Washington, D.C., April 27 — U.S. lawmakers expressed solidarity with Falun Gong practitioners on April 25 as they marked the 27th anniversary of a large peaceful protest in China that led to a sustained campaign of repression, according to The Epoch Times and syndicated reports.
On April 25, 1999, roughly 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered in Beijing to demand the release of detained followers and the right to practice their beliefs. Although Chinese authorities initially gave assurances, those promises were not kept. Within months the Chinese Communist Party launched a nationwide crackdown on the group, and human rights observers say the persecution has continued ever since; some experts have described the campaign as a form of “cold genocide.”
Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said lawmakers honor Falun Gong practitioners each April 25 and throughout the year for their courage and persistence in the face of what he called an ongoing campaign of persecution, defamation, and transnational repression. Smith warned the effort to eradicate Falun Gong will be remembered as one of the most serious crimes of the 21st century.
Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.), a member of the House Select Committee on the CCP, said the anniversary highlights the bravery of the more than 10,000 people who peacefully stood up for their beliefs despite ensuing repression. Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa), who serves on both the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and the House Select Committee on the CCP, condemned reports that Chinese authorities forcibly harvested organs from Falun Gong practitioners as abhorrent and reiterated that the campaign to suppress the group began 27 years ago under the pretext of quashing a peaceful appeal for freedom.
Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline combining slow-moving exercises and moral teachings centered on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Publicly introduced in China in 1992, it attracted millions of followers; by the late 1990s official figures cited in media reports put the number of practitioners at around 70 million.
This article is based on syndicated reporting (ANI/The Epoch Times). The publisher bears no responsibility for independent verification of the original feed’s accuracy or completeness.
