Chinese New Year Greetings to Falun Gong Founder, Transnational Repression Updates

Dear Reader,

As hundreds of millions of people celebrated Lunar New Year last week, Falun Gong practitioners from around the world sent greetings to the practice’s founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, thanking him for his compassion, spiritual guidance, and the positive contribution Falun Gong has made to their lives. Thousands of greetings were sent from people in every one of China’s provinces and across over 60 countries, by Falun Gong practitioners and non-practitioners alike. The calligraphy, hand drawn cards, poetry, and more, were collected and published by Minghui.org, a website that documents the persecution and Falun Gong practitioners’ experiences from a network of contacts in China and abroad. The global outpouring of respect and admiration towards Mr. Li underscores the enduring influence of Falun Gong as a spiritual practice that continues to inspire millions.

Also in this issue:

• Families worldwide celebrate the holiday without loved ones who are unjustly imprisoned in China for practicing Falun Gong.

• Anonymous death threats targeting Falun Gong practitioners, Shen Yun performers, and even U.S. Members of Congress reach an unprecedented level.

• Chinese authorities forcibly take 71-year-old Zhang Shuhua to Jilin Province Women’s Prison despite deteriorating health.

• Ms. Minghui Wang recalls the persecution her family faced in China before fleeing to the United States.

Finally, we are sharing a video on what readers should know about the New York Times’ recent coverage of Shen Yun and Falun Gong. This video draws on a Falun Dafa Information Center’s (FDIC) investigation, which identified multiple dubious elements in The Times’ articles.

As we welcome the Chinese New Year, my colleagues and I extend our warmest wishes to our readers celebrating the Lunar New Year. May this year bring happiness, good health, and prosperity to all—and may it also bring an end to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, their families, and supporters.

FEATURE STORY

Some New Year greeting e-cards to Mr. Li Hongzhi. Source: Minghui.org

What’s new?

As the 2025 Chinese New Year approached, Falun Gong practitioners and supporters worldwide conveyed thousands of heartfelt greetings to Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of the practice, via Minghui.org. Practitioners from at least 62 countries and regions sent well-wishes. The greetings take the form of calligraphy, photographs, e-cards, colorful Flash animations, prose, poetry, and more. The practitioners’ messages also thank Mr. Li for introducing Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance and credit the practice for transforming their lives, improving their physical and mental well-being, and guiding them through life’s challenges with wisdom and clarity.

Many non-practitioners joined Falun Gong believers in sending sincere Chinese New Year greetings to Mr. Li, expressing their deep respect and gratitude to him for teaching Falun Gong and bringing its benefits to China and the world. 

Why does it matter?

Since July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has engaged in a brutal campaign to stamp out Falun Gong. Yet, a significant portion of the greetings sent to Mr. Li came from mainland China, relayed by practitioners from all provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions. Under the Chinese regime’s repression, the simple act of sending such holiday greetings carries profound meaning. Practitioners risk potential arrest and imprisonment for using internet-circumvention tools and submitting messages to a banned website like Minghui.org. In the context of today’s China, the volume and diversity of these greetings underscore Falun Gong’s enduring appeal and resilience, as well as the practice’s profound impact on many Chinese people’s lives.

What else do you need to know?

The greetings sent were not only from ethnic Chinese but also many non-Chinese. For example, Adhiraj Chakrabarti, a 41-year-old model and photographer from India living in New York City, began practicing Falun Dafa in 2014. “Honorable Master, you have purified my soul. I am forever grateful and thankful,” he wrote in a greeting. “I sincerely wish you a Happy New Year 2025!”.

FAMILY RESCUE

Numerous families around the world were forced to celebrate the Chinese New Year without their relatives because those loved ones are unjustly imprisoned in China for their belief in Falun Gong or for sharing information about the practice, the persecution, or the CCP’s broader history of brutality against the Chinese people. Among those jailed this year is the father of Berlin resident Ding Lebin, Mr. Ding Yuande, who is serving three-year prison sentence for his beliefs despite an international outcry over his mistreatment. Ms. Tan Zezhen, a 76-year-old devoted mother, was arrested and detained for spreading information about the persecution of Falun Gong, leaving her daughter, Chen Xiao, to campaign tirelessly in Australia for her release. Another case involves Ms. Meng Zhaohong, the elderly mother of California resident Ding Yue. Ms. Meng faces an unknown term of imprisonment for speaking to people at a local fair in Hebei Province about the persecution of Falun Gong. These stories represent a fraction of the millions of families torn apart by the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong.

TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION

In late December 2024, Shen Yun Performing Arts, the U.S.-based classical Chinese dance company founded by Falun Gong practitioners, launched its 2025 touring season. Since then, the Falun Dafa Information Center (FDIC) has documented over 30 incidents of anonymous death threats, false impersonations, and disinformation targeting the Falun Gong community and their supporters, including elected representatives in the United States and elsewhere. This volume of threats in such a short period of time is unprecedented.

Since December 1, Shen Yun’s headquarters and training center in New York has received 13 bomb threats, ransom demands, and death threats against staff and prominent individuals, including Falun Gong’s founder. The threats often include vivid and graphic descriptions of violence planned. Some extend threatening language to high-profile figures who have expressed support for Falun Gong, including U.S. Members of Congress. Between early December 2024 and the end of January 2025, at least eleven bomb or shooting threats have also targeted theaters hosting Shen Yun performances across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Although none of the threats have resulted in acts of violence, the pattern of harassment suggests a coordinated effort to intimidate and silence voices critical of the CCP, while trying to deter would-be supporters from seeing Shen Yun or speaking out against the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. 

PERSECUTION IN CHINA

On January 13, 2025, 71-year-old Zhang Shuhua from Yushu City, Jilin Province, was forcibly taken to Jilin Province Women’s Prison while still receiving intravenous therapy. She was arrested on December 23, 2023, discovered from surveillance footage to have allegedly distributed materials about Falun Gong or the persecution faced by practitioners. Due to her deteriorating health, she was initially released on bail. Despite her condition, Ms. Zhang was sentenced on August 19, 2024, to three years and two months in prison and fined 10,000 yuan. Last month, authorities transferred her to prison, using the pretext of a medical examination and ignoring her critical health, including high blood pressure. Ms. Zhang has previously endured forced labor and torture for practicing Falun Gong. Her case illustrates the CCP’s repression of elderly Falun Gong practitioners and the role that advanced surveillance technologies play in detecting and imprisoning grassroots Falun Gong activists.

In an eloquent first-hand account written in 2019, Ms. Minghui Wang, then a senior at UC Berkeley recalls writing letters to her father as a child when he was imprisoned in China for practicing Falun Gong, as well as how he had visible scars upon his release. During his detention, authorities also surveilled Minghui and her mother, scaring her mother’s employer and causing her to be fired. After Minghui’s father was released with dangerously high blood pressure in 2011, the family escaped to Thailand and were granted asylum in the U.S. in 2013.

“I don’t know what it’s like to lose your job, your health, your reputation and, your freedom, all at the age of 42 only because you follow a belief in truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. But my dad has experienced it all under the malicious Chinese regime,” writes Minghui. “Later, he told my mother that my letters, along with his faith in Falun Dafa, were the only things keeping him from collapsing physically and mentally.”

Since August 2024, The New York Times has published several articles misrepresenting Shen Yun and Falun Gong, portraying Shen Yun as exploitative and Falun Gong practitioners as brainwashed zealots. These depictions contradict the experiences of performers, experts, and professionals familiar with these communities.

The Falun Dafa Information Center investigated the reporting, drawing on interviews, email exchanges, medical expert opinions, and leaked Chinese government documents. The findings reveal biased reporting, reliance on questionable sources with Chinese party-state ties, and the omission of critical information. Yet The Times’ coverage aligns with the CCP’s propaganda priorities, raising serious concerns about journalistic integrity and potential malign influence.