(Minghui.org) A violent attack targeting a Falun Gong practitioner took place in London at noon on February 23, 2026. While Ms. Chunping Zhang was telling a group of Chinese tourists about Falun Gong, a tour bus driver snatched her banner, smashed her cell phone, and assaulted her. The assault took place next to the back entrance of the British Museum. The London police are taking the incident very seriously and they officially opened a criminal investigation.
Four days later, an Asian resident violently attacked practitioner Ms. Lydia Dong on February 27 on Main Street in Flushing, New York. The New York Police Department filed the case as a hate crime.
Falun Gong, a meditation system based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, is practiced in over 100 countries. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began persecuting the practice in July 1999 and recently expanded the suppression outside China.
Assault in London
To help people, especially Chinese tourists, learn what Falun Gong is and refute the CCP’s defamatory propaganda, practitioners maintain a presence near the British Museum, which is a popular landmark. They have a permit to hold the activity, and they are protected by the London police.
Chinese tourists learn about Falun Gong outside the British Museum.
When local practitioner Ms. Zhang displayed a poster exposing the persecution next to a tour bus carrying Chinese tourists around 12:30 p.m. on February 23, some tourists stopped to read it or took photos. A Chinese tour guide became agitated, berated Ms. Zhang, and insisted that she stop talking to them. Ms. Zhang said she would just display the poster. But the tour guide continued harassing her.
The tour bus driver (of Caucasian descent) suddenly got off the bus and snatched the poster. When Ms. Zhang said she would call the police and tried to stop him from leaving, he shoved her to the ground, injuring her head. A woman who witnessed the entire incident intervened, and helped Ms. Zhang up.
However, the driver assaulted her again: He grabbed Ms. Zhang by the neck with one hand and punched her in the right eye with the other, knocking her down once more. Then he straddled her and continued hitting her. When he got back on the bus to leave, Ms. Zhang blocked the door. The driver kicked her hand, closed the door, and drove away.
A couple at the scene recorded the entire incident, including the vehicle's license plate number, and submitted the recording to the police.
The tour bus driver who assaulted Ms. Chunping Zhang.
The Falun Gong information site in front of the British Museum has operated for years in accordance with the law, having obtained permission from the local government. Many Chinese tourists, after learning facts there, changed their misunderstandings about Falun Gong. In recent years, the British government has repeatedly emphasized that it will not tolerate any foreign forces engaging in intimidation, harassment, or violence within the UK.
The tour bus company is from Ireland, and has Chinese connections. The CCP uses various means to infiltrate and intimidate Falun Gong practitioners overseas, including bribing overseas media and infiltrating bus tour companies. The CCP’s long-term slander and propaganda campaigns have misled many Chinese, as well as people in the West.
Recent Attack in Flushing
Practitioners in New York set up five booths on Main St. in Flushing, one of the city’s largest Chinese communities, to tell people about Falun Gong and to refute the CCP’s slanderous propaganda. Whatever the weather, they continue to tell people about Falun Gong and how the CCP persecutes it.
A Falun Gong booth on Main Street in Flushing, New York
According to surveillance footage, at approximately 1:15 p.m. on February 27, an Asian man crossed Main Street and attacked practitioner Ms. Dong from behind, striking her in the head. The assailant punched her in the back of the head, causing her to fall to the ground. Her hat and glasses were knocked off. After the attack, the assailant ran towards the subway station.
Passersby who witnessed the attack shouted, “Get him! Call the police!” Ms. Dong called the police. The police officer who reviewed the video footage said the incident was “crazy!”
The left image is a close-up photo of the attacker captured by a security camera as he fled. The right image shows the moment he attacked Ms. Dong. (Provided by the Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP)
On March 1, the Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP released a photo of the attacker. The center said that Falun Gong practitioners have been helping people recognize the CCP’s brutality in China and abroad. The center appealed to the public for assistance in investigating the case.
Protecting Legal Rights
For over two decades, Falun Gong practitioners have used peaceful means to expose the brutal persecution. The recent attacks are not isolated incidents, but further evidence of the CCP’s overseas infiltration and transnational repression. The United States and the United Kingdom are societies governed by the rule of law, where freedom of belief and freedom of speech are protected. Any act of violence against those expressing their views not only violates the law but also infringes upon fundamental social values and principles of justice.
The Falun Gong spiritual practice group is a legally registered religious organization in the United States and the United Kingdom, and enjoys the right to freedom of religion and speech under those nations’ laws.
After vandalizing a Falun Gong booth and attacking Falun Gong practitioners in Flushing on February 10, 2022, Buqiu Zheng attacked practitioners again in 2024. He was later convicted of a hate crime. Another attacker assaulted several Falun Gong practitioners during a march on Eighth Avenue in Brooklyn on September 14, 2024. One of the victims, practitioner Wang Lirong, said that a Queens Criminal Court staff informed her that the Chinese man who attacked her had been deported.
British and American Elected Officials Condemn the CCP’s Transnational Repression
Over the past year, several US senators and representatives have spoken out, and condemned the CCP’s transnational persecution of Falun Gong and other groups, and demanded action to hold the CCP accountable and impose sanctions such as prosecuting, sentencing, and deporting those involved.
Senator Jeff Merkley stated that the CCP has brought its crackdown on freedom of speech and assembly to the United States. “The United States must oppose all acts of transnational repression—no matter the perpetrator,” he explained.
US Representative Zach Nunn from Iowa (Photo, US House of Representatives website)
Representative Zach Nunn believes the CCP’s transnational repression is an organized attempt by the CCP to subvert human rights and democracy in the United States. He said this behavior is outrageous and that the US Congress and the President must hold the CCP accountable.
In January 2026, former US Congressman Dave Brat said that the CCP’s suppression of religious groups such as Falun Gong in the United States violates the US Constitution. This is an attack on fundamental freedoms. He said that US law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI, should take measures to stop the CCP’s transnational repression.
US Representative Chris Smith from New Jersey speaks at a seminar in July 2025 at the US Capitol: “Safeguarding Freedom: Countering CCP Transnational Repression.”
When he introduced the Transnational Repression Policy Act, Representative Chris Smith, co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), said, “The legislation—which we will soon reintroduce—will significantly mitigate transnational repression including actions of foreign governments to intimidate, silence, or harm members of diaspora and exile communities to prevent them from exercising their human rights.”
On World Human Rights Day, December, 10 2025, Jim Shannon MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief (APPG), sent a letter to Falun Gong practitioners, stating that officials must also ensure that all transnational acts of repression occurring within the UK are given full attention, investigated and held accountable.
Last March, Lord Alton of Liverpool, chairman of the Joint Commission on Human Rights, submitted a written inquiry to the government, asking how it assessed the risks of the CCP’s transnational persecution of Falun Gong and interference with Shen Yun. Lord Hanson of Flint, Home Secretary, responded by pledging that the government would protect the rights of Falun Gong practitioners and Shen Yun:
“The Government is committed to promoting and protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief, including protecting the rights of Falun Gong Practitioners and their performance group, Shen Yun,” replied Lord Hanson of Flint. “We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously. Any attempt by any foreign state to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK will not be tolerated.”
Copyright © 1999-2026 Minghui.org. All rights reserved.
