(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners held activities, including a rally at Stephansplatz, in front of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna on April 25, 2026, to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the April 25 appeal. St. Stephen’s Cathedral is one of Vienna’s most renowned tourist attractions. That day, a constant flow of tourists from around the world passed by the area.
Condemning the CCP’s Transnational Repression
A practitioner representative spoke at the rally and recounted the peaceful appeal that took place in Beijing on April 25, 1999. That day, 10,000 practitioners participated in the appeal hoping to be able to practice Falun Dafa freely in China. They also asked that the detained practitioners be released. Then president Jiang Zemin claimed they “besieged” the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) main compound and launched a nationwide persecution where the goal was to wipe out Falun Dafa.
The practitioner said this terrifying persecution has been going on for nearly 27 years. In addition, Shen Yun Performing Arts received bomb threats in over 100 theaters where they were scheduled to perform. This transnational repression shows that the persecution has been extended overseas.
Ethan Gutmann, a journalist from the US and founder of End Transplant Abuse (ETAC) was invited to Vienna to speak at the rally. He said the first time he heard of Falun Dafa was on April 25, 1999, when he was in Beijing. He interviewed witnesses who participated in the appeal, and he learned the truth about the persecution. Under the CCP’s tight censorship, the media were allowed to report only what the regime permitted.
Mr. Gutmann said he got to know several practitioners, and their excellent character left a deep impression on him. Like many other practitioners, these practitioners were severely persecuted in China. He also saw police violently drag practitioners into police cars and take them away by force on Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
I Salute Practitioners in China
A young man expressed his shock after he heard thousands of people were killed in China for refusing to give up a form of cultivation practice based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and that practitioners risk their lives by continuing to spread the truth. He noted the website calling for an end to the persecution, and said he planned to find out more about Falun Dafa.
Jill from the UK was holidaying in Europe, and this was her first time visiting Vienna. As soon as she noticed the event on Stephansplatz, she was interested in learning Falun Dafa.
She thought meditation was undoubtedly the best way to connect with one’s true self. She was astounded to learn that practitioners in China are persecuted and said repeatedly, “This is horrifying!” She signed the petition to call for an end to the atrocities and even planned to tell her friends, with whom she does yoga, about the petition. She hopes to pass on information on the persecution and help more people learn the truth.
She was also keen to try the exercises. She gladly took a handmade lotus flower gifted by a practitioner as a keepsake. Jill asked practitioners to send their utmost sincere greetings and best wishes to practitioners in China.
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 worldwide. Millions of people have embraced the teachings—which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and 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 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. Countless 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.
Copyright © 1999-2026 Minghui.org. All rights reserved.
