(Minghui.org) July 2026 marks the 27th anniversary since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to suppress the peaceful meditation system Falun Gong in 1999.
After it was introduced to the public in May 1992, Falun Gong benefited practitioners in over 100 countries, so why does the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecute it?
What Is the CCP?
Let’s take a look at the CCP’s origins. The Communist Party originated in the lumpenproletariat of the Paris Commune in France. After it was brought to Russia in 1917, it established the The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU); the Communist International (Third International) was soon formed and spread throughout the world.
Founded in Shanghai on July 23, 1921, the CCP was Stalin’s Far Eastern branch in China. From its formal establishment to its earliest activities, the CCP was directly led, organized, and assisted by the Far Eastern Bureau of the Comintern. The so-called People’s Republic of China actually had a predecessor called Chinese Soviet Republic, which was Stalin’s proxy state: the Third International in China.
The CCP is a Soviet organization, but it tells the Chinese people they are descendants of Marxism-Leninism. This is an insult to their ancestors, undermines millennia of their culture and led to the deaths of 80 million Chinese people. The CCP is foreign to China and does not represent the Chinese nation: the CCP is not China.
In the decades since the CCP usurped power in China history has shown its essence is deception, evil, and struggle. Throughout its numerous political campaigns, it uses lies, and struggle to systematically undermine China’s traditional morality, culture, ideas, conduct, and human relations. This is why China is in such chaos now.
Falun Gong Promotes Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, was introduced by Mr. Li Hongzhi on May 13, 1992. In a society whose morals are rapidly declining, Falun Gong guides people to cultivate themselves based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Consisting of five sets of exercises that are easy to learn, the practice enables people to improve physically and morally.
Between May 1992 and July 1999, according to an investigation by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, between 70 million and 100 million people in mainland China practiced Falun Gong. The following are major events and media reports during those years:
* From 1992 to the end of 1994, Qigong research associations in various regions invited Mr. Li Hongzhi to hold 56 lectures in more than 20 cities across China. More than 60,000 people attended.
* In 1992, Falun Gong was listed as an affiliated sect of the China Qigong Research Association.
* From December 12 to 21, 1992, Mr. Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong practitioners participated in the Beijing 1992 Oriental Health Expo held at the China World Trade Center in Dabeiyao, Beijing. The healing effects of Falun Gong attracted widespread attention at the expo. Mr. Li Hongzhi received the most awards at that expo.
* On August 31, 1993, the China Foundation for Righteous and Courageous Acts, under the Ministry of Public Security of China, sent a letter to the China Qigong Science Research Association, thanking Mr. Li Hongzhi for providing free rehabilitation treatment to the representatives of the Third National Commendation Conference for Advanced Individuals in Righteous and Courageous Acts.
* On September 21, 1993, the People’s Public Security Daily, sponsored by the Ministry of Public Security, published an article: “Falun Gong Provides Rehabilitation Treatment for Advanced Individuals in Righteous and Courageous Acts.” It stated that “advanced individuals in righteous and courageous acts recognized by the Ministry of Public Security have generally received very good results after [Falun Gong] treatment.” On December 27 that year, the China Righteous and Courageous Acts Foundation, affiliated with the Ministry of Public Security, awarded Mr. Li a certificate of honor.
* At the Beijing Oriental Health Expo held from December 11 to 20, 1993, Falun Gong was specially invited to participate. Over ten days, Mr. Li Hongzhi led practitioners in treating thousands of patients, achieving an effectiveness rate of over 95%. The Expo awarded Mr. Li Hongzhi the highest prize, the “Frontier Science Progress Award”, as well as the “Special Gold Award” and the “Most Popular Qigong Master” award. Mr. Li Hongzhi received the highest number of awards at this Expo.
* In 1994, the China Radio and Television Publishing House, under the State Council, published Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Gong. Falun Gong instructional videotapes were officially published and distributed by the Beijing Television Art Center Publishing House.
* In 1996, Zhuan Falun was repeatedly listed as a bestseller by Beijing media: In January, the book was listed as one of the top ten bestsellers in Beijing by Beijing Youth Daily; on March 21, Beijing Youth Daily published a list of bestsellers in Beijing for January, and Zhuan Falun was among them; on March 22, Beijing Evening News published a list of bestsellers for January and February, and Zhuan Falun was among them; on June 8, Beijing Daily published a list of the top ten bestsellers for April, and Zhuan Falun (Volume II) was one of them.
* On the evening of May 15, 1998, CCTV1’s Evening News and CCTV5 simultaneously reported on Wu Shaozu, Director of the State General Administration of Sport, when he talked with Changchun residents who practiced Falun Gong. The report was about ten minutes long.
* On July 10, 1998, China Economic Times published an article titled “I Stand Up!”, a report on Xie Xiufen, a woman from Handan City in Hebei Province, who suffered from a spinal cord injury and paralysis and had been bedridden for 16 years. After practicing Falun Gong for only two months, she was able to stand.
* On August 11, 1998, Beijing Daily published an article about people who did the Falun Gong exercises every morning in Beijing, with a special mention of Falun Gong and a cover photo of Falun Gong practitioners doing the exercises.
* On August 28, 1998, China Youth Daily published an article titled “A Festival of Life” which introduced the 1,500-person Falun Gong group at the Shenyang Asian Sports Festival and the fitness effects of practicing.
* On November 1, 1998, Leshan Daily reported on a Leshan City experience-sharing meeting attended by more than 14,000 Falun Gong practitioners.
* On November 10, 1998, Yangcheng Evening News reported that more than 5,000 people did the Falun Gong exercises in Guangzhou each morning. The headline read: “People of all ages practice Falun Gong”. The report also mentioned that Lin Chanying, a statistician at Guangzhou Leather Diwei Co., Ltd., who suffered from paralysis and numbness in 70% of her body, regained her ability to walk after practicing Falun Gong.
* On November 24, 1998, Shanghai Television broadcast interviews with people who joined the nearly 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners at the Shanghai Sports Center and did the exercises. According to the report Falun Gong was practiced throughout Europe, America, Australia, and Asia, and 100 million people worldwide practiced.
* In 1998, five medical surveys were conducted by local medical communities in Beijing, Wuhan, Dalian, and Guangdong Province, involving nearly 35,000 people. This was the most systematic and comprehensive medical survey to date. The results showed that the overall effectiveness of practicing Falun Gong in improving health and fitness was over 98%; the psychological and mental conditions of the participants also greatly improved. The savings in medical expenses in China was considerable.
* In the latter half of 1998, a group of veteran members of the National People’s Congress, led by Qiao Shi, conducted a detailed investigation into Falun Gong and concluded that “Falun Gong is entirely beneficial to the country and the people.” They submitted an investigative report to the Politburo of the Communist Party of China at the end of the year.
Jiang Zemin Persecuted Falun Gong Out of Jealousy and Hatred
Falun Gong is effective in resolving illnesses and improving health, and it has a powerful ability to elevate people’s morality. People spread the word and their friends and family members began practicing. In just seven years, the number of people practicing Falun Gong reached 100 million.
In contrast, although former CCP leader Jiang Zemin proposed the theory of Three Represents, it was hardly recognized, let alone studied by the general public. Motivated by jealousy and hatred, Jiang announced “the Communist Party will definitely defeat Falun Gong,” thus coercing the CCP to launch a frenzied persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999.
It was estimated that Jiang and his followers consumed a quarter of the national treasury’s resources in the persecution. Specifically, they mobilized the entire state apparatus, including the media, military, public security, judiciary, and diplomacy, to implement a comprehensive genocidal policy against practitioners to “ruin their reputations, bankrupt them financially, and eliminate them physically.”
The nationwide suppression is systematic because Jiang coerced the entire society to participate in it, including government agencies, schools, enterprises, and neighborhoods. The persecution targets included the grassroots level and linked their efforts to political performance—it implicated Falun Gong practitioners’ workplaces, families, and children. The methods were extremely vicious, from staging the Tiananmen self-immolation incident as part of the CCP’s hate propaganda, to kidnapping, imprisoning, and torturing practitioners, and then to harvesting their organs... Data from Minghui.org shows at least several thousand Falun Gong practitioners have lost their lives due to the persecution.
In mainland China, the CCP has essentially transformed the country into a human rights prison: people are brainwashed and indoctrinated with hatred, their speech is suppressed, they are deprived of their human rights, their lives are taken hostage, information is blocked, and their spiritual beliefs are extinguished. In this communist dictatorship, the entire population is transformed by the Party into political tools that glorify dictatorship, uphold corruption, and cover up crimes. People are either socialist building blocks or cogs in the communist machine; no one is allowed to live a normal life.
Because people in mainland China live in a brainwashed and closed environment, they are kept in the dark and can only see China’s problems after they go abroad. As a result, Chinese people dare not enjoy their human rights, dare not have their own thoughts, and they live blindfolded and led by the nose by the CCP.
That is how the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong has lasted for 27 years and has not stopped.
Falun Gong in the International Community
Originating in China, Falun Gong upholds Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, which are considered universal values. Over thirty years of practice proves Falun Gong brings peace, stability, hope, and health to humanity. Today, Falun Gong is practiced in more than 100 countries around the world; its main book Zhuan Falun has been translated into more than 50 languages; and Shen Yun Performing Arts tours the world every year.
Through cultivation, practitioners willingly change themselves from the heart, elevate their morality, and benefit from the practice. Such information spreads from person to person, heart to heart, both domestically and internationally. Everyone learns voluntarily, and proactively, and consciously cultivates away selfishness, to achieve a state of selflessness and altruism. They bring warmth and harmony to family, neighbors and friends, and stability and peace to society, earning widespread respect and welcome.
Around the globe, practitioners have received praise and affirmation from governments, communities, and public figures. They include various awards, congratulatory telegrams, letters, commendations, and numerous encouragements and spiritual support. Many governments designated May 13 as Falun Dafa Day.
Transnational Repression Is the CCP’s Final Act and Is Doomed to Fail
The persecution by the Chinese Communist Party began in 1999 and has continued for 27 years. Falun Gong is practiced throughout the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts tours the globe annually and is a sensation.
Unable to eliminate Falun Gong, yet unwilling to accept defeat, the CCP has extended its reach into the international community.
According to Minghui.org, as early as January 2000, the Chinese Consulate in Chicago attempted to interfere with the decision of the Columbia City Board of Governors and Bonnie County Board of Governors to announce Falun Dafa Week. The attempt failed.
The CCP has employed every means to carry out a transnational repression of Falun Gong in the international community, including:
* Bribing international media outlets including The New York Times, to slander Falun Gong;* Issuing bomb threats in an attempt to prevent theaters from allowing Shen Yun Performing Arts to use their venues;* Intimidating government officials in various countries to not watch Shen Yun, and treating these government agencies as its subordinate units;* Slashing the tires of Shen Yun Performing Arts vehicles, thus endangering the artists;* Destroying Falun Gong practitioners’ booths and display boards, tearing down truth-clarification banners, and physically attacking Falun Gong practitioners while they talk to people.* Exploiting loopholes in the laws of free societies, attempting to use the law to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.
The CCP has repeatedly demonstrated its wickedness to the world—many people are now disgusted, and condemn it. Political leaders from various countries condemn the CCP’s vicious deeds. Transnational repression is the CCP’s last-ditch effort to erase Falun Gong, and will fail.
On May 5, 2025, the US House of Representatives unanimously passed the Falun Gong Protection Act.
On June 17, 2026, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced S.4009, the Falun Gong and Victims of Forced Organ Harvesting Protection Act.
The CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong is essentially a persecution of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. How can a political regime persecute such universal values and not be phased out by history?
Category: Perspectives
