(Minghui.org) Practitioners held a rally in Montreal, Canada’s second-largest city, on April 25 to commemorate a peaceful appeal in Beijing 27 years ago and to introduce people to Falun Gong.
After dozens of practitioners were illegally arrested in Tianjin in April 1999, about 10,000 practitioners went to the National Appeals Office in Beijing on April 25, 1999, to request their release. The detained practitioners were released and the appeal ended that day. But just three months later, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a nationwide suppression that continues to this day.
Falun Gong practitioners held a rally in Montreal on April 25, 2026.
Passersby sign petitions that urge an end to the persecution in China
People took a group picture after they signed petitions.
“You Did the Right Thing!”
“Falun Gong improves our minds and bodies. That is why I felt I needed to appeal after other practitioners were wrongfully arrested,” recalled Ms. Li. She was 32 years old in 1999 and worked at a university in Beijing.
April 25, 1999, was a Sunday, and Ms. Li went to the group practice as usual in the morning. After they did the exercises, a volunteer assistant told them that more than 40 practitioners had been arrested in Tianjin after they talked to a magazine editor who’d published an article that defamed Falun Gong. Ms. Li explained, “Tianjin authorities said the order [to arrest them] came from Beijing. If we [practitioners] wanted to appeal, we had to reach out to the central government.”
Ms. Li thought about how much she and other practitioners had benefited from doing the exercises and following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and she decided to go. She and three other practitioners rode bikes to the National Appeals Office on Fuyou Street.
Ms. Li noticed many police officers on duty, and one of them asked if they were Falun Gong practitioners there to appeal. When they said they were, another police officer led them to a spot about 100 meters away from the west entrance of Zhongnanhai.
The police were nervous at first, but as they directed people where to stand, they started to realize that the practitioners were very peaceful, so they relaxed. Some walked around casually and occasionally stopped to chat with us. We stood on the sidewalk and did not block traffic. We later heard that practitioner representatives had gone inside to talk with officials, so everyone waited patiently. Some practitioners walked around with plastic bags and collected trash.
Ms. Li and all the other practitioners left after they heard that the detained practitioners had been released. The appeal was peaceful from beginning to end. But Jiang Zemin, then top CCP leader, claimed the event was an “attack on Zhongnahai,” and in July he initiated the persecution of Falun Gong. Having been there in person, Ms. Li said the appeal was lawful and justifiable.
Practitioners’ family members agreed. One of the practitioners who came with Ms. Li had a cell phone which was not all that common back then. During the appeal, her daughter, who was in college, called her: “One of my classmates saw practitioners’ appeal, and she said it was great. I am proud of you, Mom! You did the right thing.”
“We Will See Results”
The speeches at the rally were given simultaneously in Chinese, English, and French. The Tian Guo Marching Band played, and practitioners demonstrated the exercises. Many passersby applauded and expressed their approval.
Joel (left) and his friend Jocelyn
Joel, a drummer from the National Circus School of Canada, said he was attracted by the music and stayed to listen to the speeches. Although he knew the CCP mistreated Chinese people, this was first time he’d heard about the persecution of Falun Gong.
He said, “What you are doing is important, because people need to care about these topics. You are changing people’s hearts for the better. I look forward to more peaceful events like this. We will see results.”
He said it was hard to understand why such a peaceful meditation group has been suppressed for 27 years. “People need to know about this and remember history. I hope one day the persecution will stop and people will regain their freedom,” Joel added.
Chinese Students Quit the CCP Organizations
When three students (two Chinese and one Malaysian) asked what was going on, a practitioner told them the event commemorated the peaceful appeal in Beijing in April 1999. One student said, “I know about this. It was something the CCP misrepresented to defame Falun Gong.”
They said they had learned about Falun Gong online and knew the CCP had made up lies to slander Falun Gong, including the staged self-immolation on Tiananmen Square. “We know the CCP is good at brainwashing people, but we won’t be fooled,” one of them added. “The CCP is indeed vicious.”
This was the first time these students had even seen a practitioners’ activity. They each took a copy of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. One of them said he’d recently been to a Shen Yun performance and really liked it. “Several people told me that you must see Shen Yun at least once in your lifetime.”
When they heard how the CCP has harmed people, including Falun Gong practitioners, throughout it’s numerous political campaigns, both Chinese students agreed to renounce their memberships in the CCP organizations.
The Malaysian student said, “My father is from China. I will tell him to quit online.”
Others Are Also Victimized
Benomar Ahmed
Benomar Ahmed, a nurse, was shocked to hear what Falun Gong practitioners have suffered for their faith. “I cannot imagine something like this could happen. I also cannot accept the brutality of forced organ harvesting,” he said. “Government officials in China and other countries need to step forward and support those who are persecuted.”
Denis
Denis, a former government employee, said she’d witnessed human rights abuses when she visited China. After she read a flyer about Falun Gong, she said she felt sorry for the mistreated practitioners and she would look into this online.
Software engineer John Slanly signed a petition to end the suppression: “I don’t like communism. I have some relatives in China who are Uyghurs, and they could be persecuted on any given day, just like Falun Gong practitioners.”
He said he knew about Falun Gong and would continue to follow up on this issue through social media. “I believe all victims of communism need to work together to have our voices heard. That will help end the nightmare.”
Background: What Is the April 25 Appeal?
Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries. Millions of people have embraced the teachings—which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance as well as five gentle exercises—and experienced improved health and well-being.
On April 23 and 24, 1999, police officials in Tianjin, a city near Beijing, assaulted and arrested dozens of practitioners who gathered outside a magazine office to discuss errors in a recently-published article attacking Falun Dafa. As word spread of the arrests and more practitioners inquired with officials, they were told they had to take their appeals to Beijing.
The following day, April 25, some 10,000 Falun Dafa practitioners spontaneously gathered at the National Appeals Office in Beijing, as they had been instructed by Tianjin officials. The gathering was peaceful and orderly. Several Falun Dafa representatives were called in to meet with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and members of his staff. That evening, practitioners’ concerns were answered. The arrested practitioners in Tianjin were released, and everyone went home.
Jiang Zemin, former head of the CCP, perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and issued an order to ban Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999.
Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners due to the persecution over the years, although the actual number is suspected to be much higher. Many more have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.
There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply the organ transplant industry.
All content published on this website is copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
Category: April 25 Events
