By NTD

October 31, 2012

Last week, an unusual open letter was published by The Epoch Times newspaper. In the letter, a city-level official who belongs to the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee—the powerful Communist Party organization that controls the police, state security, and the court system inside China—apologized for persecuting two adherents of the Falun Gong meditation practice. A letter like this has never been published before, as the persecution of Falun Gong is the most taboo topic in China.

So why did this official want to apologize for what he’s done? What made him so scared that he is urging other officials to “learn from Wang Lijun,” who escaped to a US Consulate back in February? And what does this have to do with China’s upcoming power transition? We talk to Karen Chang and Jason Ma for the latest on this issue, and why it’s just a hint of things to come.

Original NTD website posting