(Minghui.org) The Hudson Institute held a forum on “China’s Persecution of Falun Gong at 25 Years” on the afternoon of July 17, 2024. Several Falun Gong practitioners and researchers discussed recent updates regarding this issue. “The persecution of Falun Gong is criminal on multiple levels,” said Miles Yu, Senior Fellow and Director for the China Center.
A forum hosted by the Hudson Institute on China’s Persecution of Falun Gong since 1999
Nina Shea, Senior Fellow and Director of Center for Religious Freedom, hosted the forum. She said July 20 of this year marks the 25th anniversary since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to suppress Falun Gong in 1999. The Chinese authorities estimated there were between 70 and 100 million Falun Gong practitioners in China as of 1999 before then CCP leader Jiang Zemin decided to eliminate Falun Gong and established a bureaucratic infrastructure to carry it out. “[The CCP] eventually officially demonized it [Falun Gong] as an ‘evil cult.’ Hundreds of thousands of practitioners were arrested and sent to labor camps,” she said.
Nina Shea, Senior Fellow and Director of Center for Religious Freedom
According to data from the U.S. State Department, Falun Gong practitioners comprised about one third to one half of labor camp detainees in China. A large number of practitioners were beaten, tortured, and “disappeared.” “Substantial evidence indicates that they were murdered under an acknowledged government policy of forcibly harvesting prisoners’ organs for transplant; Others were subjected to coerced re-education during so-called ‘transformation’ sessions,” Shea continued. “Thousands of practitioners are reported now imprisoned for their beliefs; hundreds continue to die in custody in recent years. Bitter Winter magazine documented two Falun Gong practitioners who died in one women’s prison alone this year.”
Former State Department Advisor: Multi-level Crime by the CCP
After serving as the China policy adviser to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Miles Yu is currently a senior fellow and director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute. He said the CCP’s suppression of Falun Gong is a multi-level crime.
“Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that combines meditation and qigong exercises with moral teachings based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance,” Yu explained. “After gaining significant popularity in China during the 1990s, Falun Gong scared the totalitarian nerve of the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP perceived this growing influence of Falun Gong as a threat to its authority and launched a brutal campaign to eradicate the practice.”
Miles Yu, the China policy adviser to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
More specifically, the persecution violates basic human rights such as freedom of belief. “Practitioners are subject to arbitrary detention, torture, and forced labor,” continued Yu. “Many have been imprisoned without trial, and there are numerous reports of deaths in custody as a result of torture and abuse. Such actions are in direct violation of international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
“Furthermore, the CCP’s campaign against Falun Gong involves widespread propaganda and misinformation aimed at dehumanizing practitioners and justifying their persecution. State-controlled media outlets have disseminated false narratives branding Falun Gong as a dangerous cult and its adherents as enemies of the state. This systemic vilification not only incites hatred and discrimination, but also serves to obscure the true nature of the government’s actions from the international community,” Yu added.
Credible reports and investigations have indicated that imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners are killed for their organs, which are then sold for transplantation. “This abhorrent practice constitutes a gross violation of medical ethics and human rights, amounting to a crime against humanity,” he said. The CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong highlights the importance of freedom of belief which is promoted by the United States.
New York Architect: Mother Detained Three Times and Died of Torture
New York architect Simon Zhang displayed a picture of his mother Ms. Ji Yunzhi in 2012.
Simon Zhang, an architect from Brooklyn, New York, described the death of his mother, 65-year-old Ms. Ji Yunzhi. Ms. Ji was a Falun Gong practitioner in Balinzuo Banner of Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. After being sent to a forced labor camp in 2001, she almost died because of torture. “The guards in the labor camp shocked her with electric batons for two hours straight and she lost consciousness and lost control of her bladder. Her face was also burned,” Zhang recalled. “Ten years after that incident, she showed me the scar on her neck and it was still clearly there.”
Before the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Ms. Ji was taken to a forced labor camp again. She was once again severely tortured and almost died. “My father was allowed to take her home because officials in the forced labor camp did not want to be held responsible for her death,” Zhang said.
When Beijing held the Winter Olympics in 2022, Ms. Ji was again arrested at home. “After officials took my mother to a detention center and tortured her, she went on a hunger strike to protest this arbitrary detention. But officials responded with more torture, including forced feeding and humiliation,” Zhang said. “It took only 49 days after Mother was arrested for her to die there. My father was only allowed to see Mother one day before she died.”
Zhang showed a picture of his mother he said was taken in 2012 before he came to the United States. His mother always wanted to come and visit him, but her dream never came true because her passport application was always denied by the CCP because she practiced Falun Gong.
Larry Liu, Deputy Director of the Falun Dafa Information Center, said Falun Gong is still the main target of the CCP after 25 years of persecution. The suppression escalated during the pandemic. “In the past two years, there have been over 1,700 new sentences, the longest term being 15 years,” he said. “The documented cases of death have surpassed 5,000. So, on average, basically every two days another Falun Gong practitioner dies [due to the persecution].”
Shen Yun Conductor: Worldwide Interference by the CCP
Ying Chen, a conductor for Shen Yun Performing Arts, talked about the CCP’s attempts to interfere with their performances in the United States and other countries.
Shen Yun Performing Arts conductor Ying Chen
“Shen Yun Performing Arts is the world’s premiere Chinese dance and music company,” she said. It was established in the U.S. in 2006 by a group of elite artists who fled religious persecution in China. The performances showcase the breadth of China’s cultural treasures. “Over the years, Shen Yun has grown from one to eight groups touring around the world. By performing in over 200 cities every year, Shen Yun is able to reach one million audience members each season,” Chen said.
During the performances, Shen Yun depicts authentic, traditional culture, which is deeply spiritual and was lost under communist rule over the past few decades. Although the CCP destroyed China’s culture, Shen Yun strives to revive it and is able to showcase its magnificence before the communist era. While portraying events in modern China, Shen Yun also illustrates religious persecution. One example is the courage and dignity of Falun Gong practitioners despite the hardships they experience. She said these stories are really heart-wrenching and bring people to tears.
Chen said the CCP has interfered with Shen Yun since the beginning. It pressured theaters to cancel performances or attempted to stop local officials from going to the show. “In Spain, the Chinese ambassador admitted that he visited the Royal Theater himself to pressure the theater to cancel our performance. That was just weeks before the shows and all tickets had been sold,” she said. In addition, CCP agents slashed the tires on Shen Yun buses and sent bomb threats.
Alert to the CCP’s Transnational Repression
Sarah Cook, Independent researcher and author of Freedom House’s report The Battle for China’s Spirit, said the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong was initially public and mainly resorted to violence. Now the CCP’s transnational suppression is more complicated. It involves targeting Shen Yun through Western media and social media. For example, a number of new accounts suddenly appeared on social media recently to attack Falun Gong and Shen Yun.
Levi Browde, Executive Director of the Falun Dafa Information Center, also noticed that the CCP initially used threats of violence in its transnational suppression and Falun Gong practitioners were beaten in New York’s Chinatown. Later, the Chinese consulate threatened venues where Falun Gong held events and spread rumors to government officials. Now the CCP is waging an information war on social media to direct public opinion and influence American media, social platforms, academics, and others.
Levi Browde, Falun Dafa Information Center Executive Director
Browde said there are Falun Gong practitioners among CCP officials. Recently, he received information from China to the effect that certain officials would devote all their resources to supporting social media users who attack Shen Yun and let them spread rumors and lies.
The CCP is able to control the media and legal system in China, but it cannot do that in the Western world. From China’s internal documents, it is clear the CCP now wants to use a public platform to attack Shen Yun, spread rumors, and defame Falun Gong, including creating trouble within the group. This is something not seen before.
Shea said she has seen Shen Yun numerous times, most recently at the Kennedy Center at the beginning of this year and it was very exciting. She believes that the U.S. government should learn lessons from the CCP’s suppression of Falun Gong over the past quarter century. The persecution of Falun Gong has exposed the true face of the CCP regime, such as demonizing and slandering Falun Gong while covering up the its cruel atrocities. The United States should remain vigilant and uphold justice.
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