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. The incident is disputed: the official Chinese press agency, Xinhua News Agency, stated that five members of Falun Gong, a spiritual movement whose members are persecuted in mainland China, set themselves on fire to protest the treatment of Falun Gong by the Chinese government. Falun Gong sources disputed the accuracy of these portrayals, noting that Falun Gong's teachings explicitly forbid violence or suicide. The Falun Dafa Information Center suggested the incident was staged by the Chinese government to turn public opinion against the group and to justify the campaign against it. Western journalistic sources argue based on evidence uncovered both from the footage of the incident, and through journalistic research, that the incident was entirely staged.

According to Chinese state media, the five people were part of a group of seven who had travelled to the square together. One of them, Liu Chunling, died at Tiananmen under disputed circumstances and another, her 12-year-old daughter, Liu Siying, died in hospital several weeks later; three survived. A CNN crew present at the scene witnessed the five setting themselves ablaze and had just started filming when police intervened and detained the crew. The incident received international news coverage, and video footage was broadcast later in the People's Republic of China by China Central Television (CCTV). The coverage in the CCTV showed images of Liu Siying burning and interviews with the others in which they stated their belief that self-immolation would lead them to paradise, a belief that is not supported by Falun Gong’s teachings. Two weeks after the 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 practice Falun Gong."

Human Rights Watch (HRW) believed 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. A wide variety of opinions and interpretations of what may have happened emerged: the event may have been set up by the government, it may have been an authentic protest, the self-immolators "new or unschooled" practitioners, and other views. Journalist Danny Schechter notes that the Chinese government's claims about the incident remain unsubstantiated by outside parties.

The campaign of state propaganda that followed the event eroded public sympathy for Falun Gong, and the government began sanctioning "systematic use of violence" against the group. 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 to expose the "dangers" of the practice.