Ottawa (Canada)

Canadian lawmakers are insisting that the repression of Falun Gong practitioners by Beijing must cease and that the communist government must also put an end to its human rights violations in China, as reported by The Epoch Times (TET).

The statement comes as 12 lawmakers recently joined more than 50 colleagues in endorsing a joint declaration denouncing the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong practitioners within China and its growing repression of the meditation group abroad, including in Canada.

With these signatures, the total number of 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, as highlighted by TET.

The statement reads, "We, the undersigned Parliamentarians, express our solidarity with the Falun Gong community and firmly denounce the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) rising transnational repression (TNR) and the continuous 26-year persecution of Falun Gong practitioners."

It further states, "In the past 26 years, Falun Gong practitioners in Canada have suffered from surveillance, harassment, intimidation, assaults, disinformation, cyberattacks, and various other forms of repression by the CCP," as quoted by TET.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a traditional Chinese practice that combines meditative exercises with moral teachings rooted in truthfulness, compassion and tolerance.

Since its introduction in China in 1992, it gained rapid popularity, with an estimated 70 million to 100 million people practising it by 1999.

Although Falun Gong is now practised in more than 100 countries, its followers have endured severe persecution by the CCP for nearly 30 years, with reports of arbitrary detention, torture, forced labour, physical and sexual abuse, and forced organ harvesting, according to the TET report.

In addition to the forms of transnational repression outlined in the joint declaration, Falun Gong practitioners in Canada have reportedly faced 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, stressed the need to educate Canadians about the repression faced by many Chinese dissidents abroad, as stated by TET.

The joint declaration also notes that Beijing's transnational repression has recently extended to attacks on 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 in four Canadian cities reportedly received threats of bombings or shootings, contributing to more than 140 false threats issued against the dance company, its supporters or host venues worldwide over the past year.

Some of these threats have been traced to sources within China, according to the TET release.

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The statement declares, "These actions are part of a broader, global campaign led by the CCP aimed at disrupting Falun Gong and Shen Yun."

It concludes, "These acts not only harm the Falun Gong community and hinder Shen Yun but also jeopardise the integrity of Canada's institutions, its sovereignty, and core democratic principles," as quoted by the TET release.