Origins

New Tang Dynasty Television: A Decade of Courage

May 04, 2009: Falun Gong News Bulletin

* FDIC Statement: Honoring Falun Gong’s April 25th Appeal, Ten Years On * New Tang Dynasty TV: April 25th, The Protest that Changed China * Associated Press: China spiritual group endures despite 10-year ban *New York Times: China Still Presses Crusade against Falun Gong *United Press International: Falun Gong said to total tens of millions * Prominent Chinese Democracy Activist: “Falun Gong’s persistence of non-violent resistance is admirable” * Chinese human rights lawyer: April 25th appeal was “a very significant and meaningful event in · China Post: Falun Gong Members in Japan ,Taiwan, Hong Kong Commemorate April 25th appeal

New York Times: China Still Presses Crusade against Falun Gong (excerpt)

In the decade since the Chinese government began repressing Falun Gong, a crusade that human rights groups say has led to the imprisonment of tens of thousands of practitioners and claimed at least 2,000 lives, the world’s attention has shifted elsewhere….But 10 years on, the war on Falun Gong remains unfinished.

The New Statesman: Why is Falun Gong Banned?

Leeshai Lemish looks at the history and causes of the Chinese Communist Party’s campaign against Falun Gong

Number of Falun Gong practitioners in China in 1999: at least 70 million

Persecution: Origins

“Why is Falun Gong being persecuted in China “Why did the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ban Falun Gong?” “Why does the Chinese government see Falun Gong as a threat?” Below are some answers. Although they are presented here as distinct explanations, the different reasons are, of course, interconnected in many ways.

Why is This Happening?

Political gain. Resentment. The suppression of Falun Gong is time and again traced back to these two things. And one figure: a man named Jiang Zemin.

Washington Post: Torture Is Breaking Falun Gong

Expanding its use of torture and high-pressure indoctrination, China's Communist Party has gained the upper hand in its protracted battle against the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, according to government sources and Falun Gong practitioners. As a result, they say, large numbers of people are abandoning the group that presented the party with its most serious challenge since the 1989 student-led protests in Tiananmen Square.

Behind the April 25 Incident

Washington Post: Cracks in China's Falun Gong Crackdown

In one Chinese province, at least 500 people have been sent without trial to labor camps for being members of the banned spiritual sect Falun Gong. More than 3,000 other adherents have been detained in Beijing for protesting the ban, 111 core members indicted nationwide for serious crimes tied to the group and a half-dozen have died in police custody, according to Chinese government officials and a Hong-Kong based human rights organization.