Maybe it's the photo but he's a weird looking dude.
Qigong 'master' Wang Lin holed up in Hong Kong
Thursday, 01 August, 2013 [Updated: 6:02AM]
Patrick Boehler patrick.boehler@scmp.com


Qigong practitioner Wang Lin

Controversial self-proclaimed "qigong master" Wang Lin broke his silence from a chic Hong Kong hotel room to compare his situation to that of NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

Qigong practitioner Wang LinWang has been accused by mainland media and one of his disciples of conducting illegal medical practises and claiming he has supernatural powers.

"It's as if the whole country has turned against me, turning black into white and white into black," Wang told The New York Times in his first public comments since the controversy surrounding him erupted on the mainland a week ago. "It's truly beyond my comprehension."

Wang confirmed he is hiding out in an unspecified Hong Kong hotel, having acquired permanent residency in the city 18 years ago. He denied any wrongdoing and said he was the target of corrupt political dealings.

"If I go back, I'll certainly be arrested," Wang said.

His appearance in Hong Kong comes as condemnation of his spiritual martial arts practices reaches fever pitch on the mainland. State-owned media outlets have portrayed his qigong healing skills as a hoax that had helped him amass an enormous fortune and gain the confidence of leading officials.

Two news programmes called Wang "a vulgar magician" who made a living "deluding celebrities and blinding the public". People's Daily said that people like Wang Lin were purveyors of "spiritual opium".

Photos of Wang's limousines and luxury villa have been widely circulated online, along with images of him with former Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, ex-Politburo Standing Committee member Jia Qinglin , disgraced railways minister Liu Zhijun, actors Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and others.

In a 1997 companies registry filing, Wang appears as a director of the Hong Kong-based Australia Chinese Friendship Association Ltd.

The Melbourne-based Australia Chinese Friendship Society had no knowledge of such a company, its president, John Breheny, told the Post by phone.

Records also show that since 2008 Wang has been one of three directors of the Kowloon Bay-based Hui Long Holdings Ltd., with registered capital of HK$100 million. The company has been involved in construction projects in Yichuan, an hour's drive from his hometown, according to local government statements.

Wang's court case against former disciple Zou Yong began this week. Zhou, who Wang claims owes him 33 million yuan (HK$41.42 million), has provided information for press attacks against Wang.
Wang Li: Qigong “Master” a Conjurer of Cheap Tricks?
By Jonathan DeHart
July 31, 2013

Two documentaries aired on China’s state-run CCTV on Sunday calling Wang Lin a “vulgar magician” who has done little more than sell bogus health techniques to the Chinese masses – not to mention some of its elite.

The qigong (Taoist breathing exercises meant to cultivate energy) spiritualist and advisor has fallen on hard times since the investigative reports played on television sets across the nation and has since come under investigation for fraud. The Jiangxi province-born “master” is reportedly attempting to evade scrutiny by disappearing from sight – some say by fleeing to Hong Kong.

Wang’s fall from grace has become a major topic of discussion in China, given his celebrity clientele, which included some of China’s most prominent entertainment, business luminaries – even heads of state – from Jackie Chan and Jet Li to Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Hong Kong’s former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, as well as relatives of former Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The prominence of 61-year-old Wang’s following was not in doubt, although some of his practices were strange by any standards. From “creating snakes” after placing scraps of paper under an upside-down basin which he jostles around until two snakes issue forth (see video here) to shredding steel with his bare hands, recovering paper from ashes, and even retrieving “an incinerated banknote intact from an orange” – some of his exploits are truly bizarre.

While actions such as these can be dismissed as magic tricks, things become morally hazy with some of his health suggestions. Wang has claimed to heal cancer and other serious illnesses, including removal of three “stones” from the body of former Indonesian president Suharto. All told, Wang estimates he has worked with some 50,000 patients.

Wang has dismissed claims that his practices are illegal, claiming that he has undergone rigorous investigation by a team of 17 Japanese scientist over a period of seven days, and has received numerous offers from U.S. intelligence agencies attempting to lure him to their shores with the promise of a green card.

He claims that he began to cultivate his supernatural powers from age seven under the tutelage of an Emei Taoist priest.

Despite accusations that he is a charlatan, Wang claims he donates up to 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) annually to charity – a claim that is backed by Pan Zhongwu, deputy director of social assistance at Pingxiang’s Civil Affairs Bureau.

Sima Nan, well known as a debunker of pseudoscience, invited Wang to Beijing to prove his claims, offering $1.6 million to anyone who can prove they have supernatural powers.

Wang has not taken criticism or questioning lightly, cursing at least one journalist. “I am telling you, you will die miserably, and your family will follow," Wang told a reporter with The Beijing News last week after she wrote a story that he thought damaged his name.

If convicted of illegal practice, he has a lot to lose. With the dubious earnings he has raked in, Wang has procured three Hummers and a Rolls-Royce that has been spotted parked in front of his five-story villa in his hometown of Pingxiang, Jiangxi province, nicknamed “the palace” due to the fact that his surname means “king” in Mandarin. He is also known to drive a Porsche and owns further properties in Shenzhen, Nanchang and Hong Kong.