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What is Falun Gong and why does the Chinese Communist Party want to suppress it?

The movement drew over 10,000 followers in an April 1999 protest before authorities banned all practice by July, officials said.

  • Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa and translating as "Practice of the Law Wheel," combines bodily exercises with ethical lessons to help practitioners endure hardship. Followers gather daily outside Chinese embassies and consulates worldwide to practice and protest.
  • In April 1999, the movement drew over 10,000 practitioners to a mass protest for official legitimacy in front of Chinese government headquarters. Alarmed by the group's ability to organize such a large unregistered gathering, the Chinese government banned all Falun Gong practice by July of that year.
  • Political scientist James Tong estimated that, at its peak, followers numbered in the tens of millions. Despite the ban, the group maintained organizational cohesion through local "contact people" who received direct instruction from regional organizers to coordinate demonstrations.
  • Members face threats of job loss, imprisonment, and torture for participating in public protests or spreading materials online. Group members allege the Chinese government has harvested organs from incarcerated practitioners, a claim the government contests.
  • Practitioners established media outlet The Epoch Times and performing arts company Shen Yun, which tours globally depicting a "pure" Chinese culture free of Communist influence. These efforts represent the movement's most-sustained resistance to Chinese government rule since the nation's founding.
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The Guam Daily PostThe Guam Daily Post
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What is Falun Gong and why does the Chinese Communist Party want to suppress it?

An anthropologist who conducted fieldwork among Falun Gong practitioners explains the movement’s beliefs and why its followers continue to resist the Chinese government.

On July 23, 2026, nearly 2,000 Falun Gong practitioners held a rally and grand parade in Washington, D.C., to commemorate the 27th anniversary of Falun Gong practitioners' resistance to persecution and to call for the disintegration of the Chinese Communist Party and an end to the persecution. (Yu Lili/Epoch Times)

·New York, United States
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The Indiana Gazette Online broke the news in Indiana, United States on Monday, July 27, 2026.
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