Chinese Spy Defects, Mother and Educator Sentenced
Dear Reader,
A Chinese spy defected in Australia and confessed to a crowd of Falun Gong practitioners about his activities infiltrating dissident groups around the world, offering insight into the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) global transnational repression campaign.
In other news:
Falun Gong practitioners around the world create schools, clubs, and summer camps to teach children about traditional Chinese culture and the beauty of living by truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
A mother of a Melbourne family was sentenced in China to five years in prison in connection to her faith in Falun Gong.
Falun Gong practitioners in Nepal introduced the Falun Gong exercises to teachers and students.
Lastly, in a newly published video, we hear from Ms. Lihua Chi, who shares about her husband’s imprisonment in 2001 and his later sentencing to eight years. She was then forced to take care of her daughter alone while tirelessly appealing for his release.
Sincerely,
Levi Browde, Executive Director Falun Dafa Information Center
Defected spy, using the pseudonym Eric, speaks to a crowd of Falun Gong practitioners commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre on June 4,2024 in Canberra, Australia. (Source: Minghui.org)
What’s new?
On June 4, a former Chinese intelligence officer exposed his activities infiltrating dissident groups in a speech to a crowd of Falun Gong practitioners in Australia commemorating the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. Using the pseudonym Eric, he shared how he had spyed on a Falun Gong practitioner in Thailand.
The defected spy told journalists after the event that some 200 secret intelligence officials are working in Australia and that about 1,000 “community informants” working through CCP entities such as the United Front are used to help spy for China.
Why does it matter?
To help maintain its authoritarian hold on power in China, the CCP relies on manipulating and controlling the Chinese population both at home and abroad. Through its international spies, who live amongst ordinary citizens, the CCP collects intelligence while also identifying and targeting Chinese dissidents living abroad. Falun Gong practitioners have long been a target of such activities and many foreign governments are aware of these CCP actions with some agents being prosecuted in recent years. Nevertheless, having a new defector like testify to the fact that this continues in a country like Australia is notable and demonstrates the need for even greater precautions by democratic governments to protect members of the Chinese diaspora.
What else do you need to know?
This is not the first time a Chinese spy has spoken out against the party and defected. In 2005, former Chinese political consul Chen Yonglin revealed how the CCP placed spies in its consulate locations as part of its attempts to persecute Falun Gong practitioners abroad. At a U.S. Congressional hearing on July 21, 2005, Chen discussed how the CCP had systematically began persecuting Falun Gong practitioners in China and revealed that overseas missions always involved “at least one official in charge of the Falun Gong affairs, and the head and the deputy head of the mission will be responsible for the Falun Gong affairs.” In alignment with Eric’s recent statement, Chen had also referenced that there were approximately 1,000 Chinese secret informants in Australia at the time.
Participants at the 2022 Minghui Summer Camp in Toronto meditating. (Source: Minghui)
Minghui Schools including Minghui School Summer Camps and Minghui Clubs at public elementary schools, immerse young students in a curriculum focused on traditional Chinese culture and values. These programs encourage children to cultivate themselves spiritually, following the principles of Falun Dafa: Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. Activities include practicing the five Falun Dafa exercises, studying Falun Gong teachings, and learning classical Chinese dance, music, painting, calligraphy, and traditional Chinese culture from classical literature such as “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” and “Journey to the West.”
Minghui Schools provide an environment that fosters genuine connections and reduces the risks associated with technology addiction. The technology-free environment has helped many young practitioners overcome addictions to video games and online activities, resulting in significant positive behavioral changes. Moreover, the principles of Falun Dafa guide students to reflect inwardly, enhancing their relationships with family and friends. In India, over 80 schools have integrated Falun Dafa into their physical education curriculum, with notable positive impacts on students’ attitudes and well-being. Meanwhile, in China, practitioners face persecution and are prevented from sharing these benefits with young people.
The Falun Dafa Information Center learned on June 13 that Ms. Yongqin Jiang, a wife and mother of two from Jilin City, was secretly sentenced to five years in prison on January 24, 2024, for refusing to renounce her faith in Falun Gong. Her sentence expires on June 11, 2027.
Following her arrest in June 2022, reports emerged that personnel from the “Special Disciplinary Office” used a “torture kit” to sexually abuse Ms. Jiang in detention. Since the beginning of the persecution of Falun Gong nearly 25 years ago, female Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to torture and sexual abuse in custody.
Teachers and students of the Hupsekot Technical School learn the Falun Dafa seated meditation, led by Falun Gong practitioner Dr. Prabin Puri. (Source: Minghui.org)
Falun Gong practitioners in Nepal taught the practice’s exercises to local teachers and students on World Falun Dafa Day, which marked the anniversary of Falun Gong’s introduction to the public on May 13, 1992. The seminar was held at the Hupsekot Technical School in the Nawalparasi District of southern Nepal. Being close to Lumbini, the historic birthplace of Buddha Shakyamuni, many of the participants were familiar with the benefits of mind and body practices and had tried several in the past. However, the participants said the mental calm from doing the Falun Gong exercises was unlike anything they had experienced before.
At a U.S. Congressional hearing in 2005, Chen Yonglin, the former First Secretary of the Chinese Consulate-General in Sydney, revealed how the CCP placed spies in its consulate locations as part of its persecution of Falun Gong practitioners abroad. Chen, who had defected earlier in the year in Australia, discussed the strategies utilized by the Chinese Consulate-General in Sydney to monitor and interfere with Falun Gong practitioners in Australia. This included paying Sydney Chinese Television to air propaganda footage against Falun Gong and exerting pressure on Australian governmental officials to snub Falun Gong using economic ties with China as leverage.
In an interview published on June 19 by the Falun Dafa Information Center, Ms. Lihua Chi shares about the arrest and imprisonment of her husband, Mr. Dawei Xu. Following Mr. Xu’s detention, he was denied visitation rights, preventing his wife from telling him some very important news: that she was pregnant. Meanwhile, Mr. Xu faced brutal forms of torture and was later sentenced to eight years in prison.
