(Minghui.org) An International Religious Freedom Roundtable took place at the U.S. Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. on September 29, 2025. Individuals and NGOs from various religions and beliefs, as well as some U.S. government officials, participated and shared stories on religious persecution around the world. They also discussed the progress of potential interventions, support, and resistance.
The officials came from the State Department as well as the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Staffers from lawmakers’ offices were also in attendance and listened to the experiences of those who were persecuted.
Mark Yang from the Falun Dafa Information Center was one of the speakers at the event. He briefed the Roundtable on the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) escalated transnational repression targeting Falun Gong and Shen Yun.
“Since March 2024, there have been over 184 death threats targeting Falun Gong practitioners, their children, affiliated institutions, and supporters,” Yang explained. “Many of these threats were delivered through emails or the Falun Gong websites’ contact pages. The messages included bomb threats, mass shootings, and graphic depictions of sexual violence against women and children.”
Shen Yun Performing Arts has been a major target of this campaign. The company has received threats targeting its New York headquarters and the theaters where the performances are held.
Yang detailed an incident at the Kennedy Center in February, in which a bomb threat targeting Shen Yun caused an evacuation, the deployment of the K9 police dogs, and some audience members canceled their tickets. While all the threats have been hoaxes, the CCP’s fear tactics have already disrupted performances and incurred additional security costs to Shen Yun.
According to a March 2025 Liberty Times report, Taiwanese authorities were able to trace some of the threats targeting Shen Yun in Taiwan to a Huawei facility in Xi’an, China.
Besides threats, Yang also described an example of the CCP’s impersonation tactics. In late August, a message was sent to the Catholic University of America during its fall orientation. The person who claimed he was a Falun Gong practitioner sent a bomb threat targeting the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, which is right next to the campus.
Yang said this was proven to be a hoax, just like the other cases. However, “It reflected the ongoing pattern of impersonation attacks aimed to discredit the [Falun Gong] community and create disruption.”
Speaking of the origin of the current escalation, Yang cited a Diplomat article which stated that Xi Jinping held an internal meeting in 2022 and ordered his top security advisors to ramp up the transnational repression of Falun Gong worldwide, especially through disinformation and lawfare.
“Unfortunately, we are seeing these tactics being played out in real time, as this [Falun Gong] community faces disinformation, frivolous lawsuits, and violent threats on U.S. soil,” Yang continued.
Yang thanked law enforcement agencies for their support. He highlighted the concerning ramifications of the CCP’s actions beyond Falun Gong. He explained that these demonstrate the CCP’s elevating capabilities that target faith groups and institutions in the U.S. and can also be deployed against other groups.
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