Liu Jing, head of a newly set anti-cult office under the State Council, answered questions in a press conference February 27.

Incomplete investigations have indicated that the under-fire Falun Gong organization has led to 1,660 deaths, an official announced yesterday during a Beijing news conference on the government's handling of the cult, Xinhua news agency reported.

Liu Jing, the official in charge of the Office for the Prevention and Handling of Cults under the State Council, said that before the organization was officially banned on July 22, 1999, 136 Falun Gong practitioners had committed suicide at the instigation of Li Hongzhi, ringleader of the cult, who called on his followers to "go to the Heaven."

After the official ban, another 103 persons killed themselves as a result of Li Hongzhi's heresies.

Meanwhile, the cult has destroyed the harmony of many families, depriving many of love and happiness. It has misled a large number of obsessive followers to refuse medical services, commit suicide or even kill innocent people.

"Facts show that the Chinese government's ban on Falun Gong is a necessary move to maintain social stability and safeguard fundamental human rights at the request of the Chinese people. It completely abides by the law," Liu said.

Liu also said that the government will try its best to educate and help Falun Gong practitioners to get out of the spiritual shackles of the cult. Legal punishments are only exerted on those followers who conduct crimes which violate social stability and endanger human rights of other individuals.

"It is rather difficult to liberate obsessive cult followers from the addiction. In this regard, we wish to strengthen ties and co-operation with foreign anti-cult institutions, and take appropriate measures to protect the Chinese people from the harm of cults," Liu said.

The official also said that China is not the only country that has declared war against cults. It is a responsibility that every responsible government should shoulder.

However, some forces have turned a deaf ear to the misdeeds of Falun Gong and used the issue as a pretext to interfere in China's internal affairs. Such behavior is absolutely unacceptable, the official insisted.