The official Chinese news agency 'Xinhua' accused the Dalai Lama of supporting "evil cults" like Falun Gong and Japan's Aum Shinrikyo. In a lengthy declaration, using very harsh and unjournalistic wording, Xinhua thus not only attacked the spiritual leader of the country that is being occupied by China, but also some of those religious groups that are deemed to be dangerous and evil cults in China.

Source: Reuters - 09/10/07 --> Read the article

* The Xinhua report did not alter the decision of the United States to award the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama a U.S. Congressional Gold Medal. China officially condemned the decision.
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The US did however not pull back and President Bush was present at the ceremony on the 17th of October and even called on China to meet with the Dalai Lama.
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* Although the Reuters article did not use the Xinhua report as factual data to make news out of, but instead used the declaration as news itself, calling it China's "latest tirade" against the Dalai Lama, the Falun Information Center still issued some remarks on the article.

"Responding to an Oct. 9 Reuter’s article citing a Xinhua commentary about the Dalai Lama and Falun Gong, the Falun Dafa Information Center said Thursday that the purpose of such statements was to deflect attention from rights abuses. The Center called on foreign media to stop uncritically repeating Xinhua propaganda.

“Xinhua’s statements linking the Dalai Lama and Falun Gong with cults are a calculated effort to demonize peaceful, faith-based groups,” said Levi Browde, Executive Director of the Falun Dafa Information Center. “It is irresponsible of Reuters to unquestioningly report them, especially without indicating to readers that Xinhua is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mouthpiece.”

In 2005, Reporters Without Borders called Xinhua “the world’s biggest propaganda agency,” highlighting its subordination to the CCP and regular distortion of facts. (news)

“It is a well-documented pattern of the CCP’s to use Xinhua to incite hatred against religious minorities and draw attention away from the real news—that the Chinese regime continues to torture and kill Tibetan Buddhists and Falun Gong practitioners,” said Browde."

Source: Faluninfo.net newsletter - 11/10/07