Ottawa, December 18 (ANI): Canadian lawmakers are calling for an end to the repression of Falun Gong practitioners by Beijing and urging the Chinese communist government to halt its human rights violations, according to a report by The Epoch Times.
The statement follows the recent endorsement of a joint declaration by 12 additional lawmakers, joining more than 50 colleagues in condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners within China and its growing repression of the meditation group abroad, including in Canada.
With these latest endorsements, the total number of Canadian parliamentarians denouncing the CCP’s transnational repression has reached 65. The initiative began earlier this summer as the campaign against the spiritual group marked its 27th year on July 20.
The joint statement reads, “We, the undersigned Parliamentarians, express our solidarity with the Falun Gong community and firmly denounce the Chinese Communist Party’s rising transnational repression and the continuous 26-year persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.”
It further states that over the past 26 years, Falun Gong practitioners in Canada have faced surveillance, harassment, intimidation, assaults, disinformation campaigns, cyberattacks, and other forms of repression linked to the CCP.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a traditional Chinese spiritual practice that combines meditative exercises with moral teachings centered on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Since its introduction in China in 1992, the practice gained rapid popularity, with estimates suggesting between 70 million and 100 million practitioners by 1999.
Although Falun Gong is now practiced in more than 100 countries, its followers have endured severe persecution by the CCP for nearly three decades. Reports have documented arbitrary detention, torture, forced labor, physical and sexual abuse, and forced organ harvesting.
Beyond the forms of transnational repression outlined in the joint declaration, Falun Gong practitioners in Canada have reportedly experienced exclusion from local events, impersonation attempts, intimidation of family members, and pressure on elected officials to withdraw their support.
These concerns were detailed in a 2024 report submitted to Canada’s Foreign Interference Commission by the Falun Dafa Association of Canada.
Liberal MP Judy Sgro, a signatory to the joint statement and co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong, emphasized the importance of educating Canadians about the repression faced by many Chinese dissidents living abroad.
The declaration also notes that Beijing’s transnational repression has recently extended to attacks targeting Shen Yun Performing Arts, a classical Chinese dance company founded in 2006 by Falun Gong practitioners based in New York.
This year, venues hosting Shen Yun performances in four Canadian cities reportedly received threats of bombings or shootings. These incidents form part of more than 140 false threats issued worldwide over the past year against the dance company, its supporters, or host venues. Some of the threats have been traced to sources within China.
“These actions are part of a broader, global campaign led by the CCP aimed at disrupting Falun Gong and Shen Yun,” the statement said.
It concluded that such acts not only harm the Falun Gong community and hinder Shen Yun’s activities, but also jeopardize the integrity of Canada’s institutions, its sovereignty, and its core democratic principles.
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