The Persecution of Falun Gong is a Touchstone for the CCP’s Human Rights Abuses

(Minghui.org) In its persecution of the Falun Gong meditation practice, the Chinese Communist Party has used its influence to persuade many foreign governments and media outlets to stay quiet for over two decades. When Western society criticises the CCP’s human rights violations in the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Tibet, and Xinjiang, the regime also protests but does not resort to the same level of backdoor measures to silence criticism.

Western media know that criticising abuses in remote Tibet and Xinjiang is relatively “safe” and shows the media’s support of human rights, said Trevor Loudon, a columnist and expert on communist totalitarianism. The CCP is less concerned about those regions because they have little influence in much of China. But because Falun Gong is rooted in traditional Chinese culture, the impact of media attention would be huge. Western media outlets often avoid mentioning Falun Gong because they know it would infuriate the CCP.

To show its “international integration,” the CCP allowed some outlets, such as the Associated Press, New York Times, Washington Post, and Financial Times, to be viewed online in China as part of its “united front.” But these outlets’ human rights reports on China–no matter how minor–worried the CCP, so the regime again blocked these sites in China. Minghui.org, which directly reports on Falun Gong and the persecution in China, has always been tightly blocked in China and targeted by cyberattacks. If Minghui.org was accessible by the general public in China, the Party’s true nature would be exposed, and its downfall would be inevitable.

 

“Rule of Law” a Complete Farce

The CCP claims to rule the country by law, but the reality faced by Falun Gong practitioners in China is the complete opposite. In the past, practitioners were often detained in forced labor camps—sometimes for years–without a trial. After China’s labor camp system was disbanded, the norm shifted to sentencing practitioners to prison, often with predetermined sentences.

To implement this nationwide, systematic persecution, former CCP leader Jiang Zemin established an extrajudicial organisation—the 610 Office, named after the date of its founding on June 10, 1999. Penetrating all levels of the Chinese government, 610 Office agents often decide a practitioner’s prison term after his or her arrest–three, five, seven years, or even longer–and orally communicate the directive to the court. They chose this format because documents, emails, or other communication channels would leave a paper trail.

 

“Evidence” That Cannot Bear the Light of Day

In one example, Mr. Guan Chenglin, a 70-year-old resident of Faku County in Laoning Province, was arrested for distributing information about Falun Gong on July 30, 2024. When police presented evidence during a hearing at the Xinmin Court, Mr. Guan asked that the video be shown. But Judge Kong Xianglai and other court officials denied this request and refused cross-examination with various excuses.

Using evidence to determine guilt is a critical step in court decisions everywhere. This often requires a detailed examination and professional evaluation of the evidence before a conclusion or verdict is reached. But in communist China, officials often merely refer to random materials as “evidence” to frame practitioners.

This “evidence” usually consists of informational materials that practitioners distribute to the public. These booklets explain that no laws in China ban Falun Gong, and they also include traditional Chinese stories that advise people to follow traditional moral values. The judges know that such materials are not valid “evidence” for sentencing practitioners, so they block them from being shown.

 

Open Disregard for the Law

The forms and institutions of the CCP’s legal system create an illusion for people outside China, who might mistakenly think the CCP’s legal system echoes theirs. In practice, the regime’s political directives carry the day.

“Don’t talk about laws with me; we don’t care about laws,” said Liu, a Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC) member from Xichang City, Sichuan Province.

“We just do not follow laws,” said Xi Shinong, a 610 Office agent from Chengdu City, Sichuan Province.

“Beating [practitioners] to death is counted as suicide… [Send the bodies] to cremation directly without checking identity,” said former CCP leader Jiang Zemin when he initiated the persecution of Falun Gong.

In such an environment, officials blatantly disregard the law when it comes to Falun Gong, claiming it’s a political issue or that they are merely following orders from higher officials.

 

A Test of Conscience

The persecution of Falun Gong cannot be justified from any angle. Whether they are from big cities, small towns, or rural villages, practitioners follow Falun Gong’s guiding principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to improve their health and become better people. Despite the severe persecution over the past 26 years, they remain peaceful and simply want to exercise their basic human right to freely practice their belief.

But the CCP continues to persecute Falun Gong, and has even weaponized trade to silence overseas criticism. This makes the persecution of Falun Gong a touchstone—not only for the CCP but also for Western governments and media organisations. Whether each person can place humanity’s universal values above financial interests and political agendas reveal their loyalty to their conscience.