(Minghui.org) The annual International Religious Freedom Summit was held in Washington DC from February 2 - 4, 2026. Samuel Brownback, former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom and co-chair of the event, spoke of his personal journey: from initially not knowing what Falun Gong is to finally realizing what it is, why the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hates Falun Gong, why the US supports Falun Gong, and why the CCP’s transnational repression of Falun Gong has become a national security threat to America.
Sam Brownback is a senior politician who previously served as United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, was a US Senator from Kansas, and also served as governor of Kansas.
Samuel Brownback, co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Summit, in Washington DC on February 2, 2026.
Why the CCP Hates Falun Gong So Much
“I thought it was a persecuted religious group, and I didn’t understand Falun Gong. I kind of just lumped it in the category of all groups persecuted under the rule of the CCP,” Brownback said.
Why does the CCP hate Falun Gong so much? This question puzzled him for a long time.
“I’ve never understood that for the longest time. It’s a domestic religion, it’s homegrown to China. Why do you hate this so much? And then it finally dawned on me that the CCP sees Falun Gong as an enormous security threat to themselves. And the Falun Gong just want to take China back to its civilization that it had for thousands of years, and that is a big threat to the communist party that has an ideology that’s imported from Europe. Communism is a European import. And so that’s what made me look at it and say ‘okay, this makes more sense to me why the CCP hates Falun Gong so much.’ It also makes sense to me why we should be supporting the Falun Gong.
“I think it’s really, in the process of writing this book on China’s war on faith, where I was able to spend in-depth time with each of the faiths that are being persecuted in China. And you interview people, and you’re talking with them, you’re digging more through the information, then it kind of…it really came out of that.
“The CCP is opposed to all faith communities, they don’t want anything of any of them. But that special animus that they have for the Falun Gong, I think, the serious threat that they view Falun Gong is to their control, and their ideology. The Falun Gong’s ideology is basic Chinese civilization. Communism is Marxist-Lenninism from Europe—it doesn’t fit the Chinese people. Falun Gong fits the nature of the Chinese people, and that’s again why it’s seen as such a major threat.”
Brownback said, “I’m a follower of Jesus, I’m a Christian, but in the process of doing this book, I could see just the deep spiritual nature of the Chinese people. Whereas I’ve observed it more from outside for years, of communism pushing a non-spiritual issue, that’s counter to the nature of the Chinese people, and Falun Gong is trying to build on that nature of the Chinese people. I can use the example; it’s like someone throwing weed out on the Kansas soil, it just grows. And that’s the nature of kind of the Falun Gong teachings, it’s very natural to the Chinese soil.”
The CCP’s Transnational Persecution of Falun Gong Affects US Security
He has also taken note of the CCP’s transnational repression of Falun Gong in the US in recent years. “I think it [transnational repression] affects the national security that’s…they’re doing it domestically, in the United States, for one. The second piece is, I see us backing groups like…us in the United States, backing groups like Falun Gong, the Tibetan Buddhists, the Uyghur Muslims and the Christians, as this is our confrontation with the CCP. They’re at war with us, and we should be responding by being ‘okay, you’re going to attack us, and be after us, we’re gonna go at you.’ And one of the weakest things you have is your treatment of religion, all religions. It’s horrible and it offends the people in China, and we should back those that are standing for religious freedom, as part of our defense against the CCP.”
Nine US Senators Jointly Sponsor Falun Gong Protection Act
Senators who sponsored the Falun Gong Protection Act (S.817)(First row, from left to right): Sponsor Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, co-sponsors: Senators Ron Johnson (Wisconsin), Rick Scott (Florida);(Second row, left to right): Thom Tillis (North Carolina), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Todd Young (Indiana);(Third row, left to right): John Cornyn (Texas), David McCormick (Pennsylvania) and Roger Marshall (Kansas).
The Falun Gong Protection Act (S.817) was put forward by Senator Ted Cruz on March 3, 2025. The bill states that the Chinese Communist Party still conducts forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners. The bill provides for sanctioning those involved in the forced organ harvesting. Presently, eight Republican Senators have joined the list of co-sponsors for the bill.
The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed the Falun Gong Protection Act on May 5, 2025. Congressman Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who sponsored the Act, condemned the CCP for its crimes of persecuting and harvesting organs from Falun Gong practitioners. He said, “China’s state organ transplant system is conducting organized, bloody massacre of its citizens in hospitals; such barbaric action must stop or the US must stop associating with China.” He urged the US Federal Senate to pass the Falun Gong Protection Act as soon as possible.
Brownback added in response, “I think any of those bills that move us forward, recognizing the central importance of religious freedom is a good thing. There’s an axis of dark countries that are communist, totalitarian, authoritarian, that are opposed to religious freedom. And we need to point that out, and we need to stand against it and promote religious freedom.”
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