Lu Yongxiang, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said he was shocked and outraged at the suicide case by seven Falun Gong members, who set themselves on fire, which took place on January 23, the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year on Tian'anmen Square.

The suicide was organized by the Falun Gong cult headed by Li Hongzhi has shown its true colors as a cult, which confronted the people and the government at the expense of the lives and family of its members while advocating truthfulness, goodness and endurance, said Lu.

He described the struggle against the cult as a fight between good and evil, predicting it will be a long one.

Cults will be eliminated only after a scientific spirit is deeply rooted in the mind of the broad masses, he said, adding that the CAS, China's leading research organization, will continue to try its best to popularize science and scientific spirit in the future. Nuclear Scientist He Zuoxiu, who began to denounce the Falun Gong cult in April, 1999, said the terrifying suicide of the seven cult members represents typical blinding action under cults in the world.

He and many other scientists felt sorry and sympathy for the fate of two beautiful girls badly burnt in the event.

He said the cult has been rapidly politicizing itself and very few cults in the world has been so politicized as Falun Gong.

"I've received lots of letters and leaflets from the cult, many of which viciously attacked top leaders of the Chinese Government," said He.

He and some scientists called for greater efforts to educate cult members and toughen measures against the very few extremists.

Jiang Huanqing from the Institute of High-energy Physics, said the suicide attempt on January 23, the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year, by the seven people on the Tian'anmen Square, the political heart of the country, is clearly an organized and calculated move.

Ai Guoqiang, an academician of the CAS and an astronomer, cautioned that the cult members may take more drastic measures against the society and the government in the future.

Xian Dingchang, an academician of the CAS, said the attempt shows Falun Gong is a 100 percent cult and an anti-government organization.

"Contrary to being truthful, good and enduring as advocated, the Falun Gong group actually is "hypocritical, evil and mad," said the scientist.

Astronomers with the academy also denounced the fallacy about "heaven" by Li Hongzhi.

Zhu Min, an archaeologist who specializes in the evolution of animals, also refuted Li's attacks on Theory of Evolution founded by British scientist Charles R. Darwin.

Wu Ruihua, a psychologist with the CAS, explained the way cults, including Falun Gong, exercise spiritual control over their followers, which gradually cause the followers to lose their reason and become desperate.

(Xinhua 01/31/2001)