Escalating Repression: Alleged CCP Meeting Targets Falun Gong Globally

In October 2022, reports alleged, Chinese President Xi Jinping held a clandestine meeting with top state officials to discuss a renewed strategy targeting the Falun Gong spiritual movement globally. 

Falun Gong, a spiritual practice combining meditation, moral teachings, and physical exercises, has faced severe repression in China since 1999. 

Yuan Hongbing, a Chinese legal scholar living in exile in Australia who has maintained connections with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime’s top political circles, recently shared the details of the secret meeting with The Epoch Times.

The purported meeting, if confirmed, underscores Beijing’s continued prioritisation of dismantling Falun Gong’s global influence and silencing its practitioners. 

This alleged development raises pressing questions about China’s human rights record and the reach of its authoritarian governance beyond its borders.  

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, originated in China in the early 1990s under the leadership of Li Hongzhi. 

The practice emphasises truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, attracting millions of followers both in China and internationally. 

By the late 1990s, Falun Gong had grown significantly, with estimates suggesting it had between 70 to 100 million practitioners in China, surpassing the membership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).  

This rapid growth alarmed Chinese authorities, who viewed Falun Gong’s independent organizational structure and widespread popularity as a threat to the CCP’s control. 

In 1999, the government banned the practice and launched a massive campaign to suppress it, employing propaganda, arrests, forced labour, and alleged torture.  
 
According to unnamed sources cited in investigative reports, President Xi convened the secret meeting in October 2022 with senior officials from the Ministry of Public Security, the United Front Work Department, and intelligence agencies. 

The agenda reportedly focused on intensifying efforts to dismantle Falun Gong’s international presence.  

The alleged strategy is said to involve three key components:  

Global surveillance and harassment: Expanding the use of Chinese diplomatic missions and overseas operatives to monitor and intimidate Falun Gong practitioners in foreign countries.  

Disinformation campaigns: Amplifying propaganda efforts to discredit Falun Gong as a “cult” through media outlets, social media platforms, and international forums.  

Economic and diplomatic pressure: Leveraging China’s economic and geopolitical influence to persuade governments to curtail Falun Gong’s activities, restrict its public gatherings, or shut down associated media outlets like The Epoch Times.  

The CCP’s campaign against Falun Gong has persisted for over two decades. 

Domestically, Falun Gong practitioners have faced imprisonment, brainwashing sessions, and alleged forced organ harvesting. 

Internationally, China has worked to undermine the movement by exerting pressure on foreign governments and organizations.  

Chinese authorities have long been accused of targeting dissidents and activists abroad, including Falun Gong practitioners. 

Overseas Chinese embassies and consulates are alleged to play a key role in surveilling and intimidating practitioners through methods such as — monitoring Falun Gong gatherings and protests outside Chinese consulates, harassing activists and journalists affiliated with Falun Gong through online trolling, threatening emails, or physical confrontations, and collecting personal information on practitioners for potential coercion or retaliation against family members in China. 

The CCP has consistently framed Falun Gong as a “dangerous cult,” a narrative it promotes through state-run media and diplomatic channels. 

Disinformation campaigns often portray Falun Gong as a threat to public safety and social stability, aiming to discredit the group and justify its suppression.  

In recent years, this strategy has extended to social media platforms, where coordinated troll armies disseminate anti-Falun Gong content. 

These campaigns not only target practitioners but also organizations sympathetic to the movement, such as human rights groups and independent media outlets.  

China has reportedly used its economic clout to pressure foreign governments into limiting Falun Gong activities.

Similarly, international organizations and businesses that support Falun Gong’s causes, directly or indirectly, risk losing access to the lucrative Chinese market. 

This coercive diplomacy has had a chilling effect, forcing many entities to reconsider their associations with the group.  

If the reports of the secret meeting are accurate, Xi’s directive signals an escalation in China’s efforts to suppress dissent beyond its borders. 

Such actions would have significant implications for international human rights, global governance, and the sovereignty of nations.  

China’s alleged targeting of Falun Gong practitioners abroad challenges the sovereignty of host nations. 

Surveillance and harassment activities conducted on foreign soil undermine local laws and the safety of residents, posing a direct threat to democratic principles.  

China’s global campaign against Falun Gong is part of a broader pattern of transnational repression, which includes targeting Uyghur activists, Tibetan groups, and Hong Kong dissidents. 

This trend raises concerns about the erosion of international human rights norms and sets a troubling precedent for authoritarian regimes seeking to silence critics abroad.  

Falun Gong’s international advocacy networks, including its affiliated media outlets like The Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty Television (NTD), play a significant role in exposing human rights abuses in China. 

A targeted campaign to weaken these networks could limit the dissemination of critical information and hinder global efforts to hold China accountable for its actions.  

Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have condemned China’s persecution of Falun Gong and other dissident groups. 

They have called on governments to protect the rights of practitioners and resist Beijing’s coercive tactics.  

Some governments have taken steps to counter China’s influence campaigns. 

For example, U.S. lawmakers have introduced legislation to address transnational repression and protect individuals targeted by foreign regimes. 

In Europe, countries like Germany and Sweden have launched investigations into Chinese diplomatic activities allegedly linked to harassment of Falun Gong practitioners.  

Falun Gong practitioners and their allies continue to raise awareness of the group’s plight through public demonstrations, independent media coverage, and engagement with international bodies like the United Nations. 

These efforts are crucial in countering disinformation and keeping the issue of religious freedom and human rights on the global agenda.  

The alleged secret meeting convened by Xi Jinping to devise a new strategy against Falun Gong highlights the lengths to which the Chinese government is willing to go to suppress dissent. 

This development, if true, reflects Beijing’s growing ambitions to extend its authoritarian influence globally, posing serious challenges to human rights and international norms.