Internal Chinese Source Names Minister of State Security as Driver of Anti-Falun Gong Disinformation
Chinese Minister of State Security Chen Yixin (Wikimedia/Radio Free Asia)
Newly obtained information from a source with the Chinese security apparatus names the head of China’s Ministry of State Security, Chen Yixin, as the official who is driving the latest global smear campaign against Falun Gong and Shen Yun Performing Arts. The source also states that the regime’s agents are extremely professional and capable of planting misleading narratives aimed at discrediting Falun Gong into foreign news feeds.
“The CCP’s attack on you Falun Gong is a systematic and complete plan. I believe you can also see this clearly. Every step of the way, there are public security and national security behind the manipulation of the conspiracy,” says the source, among other information shared. “It is operations like this, through those hidden agents, with the big foreign propaganda…that can make a mess of the situation. With a steady stream of material from State Security, it’s a big threat to you guys.”
For the past year, the Falun Dafa Information Center has documented an uptick in the scale, sophistication, and violent overtones of disinformation and smear campaigns targeting Falun Gong, especially in the United States, as well as Shen Yun Performing Arts, the classical Chinese dance troupe many of whose performers practice Falun Gong. In early August, the center published a special report Weaponizing Social Media that shared details from several internal Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sources about how the incidents were part of a deliberate and large-scale campaign to “eliminate” Falun Gong globally, in part by turning the American government and public opinion against the persecuted community.
Among other details, the leaked information from within the party’s security apparatus shared at the time called for Beijing’s support to YouTubers spreading misleading information about Falun Gong and Shen Yun, as well as other tactics like trying to get articles published in major U.S. news outlets or engaging in manipulation of search-engine results. Since August, numerous additional incidents that fit the patterns outlined by those sources for this campaign have indeed occurred—including ongoing disinformation shared by the named YouTubers, misleading articles in the New York Times, and multiple fake bomb threats or calls for violence targeting Shen Yun performers or other Falun Gong practitioners.
This month the Center received new information from an internal CCP source that sheds further light on the origins of the reinvigorated global campaign against Falun Gong. We are publishing here excerpts from the communication received. For security reasons, the source’s name remains anonymous. However, the center deems the person credible due to corroboration with other insider information and real-world incidents.
Chinese spymaster pushes campaign forward
According to the source, the personal ambitions of MSS head Chen Yixin have been a key factor.
This plan began in the spring of 2024, initiated by the newly appointed Minister of State Security, Chen Yixin. You should be familiar with his background—this is a very ambitious person with a strong desire for power. However, the Ministry of State Security is a secretive department, and with the constraints imposed by Chen Wenqing and Wang Xiaohong, it has been difficult for him to make an impact. He tried several things domestically, but the outcomes were not very effective, and he faced considerable criticism.
Thus, he turned his attention to Falun Gong, a long-standing and difficult issue leftover from history that has consistently troubled Xi Jinping. Every time Xi goes abroad, there are protests from Falun Gong practitioners, which greatly displeases him. While the persecution of Falun Gong has been escalating domestically, they have been unable to do much overseas, primarily because no one has been willing to take action.
Chen Yixin saw this as an opportunity and began secretly plotting against you in the spring. His plan was to undermine Falun Gong’s overseas presence, dismantle the organization, and completely resolve the “Falun Gong issue” by the end of the year. By doing this, he could then present his achievements to Xi Jinping and seek recognition and rewards. And so, everything that followed stemmed from this.
The description of Chen’s role in this campaign fits within a broader context outlined in a Wall Street Journal report published last week regarding his close relationship with Xi Jinping and how Chen has been “revving up” of China’s foreign-facing “spy machine.” His focus on persecuting Falun Gong to advance his career in the CCP is also clear and reported by human rights organizations such as Minghui, which has documented Chen’s role in intensifying the persecution.
Network of CCP agents and “pawns”
The source further relayed details on the parts of the regime’s bureaucracy behind the campaign, indicating overlap between the MSS and the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). Our research published in August focused on the MPS, though given the transnational nature of the campaign, it was suspected MSS was likely involved. According to this latest source:
The secret agent informants within organizations such as Falun Gong and the pro-democracy movement are basically managed by the Fourth Bureau [of the MPS]. Once these people are mobilized, the threat is very high. You have seen what happened to your Falun Gong this year, which caused you a lot of trouble under the CCP’s tight planning.
These agents will not only sabotage themselves, they will also motivate a lot of people around them, and then they will also reveal a lot of information to them, so that these people can jump out and attack Falun Gong, which is very troublesome.
The source names a U.S.-based YouTuber, who was mentioned in earlier documents and has emerged as a source of misleading claims about Falun Gong and Shen Yun. The man is facing illegal weapons charges in the United States and has threatened violence against Shen Yun. The new source says that this YouTuber is:
…clearly not a member of the CCP but is completely utilized by State Security. He will send out anything that is provided to him, perhaps unaware it comes from the CCP. The agents won’t reveal their identities, but he is already a pawn of the CCP.
“The insider relaying this information has taken great risks to share it with the outside world in order to warn Falun Gong practitioners and others,” says Levi Browde, Executive Director of the Falun Dafa Information Center. “These latest details show how adept the regime can be at manipulating those outside China to act on its behalf. Social media influencers and even professional journalists can inadvertently contribute to the CCP’s agenda by sharing information that originates from MSS agents without being aware of its source. We hope these revelations help the international community to be more vigilant and skeptical of CCP disinformation about a persecuted community like Falun Gong.”
