(Minghui.org) Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi arrived in Ottawa, Canada, on May 28, 2026, and met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Foreign Minister Anita Anand the following day.
Joel Chipkar, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada; Joel Etienne, legal advisor for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada; David Matas, international human rights lawyer; and Falun Dafa practitioners Cong Xinmiao and He Lizhi held a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 28, 2026, urging Minister Anand to raise three critical demands to Wang Yi: end transnational repression on Canadian soil, end the persecution of Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) in China, and release nine family members of Canadians who are imprisoned in China for practicing their faith.
The Falun Dafa Association of Canada sent a letter to Minister Anand, urging her to raise the issues of transnational repression and the family members of Canadian citizens being persecuted in China during her meeting with Wang Yi.
During Wang Yi’s visit to Ottawa, practitioners held protests on Parliament Hill and outside of the Global Affairs Canada office to call attention to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution and transnational repression of Falun Dafa.
Practitioners protested the CCP’s persecution and transnational repression on Parliament Hill and outside of the Global Affairs Canada office on May 28 during CCP Foreign Minister Wang’s visit. (Minghui.org)
(L-R) Joel Etienne, legal advisor for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada; David Matas, international human rights lawyer; Joel Chipkar, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada; and Falun Dafa practitioners Cong Xinmiao and He Lizhi at a press conference in Ottawa on May 28
Practitioners Call for the Release of Their Persecuted Family Members in China
“My mother was sentenced to four years for practicing Falun Gong in China. Now she’s 81 years old, and she’s been imprisoned for three years and four months. As a practitioner of Falun Gong, I call on the Canadian government to help stop the persecution of Falun Gong in China. I also call for the release of my mother, and that all imprisoned practitioners in China be released,” said Ms. Cong Xinmiao, a practitioner from Montreal, at the press conference.
She said that her mother, Ms. Cong Lanying, was repeatedly harassed by the police and members of the neighborhood committee. After the CCP began persecuting Falun Gong, she was arrested and imprisoned for telling the government and others how her health recovered by practicing Falun Gong. Lanying was held for over 30 days in 2022 for doing the Falun Gong exercises in a park, and her home was ransacked while she was out on bail. She was secretly sentenced to four years in prison and fined 20,000 yuan in 2023. Lanying, now 81, is still in Jinan Women’s Prison in Shandong Province. Her son, Xinmiao’s younger brother, is allowed to visit her once a month.
As a Canadian citizen, Ms. Cong Xinmian called on Canadian leaders to tell Beijing to stop interfering in Canada and end the transnational repression in Canada.
Toronto resident Mr. He Lizhi’s younger brother, Mr. He Lizhong from Gansu Province, China, was sentenced to seven years in prison for having videos about Falun Gong on his cell phone. Lizhi said at the press conference, “For nearly three years, every family visit to Lizhong has been denied. We know nothing of his safety or health. That silence is its own form of torture. My parents are over 80. This cruelty is breaking them.”
Lizhi was imprisoned in China for three and a half years for upholding his faith and was nearly tortured to death. He said, “Today, as Wang visits Ottawa, I call on Canadian leaders: Demand the immediate and unconditional release of my brother Lizhong He and all imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners; Send Beijing a clear message: Transnational repression will not be tolerated in Canada.”
Spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada: End Foreign Interference from the CCP
Mr. Joel Chipkar, the spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, said that Canada is facing unprecedented transnational repression and foreign interference from communist China, and it’s happening in plain sight.
Chipkar said, “Over 20 such threats have been recorded in Canada alone, part of more than 270 worldwide, ranging from bomb threats against venues and Parliament Hill to attack Canadian politicians. Every single one carried the same demand: cancel Shen Yun and silence Falun Gong.
“These are not isolated incidents, they’re part of a coordinated global campaign of Communist Party-directed transnational repression, combining disinformation, diplomatic pressure, lawfare, and hoax bomb threats.”
He said the CCP interferes with Shen Yun because Shen Yun celebrates 5,000 years of Chinese civilization before communism and tells an inconvenient truth the CCP doesn’t want to face: the horrific human rights crimes against Falun Gong that have gone on for 27 years, mass imprisonment, torture, forced labor, and forced organ harvesting.
During the press conference, international human rights lawyer David Matas said that many practitioners had no choice but to flee China after the CCP began persecuting Falun Gong. He also noted that the practice of Falun Gong and protests against its suppression are global.
He said, “Cultural interaction between China and Canada entrusted to the Chinese diplomatic mission and consulates in Canada by the government of China, including efforts to have Canadian venues deny their premises to Shen Yun Performing Arts, has to be conducted through Global Affairs Canada. This is a legal requirement set out in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and a Canadian statute, the Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act. Any direct approach by the Chinese Embassy or Consulate in Canada to Canadian cultural venues to address cultural matters in general, and the denial of venues to Shen Yun in particular, violates both international treaty law and Canadian statute law.”
David Matas addressed the press conference on Parliament Hill on May 28. (Minghui.org)
Matas advised the Canadian government to inform the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi during his business visit, as well as the Chinese Embassy and consulates directly, of this legal reality.
He said that Wang Yi came to Canada to reinforce new commercial agreements and arrangements with the Canadian government, which are often built upon the suffering of persecuted groups, including Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghur slave laborers, and Tibetans.
On May 28, 2026, Falun Gong practitioners in Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa held rallies on Parliament Hill, outside of the Global Affairs Canada office, outside of the Prime Minister’s office, and outside the Chinese Embassy to protest the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong that has gone on for 27 years and its transnational persecution. They called on the Canadian government to take action to stop the CCP’s escalating interference and transnational suppression.
Falun Gong practitioners displayed banners along Wang Yi’s travel route that read in Chinese and English: “Stop Persecuting Falun Gong,” “Falun Dafa Is Good,” “Stop the CCP from Harvesting Organs from Living Practitioners,” “Stop Persecuting Shen Yun,” and “Stop the Transnational Suppression of Falun Gong.”
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Category: Rallies & Protests
