Falun Gong practitioners from across the globe have been commemorating July 20. It was on this day 25 years ago that the Chinese Communist Party ordered a nationwide persecution against the spiritual practice, seeking to eradicate the tens of millions who live by the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. The State Department said it’s an issue that demands action.
“We have seen the PRC [People’s Republic of China] take a number of steps over the past many years that we view as a crackdown on basic human rights. One, it is something that we will continue to raise with PRC officials directly. And two, we won’t hesitate to take appropriate actions from the U.S. government, and you’ve seen us done so,” said Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the Department of State.
Over the past week, Falun Gong practitioners have held rallies in different parts of the world to raise the public’s awareness. From local towns and villages, to large cities like Tokyo, Sydney, and Washington.
But In China, the story is quite different. Authorities track practitioners and send them to labor camps. Some are left bedridden due to severe abuse and torture, and others have died in custody. State Department reports suggest an untold number of Falun Gong practitioners have had their organs harvested on demand to supply China’s transplant industry.
“The persecution of Falun Gong is criminal,” said Miles Yu, former China policy adviser to the secretary of state. “The arbitrary detention, torture, forced labor, propaganda, and organ harvesting associated with this campaign are not only violations of international human rights standards, but also constitutes criminal acts that demands global condemnation.”
Today, getting the truth out remains a top priority for Falun Gong practitioners. In many instances, their voices are being heard.
In June, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Falun Gong Protection Act, a bill aimed at sanctioning foreign nationals who are complicit in China’s state-sponsored organ harvesting. Despite facing adversity inside communist China, Falun Gong is now practiced by people from all walks of life in over a hundred countries.