Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident

The Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident took place in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, on the eve of Chinese New Year on 23 January 2001. There is controversy over the incident; Chinese government sources say that five members of Falun Gong, a new religious movement that is banned in mainland China, set themselves on fire in the square. Falun Gong sources disputed the accuracy of these portrayals, and claimed that their teachings explicitly forbid violence or suicide.^[1][2] Some journalists have claimed that the self-immolations were staged.^[3]

According to Chinese state media, a group of seven people had travelled to Beijing from Henan province, and five set themselves on fire on Tiananmen Square.^[4] In the Chinese press, the event was used as proof of the dangers of Falun Gong, and was used to legitimise the government's campaign against the group.

The official account of events soon came under scrutiny, however. Two weeks after the self-immolation event, The Washington Post published an investigation into the identity of the two self-immolation victims who were killed, and found that "no one ever saw [them] practice Falun Gong".^[5]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) wrote that "the incident was among one of the most difficult stories for reporters in Beijing at the time to report on" because of a lack of independent information available.^[6] The self-immolation victims were accessible only to reporters from China's state-run press; international media, and even the victims' family members were barred from contacting them.^[7] A wide variety of opinions and interpretations of what may have happened then emerged: the event may have been set up by the government to frame Falun Gong;^[8] it may have been an authentic protest;^[9] the self-immolators could have been "new or unschooled" Falun Gong practitioners;^[7] and other views.

The campaign of state propaganda that followed the event eroded public sympathy for Falun Gong. Time magazine noted that many Chinese had previously felt that Falun Gong posed no real threat, and that the state's crackdown against it had gone too far. After the self-immolation, however, the media campaign against the group gained significant traction.^[10] Posters, leaflets and videos were produced detailing the supposed detrimental effects of Falun Gong practice, and regular anti-Falun Gong classes were scheduled in schools.^[11][12][13] CNN compared the government's propaganda initiative to past political movements such as the Korean War and the Cultural Revolution.^[14] Later, as public opinion turned against the group, according to sources, the Chinese authorities began sanctioning the "systematic use of violence" to eliminate Falun Gong.^[15] In the year following the incident, Freedom House said that the imprisonment, torture, and deaths of Falun Gong practitioners in custody increased significantly.^[16]