After "What is Falun Gong?" the question that most everyone wants to ask is, "Why is it being persecuted?" It doesn't make any sense. Why would such peaceful people, who do no harm to anyone, be the target of such a vicious, relentless attack?

It is hard to say what motivates an individual to develop a seemingly insane campaign of terror, but there are some theories we can share.

In 1999, China's then-leader Jiang Zemin cast approximately 100,000,000 citizens as criminals overnight, when he banned the practice of Falun Gong. Many China watchers believe that Jiang was fearful of Falun Gong's widespread popularity, believing it was overshadowing his own legacy. According to a 1999 Washington Post article, "Communist Party sources said that the standing committee of the Politburo did not unanimously endorse the crackdown and that Jiang alone decided that Falun Gong must be eliminated" in order to solidify his power base.

The Post article continues, "Western scholars and Chinese analysts have speculated that Falun Gong grew...because people saw it as an antidote to the moral vacuum that many Chinese – including Communist Party members – feel they're living in. The Party decided to crush Falun Gong because it cannot tolerate an organization separate from its control, many analysts say.

"But these explanations avoid the core wackiness of the crackdown – namely, that the Communist Party has mobilized thousands of security personnel to go after a spiritual organization whose members are mostly laid-off workers and retired Communists. It has staked its prestige on its ability to cart elderly women off in police vans."

All totalitarian systems, Fascist or Communist, reject freedoms of belief and expression, and throughout the history of civilization, untold numbers of innocent people have been the victims of this kind of repression. Today in China, groups like the Tibetans, Christians, Uighurs and Democracy advocates face torture and death every day, so what could cause Falun Gong to be declared "Enemy Number One?" Why has only the persecution of Falun Gong been institutionalized with a gestapo-like agency (the "6-10 Office") to maintain the persecution's national oversight?

Perhaps we can gain some insight into this by observing Jiang's rise to power and how he kept it in his iron grip. Jiang was one of the architects of the Tiananmen Square massacre, and his suppression of the students on that bloody day, and clampdown of media in the days following, launched his career. He became China's most powerful leader for over a dozen years. Along the way, he surrounded himself with people whose loyalties he could win through bribery and corruption, and had little use for those without similar tastes. As Falun Gong gained widespread popularity by providing improvements to health, well-being and moral rectitude, for free, Jiang saw a population beyond his control. Falun Gong practitioners had no interest in money and power and remained beyond him; this became intolerable to him.

As China scholar Andrew Nathan observes, "[Ultimtately, Communism is] a system built on monopoly of power and [Falun Gong] is something essential, which can't be compromised."

China's most recent party congress left Jiang stripped of his military post, a powerful spot he held after Hu Jintao replaced him as China's top leader. Now he holds no official position, and many are wondering, "What of Falun Gong?" Insiders say that the top cadres are deeply divided about the crackdown- they can't win it, and now they don't know how to back down from it without losing face- in Chinese culture, a deep and unforgivable sin.

Does Jiang's loss of power herald the arrival of spring for Falun Gong practitioners worldwide? It is a sign, perhaps, that the tides are shifting as awareness is growing. All over the world, people who practice Falun Gong have taken to the streets, some silently sitting in homemade torture devices resembling those used in China today, some politely telling anyone who'll listen what has happened. In New York City, the world's financial capital, and in that sense, the world's capital, everyone has seen the displays. New Yorkers are renowned for their aloofness, but that too has shifted when it comes to this issue. Everyone is shocked, and many kindhearted people are moved to help.

As a human rights organization, we appreciate and encourage this sentiment. We invite everyone to pitch in by talking with friends, family, co-workers, or by writing letters to their elected officials or local newspapers. Every voice counts, and when this nightmare is over, won't it be great to know that you have helped to end it?

We hope that gives a little more insight into how this miserable campaign of eradication began, and what Falun Gong practitioners are now doing about it. FoFG supports the efforts of these tireless volunteers in any way possible and we thank you for everything you have done and will do.