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Epoch Times
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- Politics
- Epoch Times
How Beijing Targets Critics, Dissidents in Canada
In-depth A shooting threat sent to Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Theatre earlier this year bore the name of an outspoken critic of the Chinese regime. Posing as Sheng Xue, a Chinese Canadian pro-democracy activist, the sender threatened to 'enter as a spectators' and open fire if a performance by the U.S. dance company Shen Yun went ahead. The threat turned out to be one of more than 140 false threats the dance company has received over the past year, many of which have been traced to sources in China. Both Sheng Xue and Shen Yun have long been in Beijing's crosshairs–Sheng for her activism, and the company for its work to showcase 'China before communism.' For Sheng, who is based in Toronto, the use of her name in the email threat is one of many instances where her identity has been misused to target her and damage her reputation. As a long-time dissident and human rights advocate, she said she has been targeted by Beijing many times, including through online defamation, disinformation campaigns, attempted infiltration, and physical intimidation. Transnational repression (TNR) in Canada has become a growing concern, with diaspora groups sounding the alarm and calling on Ottawa to take stronger action. In another incident in February, Sheng's name was used to attempt to send a bomb threat to the office of Taiwan's president, according to email records reviewed by The Epoch Times. She received an email on Feb. 20 from Taiwan's National Police Agency asking her to confirm her identity in relation to a threat email that had been sent to the agency's director general using her name. 'China's transnational repression is one of the most dangerous and under-recognized threats to global democracy–and Canada has become a frontline target,' Sheng told The Epoch Times. 'Canada is one of the most heavily targeted countries due to its large Chinese diaspora, open society, and historical naivety toward the CCP's tactics.' A Concern Among G7 Leaders At this year's G7 Leaders' Summit in Canada, world leaders issued a joint statement condemning the rise of transnational repression. They said they were 'deeply concerned' over foreign governments targeting dissidents abroad, and pledged coordinated action to counter the practice. Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue, who led Canada's recent inquiry into foreign interference, said that while transnational repression was outside the scope of her investigation, the practice–which she called a 'genuine scourge'–warrants prompt government action. 'What I have learned about it is sufficient for me to sound the alarm that the government must take this seriously and consider ways to address it,' she wrote in the inquiry's final report. She cited a few examples of transnational repression, including the presence of overseas Chinese police stations in Canada. TNR takes place when foreign states or their proxies reach beyond their borders to advance their interests or silence criticism or dissent through intimidation, threats, or violence. It can take various forms, such as surveillance, vandalism, murder attempts, forced return by confiscating passports, threats against relatives in the home country, or digital smear campaigns. The G7 leaders' statement on TNR came months after the release of Hogue's final report, which identified China as the 'most active perpetrator of foreign interference targeting Canada's democratic institutions.' Gloria Fung, a Toronto-based pro-democracy advocate from Hong Kong, says she has seen first-hand how Beijing's TNR affects diaspora communities by instilling fear. Serving as the immediate past president of Canada-Hong Kong Link and co-convenor of the Canadian Coalition for a Foreign Influence Transparency Registry, Fung says she has been the target of TNR due to her advocacy work. She told The Epoch Times she has received threatening calls and has seen people following her or taking photos without her consent. 'I'm not afraid because I'm already a public figure, and they won't be able to silence me or stop me from doing what I consider to be the right thing to do–to voice out the concerns of the voiceless people in Hong Kong and China,' she said. 'This is the least we can do for them.' She added that because her family is in Canada, Beijing has less leverage to silence her–unlike other pro-democracy activists in Canada, whose families are often threatened or intimidated by police in Hong Kong or China. Here is a look at how Beijing has targeted critics and dissidents in Canada in recent years. Targeting Spiritual Groups: Falun Gong Spiritual groups that face persecution in China have also been targeted by Beijing in Canada. Among them are practitioners of the traditional Chinese discipline of Falun Gong, which combines meditative exercises and moral teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The practice has been heavily persecuted by the CCP since 1999, with reports of torture, forced labour, physical and sexual abuse, and forced organ harvesting. Their targeting in Canada over the past 26 years has taken several forms, such as physical assault, intimidation of relatives, surveillance, cyberattacks, exclusion from local events and activities, impersonation attempts, and pressure on elected officials to withdraw support for Falun Gong. In a recent case, on Jan. 23, 2024, a Chinese man wielded a metal bar and uttered death threats against Falun Gong practitioners who were raising awareness of the persecution outside the Chinese Consulate's visa office in Toronto. He took photos of the practitioners, threatened to kill them, and damaged one of their banners, according to a 2024 report submitted to Canada's Foreign Interference Commission by the Falun Dafa Association of Canada. He was arrested. In another case, Canada-based practitioner Helen Li, who often participated in activities to highlight the persecution, came across a Chinese man outside her residence in the fall of 2022 who said he knew who her father was. Although she ignored him, she says her father in China began to receive intimidation calls from local police, asking him to persuade her to stop practicing Falun Gong. In an incident practitioners describe as discrimination and extension of Beijing's repression abroad, Gerry Smith, a Falun Gong practitioner, was asked in 2019 by the CEO of the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival to remove a shirt he was wearing with words related to the spiritual practice, citing sponsorship of the event by the Chinese embassy. Smith then filed a complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. Four years later, the festival issued a public apology to Smith, saying it welcomes attendees from 'every race, religion, ethnicity and creed.' Meanwhile, Beijing's interference attempts have become more 'hidden and invisible,' says the 2024 report, with impersonation attempts becoming more prominent since 2010. Numerous municipal, provincial, and federal politicians have received bogus emails from people claiming to be Falun Gong practitioners who use extreme language in an attempt to discredit the group, according to the Falun Dafa Association of Canada. One such email was sent to Tory MP Scott Reid in 2015 by someone claiming to be a colleague of 'Ms. Grace'–presumably Grace Wollensak, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada–and made several 'bizarre' statements, according to the 2024 report. Wollensak said she didn't know anyone by the sender's name and that the content was not something a practitioner would say. Wollensak later learned other MPs had received similar emails after one MP complained to her about the aggressive language used in the messages. Wollensak confirmed the emails, some of which claimed to be from senders related to her, were fake. In a recent escalation of Beijing's repression of Falun Gong abroad, U.S. performing arts company Shen Yun, which is founded by Falun Gong practitioners, has faced numerous false threats globally. This includes bomb or shooting threats targeting Shen Yun performances in four Canadian cities this year. This trend, coupled with the growing use of lawfare to target companies founded by practitioners, follows recent directives from Chinese leader Xi Jinping to intensify the regime's repression of the group. The Epoch Times learned last year that Xi, in a 2022 secret meeting, instructed top state officials on a new strategy to target Falun Gong internationally, including through disinformation campaigns. Sheng Xue says Beijing's hostile actions beyond its borders are a growing threat. 'For years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has extended its political persecution beyond its borders, using surveillance, harassment, intimidation, and coercion against dissidents, exiled activists, and ethnic minorities living in democratic countries,' she said. Hong Kong Bounties on Canadian Citizens In a recent move condemned by Canada as transnational repression, on July 25 the Hong Kong government issued arrest warrants for 19 people overseas, some of whom live in Canada. The Hong Kong National Security Department said the group was suspected of organizing, establishing, or taking part in a project called the Hong Kong Parliament, whose goals include promoting self-determination and drafting a Hong Kong democratic charter. Canada responded to the measures the following day, describing them as an escalation of Beijing's transnational repression. 'This attempt by Hong Kong authorities to conduct transnational repression abroad, including by issuing threats, intimidation or coercion against Canadians or those in Canada, will not be tolerated,' Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said in a joint statement with Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree. The ministers added that Canadian intelligence had found the information on the recent bounties was being amplified in an 'inauthentic and coordinated' way by online accounts targeting Chinese-speaking communities in Canada. They also urged anyone who felt unsafe due to transnational repression to contact the RCMP. One such well-known case in Canada unfolded earlier this year, after it came to light that Hong Kong authorities had issued a bounty on a Canadian citizen and Tory candidate Joe Tay, an outspoken Hong Kong pro-democracy activist. His situation drew national attention when it was reported in March that Paul Chiang, then an incumbent Liberal candidate for the Ontario riding of Markham-Unionville, had suggested Tay, his then-rival, be handed over to the Toronto Chinese consulate to collect the bounty placed on him. After his comments became public, Chiang issued an apology. Tay said no apology was sufficient, adding that the situation left him fearing for his safety and that he had previously contacted the RCMP about his personal protection. Cheuk Kwan, co-chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, says one of Hong Kong's aims in issuing international arrest warrants and bounties is to intimidate the diaspora. He told The Epoch Times he has heard from community members who fear 'being kidnapped and shipped back to China or Hong Kong.' '[It's] part of the game they have to play to strike fear in the diaspora,' Kwan said. Nearly a month after Chiang's bounty comments became public, Canadian intelligence officials revealed Tay had been the target of a Beijing-linked transnational repression operation conducted on social media platforms widely used by Chinese-language speakers in Canada. The operation consisted of two trends, officials said. The first was the 'inauthentic and coordinated' amplification of content about Tay's arrest warrant, the bounty on his head, and his ability to run for office. The second was the 'deliberate suppression' of search terms related to Joe Tay. Tay lost the election narrowly to his Liberal rival. No evidence has emerged to suggest his defeat was linked to interference by the Chinese regime. Targeting MPs, Political Parties Beijing's efforts to silence critics have also targeted several Canadian parliamentarians. A prominent case is that of Tory MP Michael Chong, a long-time critic of China's human rights abuses, who was targeted by Beijing along with his family members after he sponsored a 2021 motion recognizing Beijing's treatment of Uyghur Muslims in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang as genocide, according to Canadian intelligence officials. The motion passed with unanimous support in the House of Commons. Another targeted elected official is NDP MP Jenny Kwan, who was born in Hong Kong and has been outspoken against human rights violations by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In 2023, she said Canadian intelligence confirmed she was an 'evergreen' foreign interference target of Beijing–meaning she would 'forever be targeted'–but could not disclose details due to national security. She said her criticism of Beijing's national security law and support for Hong Kong democracy and the Uyghur minority likely made her a target. Former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu is another outspoken critic of the CCP's human rights abuses who has been targeted by Beijing. During the 2021 general election, media platforms linked to the Chinese regime spread false narratives about him, misrepresenting his proposal to introduce a foreign influence registry, according to the foreign interference commission's final report. While he tried to respond to the false narratives, his messaging was not picked up or circulated by Chinese language outlets, says the report. The misinformation operation may have cost Chiu his seat, the commissioner said in a preliminary report released on May 3, 2024. During that same federal election, the Conservative Party and its then-leader, Erin O'Toole, were also targeted by false reports spread by Chinese language media linked to the Chinese regime, the final report says. The targeting was likely due to the party's critical stances toward Beijing, according to O'Toole. Suppressed Ethnic Groups: Tibetans Advocates for Tibetan autonomy and Tibetans' human rights have also faced repression in Canada. Beijing has long been under international scrutiny for its human rights abuses in Tibet, which it began to occupy in 1950. While China describes its takeover of Tibet as a 'peaceful liberation' that helped the region evolve from a 'feudal serfdom under theocracy' to a land of 'modernization,' the Tibetan government-in-exile calls it a 'military invasion' that has led to the 'destruction' of Tibet's culture, environment, and human rights. Human rights abuses in Tibet include unlawful or arbitrary killings and arrests, disappearances, torture, and cases of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment by the Chinese regime, according to a 2022 U.S. Department of State report, which also notes Tibetans abroad face transnational repression. Several Tibetan-Canadian communities have been 'systematically targeted by malware-enabled espionage operations that aim to compromise their communications for the purpose of performing surveillance,' according to a 2017 report by Amnesty International Canada and the Canadian Coalition on Human Rights titled 'Harassment and Intimidation of Individuals in Canada Working on China-related Activism.' In one case, Citizen Lab, an interdisciplinary lab at the University of Toronto, found a malware campaign that targeted a Tibetan-Canadian was associated with APT1 –one of China's cyber espionage units linked to the People's Liberation Army. Other examples of Beijing's targeting of the Tibetan community include the creation of associations that claim to represent the diaspora but promote the Chinese regime's narrative on Tibet, according to an updated Amnesty International report, published in 2020. The report cites the Tibetan Association of Canada, also known as the Tibetan Canadian Friendship Association, which has been disavowed by at least six established Tibetan Canadian organizations as a front for Beijing's interests, promoting narratives such as that China improved conditions in Tibet after its invasion. The organization could not be reached for comment, but it told The Globe and Mail in 2019 that it is simply a friendship association seeking to unite people from Sichuan, China, as many Tibetans in the group are from that province. The association attracted media attention in 2019 when the Prime Minister's Office confirmed that a letter of support for the organization, purportedly written by then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and circulated on social media, was fake. The Tibetan Association of Canada has denied responsibility for the fake letters. Gloria Fung says trying to divide diaspora groups in Canada is a common strategy Beijing uses to target critics and dissidents. 'TNR [is] also a means to infiltrate,' she said. 'They even send agents here to infiltrate into our Canadian activist groups so as to divide and conquer–take over the leadership to ultimately eliminate the groups.' Uyghur Muslims Members of the Uyghur diaspora in Canada have also been targeted, including through intimidating phone calls, threats to relatives in Xinjiang, and denial of identity documents, says the 2020 Amnesty International report. Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang face severe suppression by the regime, with an estimated 1 million or more being placed in re-education camps or other detention facilities. Survivors of the camps have described experiences of forced labour, forced sterilizations, political indoctrination, electric shocks, and other forms of abuse during their time in detention. Uyghurs in Canada have reported being denied extensions or renewals of their passports and travel documents, as well as birth certificates for their children, in an effort by Chinese state agents to make them return to China, says the report. Others have described receiving messages or voicemails telling them to collect 'important documents' from the Chinese consulate or embassy, with many being 'too afraid' to comply with the requests, according to first-hand interviews conducted by Amnesty International. The human rights organization has also documented reports of phone harassment, such as the case of an Uyghur activist who received numerous anonymous phone calls, including death threats, that ceased when he became less active in Uyghur rights advocacy. Threats against relatives in China are another tactic used by Chinese officials, experienced first-hand by several Uyghur individuals in Canada, the 2020 report says, adding that the measures are generally aimed at pressuring diaspora members to become informants or cease their activism abroad. Mehmet Tohti, executive director of the Canada-based Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, has been sounding the alarm over the situation in Xinjiang and Uyghurs abroad. 'Canadian citizens of Uighur origin have been victimized through harassment, threats and intimidation by the Chinese government and through hostage taking of their family members for a long time,' he told a House committee meeting in 2018. 'The Chinese government basically controls the Uighurs abroad by taking their family members hostage and at the same time applying pressure to control them to serve or work for the Chinese government.' He noted that Uyghurs abroad often lose communication with their families in Xinjiang due to Beijing's tight control of the region. 'In my case, I have 37 family members or extended family members in concentration camps,' Tohti told the committee. 'I haven't spoken with my mother for two years. No one [in our community] has been able to communicate with their parents or loved ones for two years.' Targeting Critics On Campus Critics of the Chinese regime have also faced attempts to silence them in universities and other academic settings. In a case that drew national attention in Canada in 2019, Chemi Lhamo, a Tibetan student elected as student union president at the University of Toronto Scarborough, was targeted by a petition from pro-Beijing students who denounced her support for Tibetan autonomy and questioned her qualifications. The majority of protesters were of Chinese origin, according to Amnesty International's 2020 report. Since then, Lhamo faced 'cyberbullying, online harassment, death threats, sexist and racist insults, and a barrage of obscene and degrading comments on her social media accounts' with most of the messages being in Mandarin and some containing Chinese nationalistic sentiments, says the report. She completed her term as student union president, though she said many Chinese student groups appeared to be monitoring her while on campus, and that she faced 'significant pressure to self-censor about human rights issues in China.' While Lhamo could not provide evidence of Chinese state involvement in her case, she said the pace and scale at which Chinese students coordinated against her is a sign that 'they were likely directed to act by the Chinese consulate.' The Chinese consulate in Toronto denied the allegations but did not condemn the views expressed against Lhamo, describing them as 'an entirely spontaneous action of those Chinese students based on objective facts and patriotic enthusiasm,' and adding that 'the Chinese government firmly opposes anti-China separatist activities by 'Tibet independence' activists.' In a similar case, a Uyghur activist who gave a lecture in 2019 at McMaster University on human rights violations in Xinjiang was filmed and her talk was interrupted by a student who yelled insults at her. Her presentation was condemned and protested by five Chinese student groups, who claimed it promoted 'hatred' against China. Social media screenshots revealed the protest was coordinated by students in contact with the Chinese consulate in Toronto, which had asked them to report their observations. The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said neither the embassy nor the Chinese consulate had anything to do with the incident, but praised the actions of the protestors. 'We strongly support the just and patriotic actions of Chinese students,' the embassy said in a statement. In its 2024 report 'On My Campus, I Am Afraid,' which examines the intimidation and harassment of Chinese and Hong Kong students studying abroad—including at Canadian universities—Amnesty International documented accounts of students being photographed and followed at protests in their host cities. Many also reported that their families in China were targeted in retaliation for their activism overseas. It cites the case of a student referred to as Rowan, whose real name is not disclosed for safety reasons, who heard from her father in China within hours of attending a commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Security officials reportedly told her father to 'educate his daughter who is studying overseas not to attend any events that may harm China's reputation in the world.' Cheuk Kwan from the Toronto Association for Democracy in China says Hong Kong dissidents, including students abroad, face constant psychological pressure, fearing repercussions if they return home after speaking out. He cites the case of a Hong Kong student who was sentenced to two months in jail in November 2023 over pro-independence social media posts she published while studying in Japan. 'They can create all kinds of excuses to put you in jail just because of that large definition [that] if you're critical of Hong Kong, then you are violating the law of Hong Kong,' Kwan said. Foreign Agent Registry For months, Gloria Fung has been advocating for the swift implementation of the foreign influence transparency registry, a key measure proposed in legislation known as 'An Act respecting countering foreign interference,' which received royal assent in June 2024. The registry would require anyone working with a foreign entity to report to the foreign influence transparency commissioner when those activities relate to Canada's political processes. Failure to abide is punishable by a fine of up to $5 million or imprisonment up to five years. The foreign influence registry has not yet been established, though Senior Public Safety Canada officials previously said the registry would likely be ready in June this year. Public Safety told The Epoch Times last month the department is actively working on the project, but provided no timeline for the rollout, calling it a 'significant undertaking.' Meanwhile, Public Safety Canada says it has been actively responding to transnational repression, citing immediate changes that took effect with the passing of the legislation. '[The act] introduced legislative measures to better equip the government to detect, disrupt, and protect against foreign interference threats and transnational repression in Canada, including new criminal offences,' spokesperson Max Watson previously told The Epoch Times. He added that in Canada, the government and law enforcement have been working with at-risk communities and offering tools to protect them from transnational repression, and that internationally, Ottawa is working with partners to tackle the global threat. Fung calls the delay in establishing the registry 'troubling and disappointing,' adding that its prompt implementation is essential to effectively combat transnational repression. 'We can't afford to further delay our action in combating TNR and foreign interference,' she said. Meanwhile, Sheng Xue says that although Beijing's repression in Canada appears to mainly target Chinese dissidents, it is an issue that concerns all Canadians. 'This is not only an attack on individuals of Chinese origin–it's an attack on Canadian sovereignty, rule of law, and civil liberties,' she said. 'The CCP is effectively trying to extend its authoritarian control onto Canadian soil, threatening freedom of speech, political expression, and public safety within our own borders.' She added that allowing transnational repression to go unchecked 'normalizes' the idea that foreign autocratic regimes can operate 'with impunity' inside democracies. 'Today it targets Chinese dissidents; tomorrow it could target anyone who disagrees with foreign powers,' she said.
Epoch Times
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
In Praise of Falun Gong Practitioners: True Heroes of Our Time
The following is a speech delivered by award-winning writer, poet, and Chinese democracy activist Sheng Xue at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto on May 11, during an event to celebrate the World Falun Dafa Day, marked on May 13. The text has been translated from Chinese and edited for clarity. Today, we are here to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day. I stand here with respect and gratitude to commemorate this important day with everyone, and to once again tell the world that the Falun Gong practitioners adhere to human conscience and unyieldingly guard the light in the darkest times. Falun Gong was introduced by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, on May 13, 1992, and he subsequently travelled the country to teach the practice publicly. In just a few years, it quickly spread widely in China because it improved physical and mental health while emphasizing living by the principles of 'Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance' and cultivating one's moral character. According to official statistics from the Chinese regime at that time, by 1999 there were between 70 million and 100 million practitioners across the country. Sheng Xue, a journalist, poet, and Chinese democracy activist, attends the World Falun Dafa Day celebration event at the Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto on May 11, 2025. Arek Rusek for The Epoch Times During those years, this group had no organizational form, made no political demands, and held no open protests. They just tried to be good people with an honest, kind, and tolerant attitude. However, their existence caused extreme panic for the Chinese communist regime because of their large numbers, profound moral influence, and the natural opposition between the truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance they believe in and the falsehoods, evil, and 'struggle' mentality of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On July 20, 1999, the CCP brazenly launched a comprehensive persecution campaign against Falun Gong practitioners, mobilizing the entire state machinery to suppress them: military, police, special forces, propaganda, public opinion, medical care, and diplomacy, initiating a rare religious extermination operation in modern society. Under the totalitarian suppression, however, Falun Gong practitioners did not disappear, but began the most tenacious, morally appealing, and peaceful movement in human history to get the truth out about the violent campaign against them, resist persecution, fight for freedom of belief, and begin the great movement of ending the CCP's tyranny. Related Stories 5/12/2025 5/11/2025 The CCP wanted to disintegrate the spiritual group with violence and lies, but it did not expect that in response to this persecution campaign Falun Gong practitioners would forge extraordinary organizational, communication, and media creation capabilities. Falun Gong has no political power and no capital, but practitioners living overseas have mobilized as volunteers around the world to take action to end the persecution of their fellows in China. They have approached parliaments, courts, and human rights organizations of democratic countries, and raised awareness in dozens of countries around the world. Through motions, legislation, and sanctions, they continue to expose the CCP's persecution. Some practitioners have built their own independent media outlets, including The Epoch Times, New Tang Dynasty Television, and Sound of Hope Radio, covering multiple language regions around the world. They have become a news force in the international community that is not influenced by the CCP, is not afraid of suppression, does not succumb to the temptation of money, and will not be bought. Over the past 26 years, in a world that has been gradually coerced and undermined by the CCP's tyranny and foreign influence, intimidated by terrorism, media manipulation, political corruption, and moral degradation, Falun Gong practitioners worldwide have consistently upheld fundamental human values, demonstrating resilience and dedication. Falun Gong practitioners have no violent weapons, but have firm beliefs; they have no regime to rely on, but have built a global network of determined volunteers. They have approached the United Nations, the European Parliament, the U.S. Congress, the Canadian Parliament, the Australian Parliament, and other places to promote legislation and investigations, and have established lasting and cooperative relations with politicians from many countries. Many countries have passed motions and bills to support Falun Gong, condemn the persecution, and sanction the CCP's evil deeds. Behind all of these are the unremitting efforts of Falun Gong practitioners. The media outlets established by some Falun Gong practitioners have also ignited the light of freedom in the dark era of the totalitarian control of information. They have established an independent media network covering the world, not only exposing the CCP's lies and crimes, but also providing true, conscientious, and in-depth reports and opinions for the Chinese-speaking world (apart from inside China) and Western society. In today's era of strong infiltration of the CCP's widespread foreign propaganda, subversion of the international order, the spread of terrorism, and the rampant growth of extreme left-wing ideology, the role played by these volunteers in resisting at the spiritual, cultural, and information levels is extremely critical. They use Falun Gong's core values of 'Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance' to fight against violence, hatred, and lies, awakening the world's paralyzed conscience. They have raised global awareness of the threat of totalitarianism while exposing the true nature of the CCP, and indirectly improved the self-immunity and resistance of world civilization. In the past two decades, the CCP has continued to escalate its persecution campaign. The most heinous thing is that the regime systematically conducts and profits from forced organ harvesting against illegally imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners—this is a state-led large-scale genocide unprecedented in human history. Canadian human rights lawyers David Matas and David Kilgour, as well as U.S. investigative journalist Ethan Gutman, have conducted independent investigations with Falun Gong as the main victim group, and ultimately revealed that forced organ harvesting is a state-level crime against humanity. Falun Gong practitioners have worked to expose the CCP's organ harvesting, which has shocked the world. In 2019, the China Tribunal, an independent people's tribunal in London chaired by the former British judge Sir Geoffrey Nice, confirmed this crime after an 18-month investigation. It found 'beyond reasonable doubt' that forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience in China has been going on for many years. This is one of the most serious human rights crimes in the 21st century. It is not the country, the organization, or the government that works to expose all of this and seek justice, but the Falun Gong practitioners themselves. They rely only on faith, conscience, and unremitting action. Falun Gong practitioners—both inside and outside China—are not silenced by fear, do not betray because of hidden interests, and do not retreat because of challenges. They are not bystanders of the times; they are the backbone of fighting lies, upholding faith, and supporting civilization. The CCP has been 'rewriting humanity' with a series of lies, language reconstruction, and moral decline. In this process, Falun Gong practitioners are the most sober force. They know the nature of the CCP and will not be confused or hoodwinked. Now, the world's inertia in allowing the CCP's interests to drive it is being challenged, the chaotic trend of communism's counterattack is being stopped, and the situation of growing aggressions by the CCP is being changed. Falun Gong practitioners have played an important and key role in this transformation process, and I believe that will continue. Today, I want to say this: In this moral tug-of-war, Falun Gong not only did not fall under the CCP's onslaught, but stood strong under the pressure and will be on the right side of history. Falun Gong practitioners have not only upheld the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, but also safeguarded the basic human dignity and the future of religious freedom, raising the moral bottom line that can keep the world from collapsing in times of crisis.
