(Minghui.org) In July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched an all-out persecution of Falun Gong. Then CCP leader Jiang Zemin once issued an order to “defame [practitioners’] reputation, bankrupt them financially, and eliminate them physically.” In recent weeks, Falun Gong practitioners around the world have held a series of events exposing the CCP’s brutality, and many elected officials have publicly condemned the persecution.

“For over 26 years, the CCP has waged a campaign of repression against practitioners of Falun Gong and their families,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson recently told The Epoch Times. “We again call on the CCP to end its campaign to eradicate Falun Gong.”

The United States Department of State

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, was introduced to the public in 1992. Its profound health benefits and the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance quickly attracted about 100 million practitioners within several years. Many people found the practice improved not only their physical health but also their moral values. As a result, the Chinese government and Chinese media outlets praised Falun Gong in its first years.

As more people took up the practice, however, Jiang viewed Falun Gong as a threat and launched a nationwide persecution in July 1999. Authorities used forced labor, torture, and other forms of torment to force practitioners to give up their faith.

To date, Minghui.org has verified thousands of deaths based on first-hand information. The true death toll is hard to verify, and likely much higher, given the lack of transparency in China.

Additionally, an unknown number of people have been killed for their organs to fuel the regime’s lucrative transplant industry, according to independent investigations. A 2019 independent tribunal in London, chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice KC, found that Falun Gong practitioners were the primary source of organs.

The House of Representatives has passed two bills this year to push for an end to the abuses: the Falun Gong Protection Act and the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act. Five states have enacted laws to discourage residents from obtaining organ transplants in China. Both federal bills are awaiting action in the Senate.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been outspoken about the regime’s abuses targeting Falun Gong, was the chief sponsor of the Falun Gong Protection Act as a senator in the previous Congress.

“Communist China has been able to get away with a campaign of widespread evil,” Rubio said in 2024. “The U.S. will not tolerate these practices.”

In May, Rubio testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committed and conveyed that the State Department would “make every effort” to get the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act passed.

U.S. Senator Rick Scott

“You need to get a vote on it,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) told The Epoch Times’ sister media outlet NTD, about the legislation. He said it’s “despicable” that organ harvesting is happening.

“We’ve got to tell the Chinese government that we’re not going to stand for this,” Scott said.

Representative Brian Babin

Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) described forced organ harvesting as being “beyond human comprehension. This is worse than anything I’ve ever heard of,” he told The Epoch Times on July 15.

“To have people in prison—objectors, prisoners of conscience, political prisoners—and this regime has got their blood types, their tissue types, and somebody orders an organ, and they go in there and force that person to give up an organ, and he loses his life,” he explained. “It is beyond anything I can even imagine. And it’s a billions and billions of dollar operation.”

Repression on US Soil

Repression targeting Falun Gong practitioners in other countries, most notably in the United States, has escalated recently, driven by a 2022 instruction from Chinese regime leader Xi Jinping, whistleblowers have said.

Key parts of the new strategy spearheaded by China’s Ministry of State Security, a regime body that conducts foreign intelligence and subversive activities, involve spreading disinformation about Falun Gong using social media and Western media outlets. Another tactic is to weaponize the legal system against Falun Gong and related entities in the United States as well as instigating the U.S. government to launch investigations.

In one high-profile case, two Chinese agents were sentenced for trying to bribe an IRS official to revoke the tax-exempt status of Shen Yun Performing Arts, a classical Chinese dance and music company founded by Falun Gong practitioners to revive traditional Chinese culture through performing arts. That plot was foiled by undercover FBI agents.

The Falun Gong community at large has also been targeted by more than 140 threats since 2024. Those have included threats of physical assault, bombings, and other forms of violence aimed at disrupting activities that draw awareness to the regime’s persecution.

Earlier this year, a bomb threat forced an evacuation at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington on Shen Yun’s opening day, prompting condemnation from the White House.

Representative Michael McCaul

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who previously chaired the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said such aggression is inherent to the regime’s nature.

“They hate Falun Gong. They hate the people that talk about what was China like before [communist rule],” he told NTD.

Levi Browde from the Falun Dafa Information Center

“The regime’s efforts to export repression makes it all the more important for the West to understand the Falun Gong issue,” said Levi Browde, executive director of the Falun Dafa Information Center.

Representative Johnny Olszewski

Ahead of a Falun Gong rally in Washington on July 17, Rep. Johnny Olszewski (D-Md.) said he’s thankful for anyone “taking the time to call out and peacefully stand up against” the abuses the regime is perpetrating.