:03,628
[INDISTINCT CLAMORING]

922
00:53:03,663 --> 00:53:05,078
When we slow
the footage down,

923
00:53:05,112 --> 00:53:07,218
the woman appears
to have been struck.

924
00:53:11,602 --> 00:53:16,020
A bent-shaped object
is seen flying into the air
from where she is hit.

925
00:53:21,715 --> 00:53:23,303
As the camera pans back,

926
00:53:23,338 --> 00:53:25,029
we see a man
who seems to be standing

927
00:53:25,063 --> 00:53:26,651
in the same place
the woman was

928
00:53:26,686 --> 00:53:28,205
just a few seconds before.

929
00:53:29,654 --> 00:53:31,725
The hairline and collar
of this figure

930
00:53:31,760 --> 00:53:34,556
appear to match a man
seen earlier in the footage.

931
00:53:35,764 --> 00:53:37,248
As he enters the shot,

932
00:53:37,283 --> 00:53:40,251
he seems to be
pointing and directing
the other officers.

933
00:53:40,286 --> 00:53:41,563
Was he in command?

934
00:53:47,431 --> 00:53:48,984
Could he have struck
Miss Liu?

935
00:53:53,747 --> 00:53:56,923
The important thing
that people
need to understand

936
00:53:56,957 --> 00:54:00,064
about authoritarian
and totalitarian systems

937
00:54:00,098 --> 00:54:03,688
is that the individual
human being

938
00:54:03,723 --> 00:54:06,277
in these systems
has very little value.

939
00:54:06,312 --> 00:54:11,524
And they are not averse
to killing people
for no reason whatsoever

940
00:54:11,558 --> 00:54:13,905
except to further
their political goals,

941
00:54:13,940 --> 00:54:16,114
including killing
their own people.

942
00:54:17,599 --> 00:54:19,877
[CHEN SPEAKING IN MANDARIN]

943
00:54:32,234 --> 00:54:34,547
There's no way to confirm
if Liu Chunling

944
00:54:34,581 --> 00:54:36,583
was indeed tricked
into participating

945
00:54:36,618 --> 00:54:39,034
as the woman died
on-site.

946
00:54:39,068 --> 00:54:42,140
But her daughter survived
and was rushed to hospital.

947
00:54:42,175 --> 00:54:45,178
She is featured prominently
in the reports that follow,

948
00:54:45,212 --> 00:54:47,732
but only state media
was able to speak with her.

949
00:54:47,767 --> 00:54:50,114
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

950
00:54:51,702 --> 00:54:53,704
I don't know
that any foreign journalist

951
00:54:53,738 --> 00:54:56,845
could have got access

952
00:54:56,879 --> 00:54:59,399
to the victims
who were in hospital.

953
00:54:59,434 --> 00:55:01,608
And I remember
being surprised

954
00:55:01,643 --> 00:55:04,784
the doctors let
the Chinese journalists in,

955
00:55:04,818 --> 00:55:06,786
because they have
these horrible burns

956
00:55:06,820 --> 00:55:08,581
and, you know,
there's risk of infection

957
00:55:08,615 --> 00:55:10,686
and, you know, to say
nothing of the trauma

958
00:55:10,721 --> 00:55:12,378
and what purpose
are you serving...

959
00:55:12,412 --> 00:55:15,415
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

960
00:55:15,450 --> 00:55:17,244
[LIU SIYING
SPEAKING MANDARIN]

961
00:55:17,279 --> 00:55:19,557
JASON: The nurse
interviews the little girl
for the television cameras.

962
00:55:19,592 --> 00:55:24,010
Meanwhile, the doctor said
she needed
an immediate tracheostomy

963
00:55:24,044 --> 00:55:26,702
inserting a tube
into her throat
to allow breathing.

964
00:55:26,737 --> 00:55:29,084
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

965
00:55:31,638 --> 00:55:34,365
It's unusual
to see somebody speaking

966
00:55:34,400 --> 00:55:35,953
with a tracheostomy
in place

967
00:55:35,987 --> 00:55:37,403
shortly after the injury.

968
00:55:37,437 --> 00:55:39,991
They would not be able
to generate
the force required

969
00:55:40,026 --> 00:55:42,097
through the mouth
to form words.

970
00:55:42,131 --> 00:55:44,064
So, I think
it is fairly unlikely

971
00:55:44,099 --> 00:55:46,273
that somebody,
shortly after their injury,

972
00:55:46,308 --> 00:55:47,689
would be speaking normally

973
00:55:47,723 --> 00:55:51,071
unless the tracheostomy
wasn't required
in the first place.

974
00:55:52,038 --> 00:55:54,903
My name is Dr. Alan Rogers.

975
00:55:54,937 --> 00:55:56,491
I'm a plastic
and reconstructive surgeon

976
00:55:56,525 --> 00:56:00,460
with an interest
and fellowship training
in burn surgery.

977
00:56:00,495 --> 00:56:02,255
I also manage complex wounds.

978
00:56:02,289 --> 00:56:07,329
We are very vigilant
about infection,
prevention, and control.

979
00:56:08,226 --> 00:56:10,021
Several questions
arise in my mind

980
00:56:10,056 --> 00:56:12,610
as to, firstly,
the management

981
00:56:12,645 --> 00:56:14,129
of burn injuries
at the setting.

982
00:56:14,163 --> 00:56:17,995
And then, secondly,whether in fact this was staged.

983
00:56:19,341 --> 00:56:22,379
JASON: Dr. Rogers
finds several things
unusual here.

984
00:56:23,621 --> 00:56:25,209
All four
surviving immolators

985
00:56:25,243 --> 00:56:28,074
are kept together
in a single room.

986
00:56:28,108 --> 00:56:31,111
The nurse and reporter
are not wearing gloves

987
00:56:31,146 --> 00:56:33,424
and next to
the badly burnt little girl

988
00:56:33,459 --> 00:56:35,909
we see
a fuzzy teddy bear.

989
00:56:35,944 --> 00:56:39,775
He's also suspicious
of how certain wounds
are dressed.

990
00:56:39,810 --> 00:56:42,468
DR. ROGERS: This image
is a little bit unusual,

991
00:56:42,502 --> 00:56:45,850
given the very thick nature
of the dressing at the wrist

992
00:56:45,885 --> 00:56:48,819
with no dressing
on the arm or hand.

993
00:56:48,853 --> 00:56:52,236
Perhaps that bulky structure
around the wrist

994
00:56:52,270 --> 00:56:54,134
is in fact concealing
the patient's hand

995
00:56:54,169 --> 00:56:57,897
and that what appears to be
a very deep, mummified hand

996
00:56:57,931 --> 00:57:00,451
is in fact
a very effective prop

997
00:57:00,486 --> 00:57:04,317
because I cannot see
the purpose
of that bulky structure.

998
00:57:07,182 --> 00:57:10,427
The little girl is said
to be recovering well
and nearing release.

999
00:57:12,221 --> 00:57:14,465
But then she, too,
suddenly dies.

1000
00:57:15,742 --> 00:57:17,986
It's reported to be
a heart attack.

1001
00:57:19,988 --> 00:57:22,749
[CHEN SPEAKING MANDARIN]

1002
00:57:38,800 --> 00:57:40,249
JASON: I can't prove
Chen's claim

1003
00:57:40,284 --> 00:57:42,838
that it was all designed
this way for an effect.

1004
00:57:42,873 --> 00:57:44,668
But its impact
is undeniable.

1005
00:57:44,702 --> 00:57:47,636
I felt it myself
when I first heard the news

1006
00:57:47,671 --> 00:57:50,674
and I still feel it today.

1007
00:57:50,708 --> 00:57:53,642
Such a deeply-disturbing
reversal of the mother
archetype.

1008
00:57:53,677 --> 00:57:57,301
The one who is
supposed to nurture
and love and care for

1009
00:57:57,335 --> 00:58:00,097
instead leading her child
to a violent death.

1010
00:58:01,892 --> 00:58:03,721
And tied together with it,

1011
00:58:03,756 --> 00:58:05,654
the accusation
that this horror

1012
00:58:05,689 --> 00:58:08,070
was somehow connected
to Falun Gong.

1013
00:58:08,899 --> 00:58:10,279
And that accusation
itself

1014
00:58:10,314 --> 00:58:12,454
was enough to frame
the discourse.

1015
00:58:13,938 --> 00:58:15,492
Even those who distrusted
the government

1016
00:58:15,526 --> 00:58:18,046
and sought to question
what they were being told,

1017
00:58:18,080 --> 00:58:21,567
did so from within
the influence
of the state narrative.

1018
00:58:21,601 --> 00:58:23,327
"Could Falun Gong
have done this?"

1019
00:58:23,361 --> 00:58:26,123
"Why would Falun Gong
lead people
to burn themselves?"

1020
00:58:26,951 --> 00:58:28,332
Once you ask
those questions,

1021
00:58:28,366 --> 00:58:30,334
you've already begun
to unwittingly operate

1022
00:58:30,368 --> 00:58:32,716
from within
the party's narrative.

1023
00:58:32,750 --> 00:58:37,168
People see things
that are presented
on their television screen

1024
00:58:37,203 --> 00:58:41,345
and they try
to parcel out

1025
00:58:41,379 --> 00:58:45,107
what they can believe
and they shouldn't believe.

1026
00:58:45,142 --> 00:58:47,489
But this effort
has the pernicious effect

1027
00:58:47,524 --> 00:58:48,732
of drawing them in

1028
00:58:48,766 --> 00:58:52,114
and, in fact,
indoctrinates them
only further.

1029
00:58:53,737 --> 00:58:55,808
JASON: I see now
that the self-immolation

1030
00:58:55,842 --> 00:58:58,569
didn't need
to be irrefutable.

1031
00:58:58,604 --> 00:59:02,366
It simply needed
to muddy the waters
on Falun Gong.

1032
00:59:02,400 --> 00:59:05,680
LEVI:
After the self-immolation
and the media blitz,

1033
00:59:05,714 --> 00:59:07,405
suddenly
there's a question.

1034
00:59:07,440 --> 00:59:09,373
"Are these people
the kind of people

1035
00:59:09,407 --> 00:59:11,582
"that would light themselves
on fire to go to heaven?"

1036
00:59:11,617 --> 00:59:13,032
No matter
how objective you are

1037
00:59:13,066 --> 00:59:14,861
as a Human Rights
worker,

1038
00:59:14,896 --> 00:59:17,519
at some point it comes down
to what you feel.

1039
00:59:17,554 --> 00:59:20,004
There was something
in the air

1040
00:59:20,039 --> 00:59:22,075
anytime you met
with these people

1041
00:59:22,110 --> 00:59:23,663
about...

1042
00:59:23,698 --> 00:59:25,803
The enthusiasm was down.

1043
00:59:25,838 --> 00:59:27,978
The immolation event

1044
00:59:28,012 --> 00:59:30,497
eventually changed
my thoughts.

1045
00:59:30,532 --> 00:59:33,431
In part, because,
you know, the obvious point,

1046
00:59:33,466 --> 00:59:36,573
if these were
Falun Gong practitioners,

1047
00:59:36,607 --> 00:59:39,506
and if
they had been directed,

1048
00:59:39,541 --> 00:59:43,303
which the Falun Gong
outside of China denied,

1049
00:59:43,338 --> 00:59:45,892
uh, but if they had,

1050
00:59:45,927 --> 00:59:48,964
this organization
was really willing

1051
00:59:48,999 --> 00:59:51,588
to let people
burn themselves alive

1052
00:59:51,622 --> 00:59:53,590
to make a political point.

1053
00:59:53,624 --> 00:59:55,177
Which is ironic,

1054
00:59:55,212 --> 00:59:59,043
because it plays
right into the Chinese
Communist Party narrative

1055
00:59:59,078 --> 01:00:00,286
of what the problem is.

1056
01:00:01,528 --> 01:00:03,910
JASON: Lisa presumed
it was Falun Gong contacts

1057
01:00:03,945 --> 01:00:05,636
directing the participants.

1058
01:00:05,671 --> 01:00:08,605
But the Chinese press
and the participants
themselves,

1059
01:00:08,639 --> 01:00:10,089
in full confession mode,

1060
01:00:10,123 --> 01:00:12,332
make no claims
of any Falun Gong contacts

1061
01:00:12,367 --> 01:00:14,196
directing them.

1062
01:00:14,231 --> 01:00:17,165
Instead, they offer
a more unusual explanation

1063
01:00:17,199 --> 01:00:18,753
for the origin
of their plan.

1064
01:00:18,787 --> 01:00:20,409
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

1065
01:00:30,627 --> 01:00:31,697
JASON: Liu Yunfang,

1066
01:00:31,731 --> 01:00:33,802
the seventh participant
in the self-immolation

1067
01:00:33,837 --> 01:00:36,736
appears in
a government-organized
press conference.

1068
01:00:36,771 --> 01:00:38,635
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

1069
01:01:01,588 --> 01:01:04,453
JASON: It seems designed
to showcase
the harmful delusions

1070
01:01:04,488 --> 01:01:07,871
of what are purported
to be Falun Gong followers:

1071
01:01:07,905 --> 01:01:10,874
Following dreams
to commit acts of violence,

1072
01:01:10,908 --> 01:01:12,807
believing oneself
to be the incarnation

1073
01:01:12,841 --> 01:01:15,016
of Falun Gong's founder,
Li Hongzhi,

1074
01:01:15,050 --> 01:01:17,674
is man who is still alive
and living in New York.

1075
01:01:17,708 --> 01:01:21,229
I'd seen nothing like this
anywhere in Falun Gong.

1076
01:01:21,263 --> 01:01:23,024
But buried inside
this narrative

1077
01:01:23,058 --> 01:01:24,128
was an admission

1078
01:01:24,163 --> 01:01:25,820
that the idea
for self-immolation

1079
01:01:25,854 --> 01:01:28,546
came from this man,
Liu Yunfang.

1080
01:01:29,616 --> 01:01:31,860
Liu Yunfang says
he lured other to join him

1081
01:01:31,895 --> 01:01:33,517
on the basis
of his visions.

1082
01:01:34,760 --> 01:01:37,417
The state was holding
all of Falun Gong culpable

1083
01:01:37,452 --> 01:01:39,661
for this one man's
alleged dream.

1084
01:01:43,838 --> 01:01:45,978
It gets stranger.

1085
01:01:46,012 --> 01:01:48,290
The dream shares
a very specific detail

1086
01:01:48,325 --> 01:01:50,707
with the immolation plot
in the book,Yellow Peril.

1087
01:01:52,778 --> 01:01:56,333
In both, the immolator wears a special auto-ignition device

1088
01:01:56,367 --> 01:01:58,128
that's planted
in their clothes

1089
01:01:58,162 --> 01:02:00,440
and is used
to set them alight.

1090
01:02:00,475 --> 01:02:02,408
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

1091
01:02:04,341 --> 01:02:05,998
JASON: Yellow Peril reads...

1092
01:02:06,032 --> 01:02:11,037
[JASON READING]

1093
01:02:13,419 --> 01:02:15,870
In my review of
examples of self-immolation,

1094
01:02:15,904 --> 01:02:19,874
I hadn't found any others
that mentioned using
an auto-ignition device

1095
01:02:19,908 --> 01:02:22,531
which sounds like
a very elaborate piece
of technology

1096
01:02:22,566 --> 01:02:24,671
if your plan was
to set yourself on fire.

1097
01:02:24,706 --> 01:02:27,226
It appears once
in this banned work
of fiction

1098
01:02:27,260 --> 01:02:30,401
about a state conspiracy
to frame a repressed group,

1099
01:02:30,436 --> 01:02:33,611
and then again
in Liu Yunfang's dream.

1100
01:02:33,646 --> 01:02:36,200
A dream
that would also become
the justification

1101
01:02:36,235 --> 01:02:39,514
for a continued repression
of millions.

1102
01:02:39,548 --> 01:02:42,759
And this from the man
who didn't manage
to ignite his own fire

1103
01:02:42,793 --> 01:02:45,520
nearly 20 minutes after the group's agreed time.

1104
01:02:52,147 --> 01:02:54,494
[LIANG SPEAKING IN MANDARIN]

1105
01:03:01,881 --> 01:03:04,159
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]

1106
01:03:09,371 --> 01:03:12,374
[CONTINUES SPEAKING MANDARIN]

1107
01:04:06,670 --> 01:04:08,741
[CHEN SPEAKING MANDARIN]

1108
01:04:31,522 --> 01:04:32,661
[SIGHS]

1109
01:04:35,975 --> 01:04:37,839
[MEN GRUNTING]

1110
01:04:42,361 --> 01:04:44,673
[CONTINUES IN MANDARIN]

1111
01:04:53,786 --> 01:04:55,892
-[MEN TALKING INDISTINCTLY]
-[MAN WHIMPERING]

1112
01:05:20,882 --> 01:05:25,507
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

1113
01:05:41,627 --> 01:05:43,940
CELIA OU: We talked to
our local government

1114
01:05:43,974 --> 01:05:46,943
which is the City
of Port Jervis.

1115
01:05:48,082 --> 01:05:51,395
[LIANG SPEAKING MANDARIN]

1116
01:06:07,411 --> 01:06:09,896
[INAUDIBLE CONVERSATION]

1117
01:06:22,530 --> 01:06:23,669
INTERVIEWER: I mean,
how does it feel

1118
01:06:23,703 --> 01:06:27,017
looking back on
these articles

1119
01:06:27,052 --> 01:06:28,985
and what you've achieved?

1120
01:06:31,228 --> 01:06:32,712
It's sad.

1121
01:06:36,716 --> 01:06:40,030
No, I think that,
you know,
that shows that

1122
01:06:40,065 --> 01:06:41,445
it's true

1123
01:06:41,480 --> 01:06:46,105
that the evil is very afraid
of being exposed.

1124
01:06:46,140 --> 01:06:47,796
And, um...

1125
01:06:48,832 --> 01:06:51,317
And that's what we do.

1126
01:06:52,732 --> 01:06:54,010
And that works.

1127
01:07:03,295 --> 01:07:06,643
Several months after the event,
I was in Geneva.

1128
01:07:08,024 --> 01:07:10,060
I was shown a video

1129
01:07:10,095 --> 01:07:12,580
debunking the Chinese claims.

1130
01:07:12,614 --> 01:07:15,272
MAN ON VIDEO:
How is it possible
that a plastic bottle

1131
01:07:15,307 --> 01:07:16,756
filled with gasoline

1132
01:07:16,791 --> 01:07:18,965
encompassed by
a burning man's legs

1133
01:07:19,000 --> 01:07:20,898
remains in perfect condition?

1134
01:07:22,210 --> 01:07:25,834
I thought the Chinese version
of the events was just...

1135
01:07:27,388 --> 01:07:29,735
for want of a better term,
unbelievable.

1136
01:07:29,769 --> 01:07:32,462
It just didn't
add up at all.

1137
01:07:32,496 --> 01:07:35,672
And we made comments
and statements

1138
01:07:35,706 --> 01:07:38,226
in the Human Rights
Council Session

1139
01:07:38,261 --> 01:07:42,506
condemning
the Chinese Government's
version of the events.

1140
01:07:44,508 --> 01:07:47,235
China harassed us.

1141
01:07:47,270 --> 01:07:49,720
They tried
to play little games.

1142
01:07:49,755 --> 01:07:53,276
They would sort of
hover and pace

1143
01:07:53,310 --> 01:07:55,105
and make comments, etc.

1144
01:07:55,140 --> 01:07:58,522
They expected
to be threatening
and intimidating.

1145
01:07:58,557 --> 01:08:01,180
And some NGOs
are intimidated by it

1146
01:08:01,215 --> 01:08:02,906
but I'm not, particularly.

1147
01:08:05,288 --> 01:08:09,050
But China is such
a major power.

1148
01:08:09,085 --> 01:08:13,537
We have been unable
to get a single resolution

1149
01:08:13,572 --> 01:08:15,781
on China,
condemning China
for anything.

1150
01:08:15,815 --> 01:08:17,472
That would require
ultimately

1151
01:08:17,507 --> 01:08:19,129
going to
the Security Council,

1152
01:08:19,164 --> 01:08:20,579
and China has a veto.

1153
01:08:20,613 --> 01:08:23,754
It doesn't mean that
people agree with China.

1154
01:08:23,789 --> 01:08:25,825
But it also means
that people know

1155
01:08:25,860 --> 01:08:30,416
they cannot get
anything with teeth

1156
01:08:30,451 --> 01:08:31,935
against China.

1157
01:08:34,558 --> 01:08:36,595
[PHONE RINGING]

1158
01:08:36,629 --> 01:08:38,942
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

1159
01:08:44,810 --> 01:08:47,502
RICHARD: Finally when I know,
I said, "Okay, great.

1160
01:08:47,537 --> 01:08:49,263
"Get out of there quick.

1161
01:08:49,297 --> 01:08:50,712
"As soon as possible.

1162
01:08:50,747 --> 01:08:54,613
"Forget your property,
forget your money,
just get out,

1163
01:08:54,647 --> 01:09:00,066
"because in there,
you are a piece of meat..."

1164
01:09:00,101 --> 01:09:02,138
[CONTINUES IN MANDARIN]

1165
01:09:03,484 --> 01:09:04,795
[IN ENGLISH] They can kill you.

1166
01:09:04,830 --> 01:09:07,626
The knife is in their hand.
They can kill you anytime.

1167
01:09:07,660 --> 01:09:09,145
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

1168
01:09:32,478 --> 01:09:34,618
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

1169
01:09:42,005 --> 01:09:43,834
[INAUDIBLE]

1170
01:09:44,559 --> 01:09:46,182
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

1171
01:09:56,295 --> 01:09:57,503
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

1172
01:09:59,574 --> 01:10:01,162
JASON: In December, 2013,

1173
01:10:01,197 --> 01:10:03,992
the Communist Party
puts Li Dongsheng
under investigation

1174
01:10:04,027 --> 01:10:07,789
for unrelated charges
of bribery
and abuses of power.

1175
01:10:07,824 --> 01:10:10,171
It's part of what is said
to have been a power struggle

1176
01:10:10,206 --> 01:10:13,209
between factions
at high levels
of the Communist Party.

1177
01:10:14,279 --> 01:10:15,935
Li is removed
from his post

1178
01:10:15,970 --> 01:10:18,662
which then include
Vice Minister
of Public Security,

1179
01:10:18,697 --> 01:10:20,630
and Head of
the Central 610 Office

1180
01:10:20,664 --> 01:10:22,563
for handling Falun Gong.

1181
01:10:23,633 --> 01:10:25,428
In January 2016,

1182
01:10:25,462 --> 01:10:28,016
he is sentenced
to 15 years in prison.

1183
01:10:29,432 --> 01:10:31,227
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

1184
01:10:54,457 --> 01:10:57,114
[INAUDIBLE CONVERSATION]

1185
01:11:04,536 --> 01:11:08,402
KAREN: Say we work
and work and work
on a certain issue

1186
01:11:08,436 --> 01:11:11,336
and it looks like
there's an impasse,

1187
01:11:11,370 --> 01:11:12,647
and then something
will happen

1188
01:11:12,682 --> 01:11:16,755
that completely changes
the dynamic.

1189
01:11:16,789 --> 01:11:20,724
And, for instance,
Nelson Mandela was freed.

1190
01:11:21,725 --> 01:11:24,832
The USSR fell apart.

1191
01:11:25,557 --> 01:11:27,559
The Berlin Wall came down.

1192
01:11:27,593 --> 01:11:29,837
-I mean, these...
-[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]

1193
01:11:29,871 --> 01:11:33,323
There are little hints
that something might happen.

1194
01:11:34,151 --> 01:11:35,152
But...

1195
01:11:35,187 --> 01:11:37,983
sometimes there's
a sea change overnight.

1196
01:11:39,122 --> 01:11:44,161
And those sea changes
are inspirational, actually.

1197
01:11:44,196 --> 01:11:45,197
MAN: Okay.

1198
01:11:46,336 --> 01:11:49,443
-Ready?
-Chen, 14.

1199
01:11:49,477 --> 01:11:50,892
JASON: I had hoped
to find all the answers

1200
01:11:50,927 --> 01:11:53,654
of what happened
in Tiananmen Square
that day.

1201
01:11:53,688 --> 01:11:55,656
But I don't think
that's possible.

1202
01:11:55,690 --> 01:11:57,796
The clues and
the circumstantial evidence

1203
01:11:57,830 --> 01:11:59,522
suggest a government
conspiracy

1204
01:11:59,556 --> 01:12:00,833
to frame Falun Gong.

1205
01:12:00,868 --> 01:12:03,388
But there also
isn't a smoking gun.

1206
01:12:03,422 --> 01:12:05,942
And considering
the environment
in mainland China,

1207
01:12:05,976 --> 01:12:09,290
it seems unlikely
that one will ever emerge.

1208
01:12:09,325 --> 01:12:10,636
Just being
a foreign journalist

1209
01:12:10,671 --> 01:12:14,364
covering the facts
as you see them
in China,

1210
01:12:14,399 --> 01:12:17,022
was hard enough
with this story.

1211
01:12:17,056 --> 01:12:21,129
You know, we weren't
even gonna look
at the competing theories.

1212
01:12:22,130 --> 01:12:23,684
JASON: There were times
I was frustrated

1213
01:12:23,718 --> 01:12:25,375
that the foreign press
hadn't dug deeper

1214
01:12:25,410 --> 01:12:27,860
to uncover
the inconsistencies
in this story

1215
01:12:27,895 --> 01:12:30,035
that were hiding
in plain sight.

1216
01:12:30,069 --> 01:12:31,795
But Lisa
had also taken risks

1217
01:12:31,830 --> 01:12:33,866
to cover
Falun Gong protests before,

1218
01:12:33,901 --> 01:12:35,489
and she'd smuggled
her footage

1219
01:12:35,523 --> 01:12:37,353
out of Tiananmen Square.

1220
01:12:37,387 --> 01:12:38,492
Given that
she'd gone looking

1221
01:12:38,526 --> 01:12:40,494
for another Falun Gong
protest that day,

1222
01:12:40,528 --> 01:12:43,497
I'm not surprised
she viewed it
in that light.

1223
01:12:43,531 --> 01:12:46,327
And as questions did emerge
about the state narrative,

1224
01:12:46,362 --> 01:12:49,088
Lisa and CNN
were quickly off the story.

1225
01:12:52,368 --> 01:12:55,785
That photographer behind
the burning monk photo,
Malcolm Brown,

1226
01:12:55,819 --> 01:12:57,580
had written
something once.

1227
01:12:57,614 --> 01:12:59,478
He described seeing
a newspaper image

1228
01:12:59,513 --> 01:13:00,755
of an elephant
on water skis

1229
01:13:00,790 --> 01:13:03,240
passing under
the Brooklyn Bridge.

1230
01:13:03,275 --> 01:13:06,589
An ad for toothpaste
was printed on the side
of the elephant.

1231
01:13:06,623 --> 01:13:08,245
He said... [READING]

1232
01:13:27,679 --> 01:13:30,026
It's difficult
to imagine a world
in which a government

1233
01:13:30,060 --> 01:13:32,477
could devise
a self-immolation scheme

1234
01:13:32,511 --> 01:13:34,168
to frame a religious group.

1235
01:13:35,721 --> 01:13:38,448
But it was also difficult
to imagine soldiers
opening fire

1236
01:13:38,483 --> 01:13:39,725
on unarmed students

1237
01:13:39,760 --> 01:13:41,934
who were appealing
for democracy.

1238
01:13:43,280 --> 01:13:46,283
Twelve years after
the 1989 massacre
in Beijing,

1239
01:13:46,318 --> 01:13:49,010
as China was ascending
on the international stage,

1240
01:13:49,045 --> 01:13:51,772
it was more concerned
about its global standing.

1241
01:13:51,806 --> 01:13:53,463
It's conceivable
that party leaders

1242
01:13:53,498 --> 01:13:55,707
would have felt a bold
character assassination

1243
01:13:55,741 --> 01:13:59,193
was a smaller risk
than the continued
visible bloodshed.

1244
01:14:00,815 --> 01:14:02,230
DANNY: If you'd been arguing

1245
01:14:02,265 --> 01:14:05,924
that Falun Gong
is encouraging suicides,

1246
01:14:05,958 --> 01:14:07,857
what better way
to show that

1247
01:14:07,891 --> 01:14:10,722
than to actually
stage an event

1248
01:14:10,756 --> 01:14:13,069
in which people
burn themselves publicly

1249
01:14:13,103 --> 01:14:16,348
in a prominent place
like Tiananmen Square?

1250
01:14:16,382 --> 01:14:18,454
DAVID: The people are swayed
by their emotions

1251
01:14:18,488 --> 01:14:22,216
and their desire
not to have to deal
with a problem

1252
01:14:22,250 --> 01:14:24,598
that they think
they can avoid.

1253
01:14:24,632 --> 01:14:27,014
Once you accept
that your government

1254
01:14:27,048 --> 01:14:29,050
has been involved
in a conspiracy

1255
01:14:29,085 --> 01:14:32,398
involving the murder
of hundreds
of innocent people,

1256
01:14:32,433 --> 01:14:37,058
you then have to come
face to face
with your own helplessness.

1257
01:14:37,093 --> 01:14:40,165
And that's not something
that a lot of people want.

1258
01:14:42,823 --> 01:14:46,516
JASON: There are often
many good reasons
not to ask questions,

1259
01:14:46,551 --> 01:14:50,209
especially when doing so
might challenge
an imposing authority.

1260
01:14:52,073 --> 01:14:53,592
But there's also
something remarkable

1261
01:14:53,627 --> 01:14:56,664
about those who still dare
to speak truth to power,

1262
01:14:56,699 --> 01:14:58,459
even in the face
of great risks.

1263
01:15:00,357 --> 01:15:03,257
PETER LI: I remember
Chen Ruichang

1264
01:15:03,291 --> 01:15:05,466
is one of
the practitioners

1265
01:15:05,501 --> 01:15:07,641
who was specially,

1266
01:15:07,675 --> 01:15:09,677
I mean, how do I say...

1267
01:15:09,712 --> 01:15:11,403
[CONTINUES IN MANDARIN]

1268
01:15:13,923 --> 01:15:16,891
We can see
how much suffering

1269
01:15:16,926 --> 01:15:18,341
he experienced, right?

1270
01:15:20,067 --> 01:15:22,897
But they never change.

1271
01:15:28,593 --> 01:15:31,147
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

1272
01:16:04,560 --> 01:16:06,907
[INAUDIBLE CONVERSATION]