New Substack, Transnational Repression Updates, and Heavy Jail Sentences in Inner Mongolia

Dear Reader,

We’re excited to announce the launch of a new Substack, “Unsilenced China Voices,” where we’ll share powerful stories of resilience from those facing persecution under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and about the impact of the regime’s repression beyond China’s borders. Our first feature highlights the story of Lydia Wang, a U.S. citizen who escaped persecution in China only to face heartache as her mother was imprisoned back home for practicing Falun Gong.

In other news:

• The CCP’s transnational repression campaign against Falun Gong continues with new threats of violence and plots to silence the first known survivor or forced organ harvesting.

• A U.S. citizen’s sister and nephew remain detained in China after being secretly sentenced for exposing religious persecution.

• Two Falun Gong practitioners in Inner Mongolia were given harsh prison sentences for possessing Falun Gong books in their homes.

Finally, in a tragic case in Hunan Province, the parents of a medical graduate student allege their son was killed after trying to expose illegal organ harvesting practices at his hospital. Although authorities ruled his death a suicide, his parents believe he was killed in retaliation for exposing these crimes.

FEATURE STORY

Lydia Wang and her mother, Aihua Liu

What’s new?

Falun Dafa Information Center experts and the son of a practitioner killed in China for her Falun Gong faith have launched a new Substack. The newsletter is called “Unsilenced China Voices” and we hope to bring readers a unique collection of stories directly from individuals who have taken great risks to speak openly, share their experiences, and reveal their silenced truths.

We also hope to bring expert analysis and original research on what is happening in China and its transnational implications. From American students and foreign policy experts to Asian parents, military officers, and survivors of Chinese labor camps, each contributor will shed light on life under the CCP’s tight grip in China, how it impacts freedoms outside China, and how individuals have drawn on their faith to find hope and inspiration in the face of tragedy.

The first story we are featuring is that of Lydia Wang, a U.S. citizen who fled the Chinese regime’s repression of Falun Gong. She is now safe in the United States with her daughter and brother, but her mother, Aihua Liu, is serving a four-year prison sentence in China for sharing information about Falun Gong.

Why does it matter?

We decided to launch this newsletter partly because many mainstream news outlets have remained silent on the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, rarely publishing original investigations or even well-written first-hand account op-eds, while at times echoing misleading and demonizing labels about the practice. And yet, the life experience of both Chinese and non-Chinese Falun Gong practitioners reveals a rich and diverse world of kind, dedicated, and courageous individuals, doing their best to take care of their families, uphold their faith, and resist brutal repression. We want to bring these voices to light.

Lydia’s story epitomizes this dynamic. It illustrates the profound toll the regime’s repression can take on a family—not only via the persecution of Falun Gong but also the long-standing one-child policy—and is emblematic of widespread, systematic repression in China that impacts tens of millions. Yet her family’s persistence in their faith and efforts to build a better life for their children and a freer China for their grandchildren are also admirable and inspiring.

What else do you need to know?

Our new Substack newsletter is free (and will not replace this regular biweekly news-oriented publication). We’ll be publishing one to two stories a week. Just click below to subscribe or download the Substack app. And please help us spread the word, so more people can hear these otherwise silenced voices.

TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION

The Chinese regime’s campaign against Falun Gong practitioners abroad continues with new violent threats and a home break-in. On October 29, 2024, an anonymous individual sent bomb threats and mass shooting threats over email to the training campus of Shen Yun. “We secretly purchased remote control bombs, time bombs, booby traps, plastic C4, simple landmines and other explosives, as well as automatic rifles, pistols and other weapons,” the emailer claimed. “On election day, we will detonate explosives, then break into Dragon Springs and shoot all survivors!” The threat was reported to law enforcement and no violence occurred.

Meanwhile, the first-known survivor of China’s forced organ harvesting, is under serious threat in the United States after exposing CCP atrocities. On October 31, a researcher shared with the Falun Dafa Information Center leaked meeting notes from a Public Security Bureau insider, revealing a three-part strategy by Heilongjiang security agencies to silence Cheng. The plan includes pressuring him to return to China through relatives and friends, offering rewards to retract his testimony, and, if those fail, killing Cheng and staging his death as a suicide. According to the insider, “The Heilongjiang Public Security Bureau is responsible for the implementation of this plot and they are already making preparations.” On November 2, 2024, unidentified individuals broke into his home. The bolt on the garage door had been forced open, and two doors in his home were found unlocked and left ajar. The break-in occurred in the aftermath of several other attempted attacks on Cheng and his vehicle over the past three months.

FAMILY RESCUE

Karen Kang, a U.S. citizen in California, has not heard from her younger sister in over two years now. On October 31, 2022, Karen’s sister, Kang Shumei, and nephew, Zhang Gu, were arrested for distributing flyers exposing the CCP’s religious persecution. Since then, Chinese authorities have been denied family visits and the pair were secretly sentenced to prison without their family being notified. Kang Shumei and her son were last seen at the Gujiao No. 4 Detention Center and the Yingze District No. 3 Detention Center, respectively, but their current detention location and sentencing length remains unknown. In September 2023, Karen’s representative, Linda Sánchez, wrote to Secretary Antony Blinken, urging him to contact Shanxi authorities to “release Ms. Kang’s relatives immediately.”

PERSECUTION IN CHINA

Two men from Yakeshi City, Inner Mongolia, were sentenced to seven and seven and a half years in prison, respectively, on September 23, 2024. These sentences come over a year after the two, Mr. Sun Wentian and Mr. Guo Changsuo, were arrested and had their homes raided alongside four female Falun Gong practitioners in the city in April 2023. Two of the women, Ms. Zhang Liyan and Ms. Yang Shuqin, were also sentenced and given four-and-a-half and three-year prison terms respectively. Police claimed that the individuals had enough Falun Gong books in their homes that it appeared they were for distribution, which called for the heavy sentences given to the two men.

While China’s repression of Chinese dissidents abroad has garnered greater attention in recent years, this issue has been around for decades. Falun Gong practitioners in the United States have faced threats, physical violence, and intimidation tactics since the very beginning of the regime’s crackdown on the practice in China in 1999. This Congressional resolution from the House of Representatives—H. Con. Resolution 304—passed in October 2004, drew attention to this phenomenon and highlighted how serious the issue had already become. The resolution notes that Chinese consular officials had been pressuring local elected officials across the United States to refuse to issue public statements or withdraw support for Falun Gong, that Falun Gong practitioners had their homes broken into, and that on several occasions, practitioners had been assaulted during peaceful protests.

In a tragic case from Hunan Province, the parents of medical graduate student Luo Shuaiyu allege that their son was killed after he reported illegal organ harvesting practices at Xiangya Hospital, a hospital the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong has listed as a location for organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners. Luo, who was studying nephrology at the hospital, reportedly gathered recordings and financial records implicating hospital staff, including prominent doctors, in the illicit procurement and sale of human organs. After Luo tried to report the situation, he died under suspicious circumstances, allegedly being forced from a building. While authorities ruled his death a suicide, his parents believe he was killed in retaliation for trying to expose the hospital’s crimes.