Status Update on Falun Gong: Highlights from Victim Testimony and Experts

The Falun Dafa Information Center hosted two meaningful panels last month to provide critical updates for the 22nd anniversary of the persecution. As the first side event held at the International Religious Freedom Summit, the in-person discussion featured our executive director, former USCIRF commissioner Johnnie Moore, a 14-year victim of torture and prisoner of conscience under the CCP, and Dr. Jessica Russo on July 13. 

All four experts also attended the virtual webinar on July 20, moderated by Freedom House’s Sarah Cook, the Research Director for China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Below are featurettes from both events (1 minute each). Additionally, you can find more clips and the full webinar by clicking here and the IRF Summit panel by tapping the photo above.

During the research process for Freedom House’s 2017 report on Falun Gong in China, Sarah Cook and her team uncovered inconceivably high levels of persecution― as well as peaceful resistance.

Mr. Weiyu Wang shares a traumatizing experience, where he was publicly shamed by his classmates in the middle of his doctorate program at Tsinghua University, often called China’s MIT. He was expelled soon after due to his faith in Falun Gong.

Although the human rights crisis revolving around Falun Gong has started picking up steam in religious freedom circles, the mainstream media often stays silent. Levi Browde highlights a series factors that are likely contributing to this lack of meaningful coverage.

Length: 9 minutes

When the CCP began its persecution on Falun Gong, Mr. Weiyu Wang was a doctorate student at Tsinghua University. But after July 20, 1999, Wang suffered from nearly a decade of torture and was forced to suspend his schooling twice. His entire family was oppressed by authorities for 14 years. Even after his release, Wang was closely monitored by police and CCP agents. Now, he lives with his wife and son in Michigan. This is his story.