On Monday, Feb 8th, 2021, James Wang, field representative of District 28 Assemblymember Evan Low, had a virtual meeting with Tai Ji Men disciples (called dizi) of the San Francisco Bay Area. Hoping to seek support and raise awareness of the human rights violations committed by the Taiwan government, the dizi related the horror experienced by the victims of the Tai Ji Men tax persecution case during the hour-long meeting with Mr. Wang. Twenty-three Tai Ji Men dizi participated in this virtual meeting. Most of them are constituents of District 28.
Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy at San Jose has been involved in public events to promote the general welfare of the community in the SF Bay Area for the last 20 years. Tai Ji Men dizi dedicate themselves to reaching out to the community through sharing the beauty of the Chinese culture. The hope is to elevate the overall physical and spiritual well being of the community. Moreover, they strive to educate the next generation to be positive and loving citizens. The contribution of Dr. Hong, Tai Ji Men Zhang-men-ren, is not limited to the local communities. Dr. Hong has traveled around the world promoting the culture of peace with love and conscience. Unfortunately, on December 19, 1996, Tai Ji Men was caught in the crossfire of Taiwan’s political chaos. The prosecutor charged Dr. Hong and Tai Ji Men dizi of fraud and tax evasion without any evidence. This human rights violations case attracted the attention of many human rights scholars and experts around the world.
During the meeting, Brenda and Jeff, who are two of the 10,000+ victims of the Tai Ji Men case, shared their stories. Brenda, a resident of San Jose, California, is the daughter of one of the four wrongfully detained victims. With tears in her eyes, she recounted how the unjust process traumatized her and her family.
Even after 24 years, Brenda still remembers the horrid event clearly: “On December 19th, investigators from the Investigation Bureau under the Ministry of Justice rang our doorbell. I didn’t know who they were and what happened. After waking up my dad, I left for school. When I came home, I found that our house was searched. What they wanted was to find evidence to support the false claim that Tai Ji Men had violated the law. On Christmas Eve, my dad, Dr. Hong, Mrs. Hong and another dizi were detained, even though he was not charged with any crime by the prosecutor.” He was unlawfully detained for approximately four months although no charge was filed.
Brenda said, “In 1996, Prosecutor Hou Kuan-jen violated the principle of confidentiality of the investigation and released fake information to the media. As a result the media falsely reported that Tai Ji Men “evaded taxes,” “defrauded people,” and “raised goblins.” I dared not tell my classmates that I was practicing qigong at Tai Ji Men because I was afraid to be discriminated against. Not to mention wearing the Tai Ji Men uniform on the street. Because our house was searched, sometimes, I would wonder if our phone was tapped”.
“Furthermore, my two uncles living in the United States believed the misinformation on the news reports. Because my dad was detained and couldn’t explain the truth to them, my mom had to deal with their complaints. Also, there was so much gossip and rumors about Tai Ji Men at my mom’s workplace, my mom, who worked for the Ministry of Justice, was forced to retire.”
“After that, my sister and I left to study abroad. She went to France, and I came to the U.S. and stayed to this day. My family members are separated by continents. It’s hard to see all the family members at once. Even though our parents missed us a lot, they didn’t want us to move back to Taiwan for our own safety reasons.”
“It has been nearly 18 years since I came to the United States, and more than 24 years since the incident occurred. It has been such a long time, and I’m so far away from Taiwan, yet the scars on my heart still hurt.”
“Whenever I look back at the incident, tears will well up in my eyes. Tai Ji Men helped my dad regain his health. The Taiwan government severely damaged his credibility and reputation. They brought him to face trials in court without adequate evidence. The inhumane treatment he received in the detention center also caused his old injury from a car accident to relapse. He walked with a limp after he was released from the detention center. Although he finally received national compensation for unlawful imprisonment, he didn’t live long enough to witness the day when justice will return to Tai Ji Men. He passed away in 2014.”
Jeff, another victim of the Tai Ji Men case also shared his story: “In 1993, my grandpa passed away in a car accident. My grandma and the whole family were very sad until a family friend introduced Tai Ji Men to us. He said it’s a place for happiness. My grandma was the first to join and we started seeing smiles on her face again. Subsequently, we all joined. So I started going to Tai Ji Men with my parents to learn qigong from Dr. Hong. Practicing qigong actually made me feel special. As a young boy, I was shy, introverted, and lacked confidence. After practicing qigong, I started to find my inner peace, build up my confidence, and make more new friends. It totally changed my life.”
“However, when the Tai Ji Men case broke out in 1996, my life took an unexpected turn. Some people, including my friends and some family members, started laughing at me. They said things like: Mr.Hong is a fraud; Tai Ji Men is a cult; and my parents are scammed. Some parents even told their kids to stay away from me, fearing I might have any negative influences on them. I was just an 11-year-old kid and I had to face the humiliation, loneliness, and darkness all by myself. I didn’t realize how bad I was actually hurt until I started reflecting on what had actually happened. It’s like ripping off a band-aid and seeing the wound is still there after all these years. This is an unfortunate and terrible mistake made by the Taiwan government. It has caused permanent damage to my mind.”
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only victim in my family. My dad worked as a senior manager in a bank. Even with terrific performance at work, he did not receive any promotion for years just because he was a Tai Ji Men dizi.”
The Tai Ji Men case has been brought to the attention of the international community. During the meeting, they also presented a movie titled “A Question of Justice: The Tai Ji Men Tax Case in Taiwan” directed by Prof. Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist and the founder of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR). Also, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland hosted a ministerial to advance religious freedom or belief on November 16 and 17th 2020. There was a side event titled Tax Justice and Religious Freedom: the Tai Ji Men Case and Beyond on Nov 19, 2020.
Mr. Wang offered his perspective at the end of the meeting and said that he will notify Assemblymember Evan Low of this unjust case. Tai Ji Men dizi hope that Assemblymember Low will write a letter to the Department of State regarding this case of human rights violations and help his constituents resolve this matter equitably.
Pic 1: Tai Ji Men overseas dizi of SF Bay Area, hoping to seek support and raise awareness of the human rights violations committed by the Taiwan government, met with James Wang, field representative of Assemblymember Evan Low.
Pic 2: Brenda of San Jose, California, the daughter of one of the five wrongfully detained victims, shared how the unlawful process traumatized her and her family.
Pic 3: A movie “A Question of Justice: The Tai Ji Men Tax Case in Taiwan” directed by Prof. Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist and founder of the Center for Studies on New Religions was presented during the meeting.