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Wednesday, December 23, 2020 Dear Reader, TYRANNICAL REGIMES, like all organizations, are made up of individuals. Those people made choices and need to be held accountable. That’s precisely what the U.S. State Department has been doing by sanctioning individuals for committing human rights abuses. A Public Security official involved in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners is now among them. At the same time, public pressure remains an effective tool to call out the Chinese Communist Party or CCP for its crimes. And that’s exactly what more than 900 government officials from over 30 countries have done, condemning the persecution of Falun Gong in China. In this newsletter we also highlight a disturbing trend: a 500% increase over last year in the number of people harassed by police in China because of their Falun Gong faith. This is largely driven by the “zero out” campaign to force people to renounce their faith across the country. Finally, a report on Vodafone censoring Falun Gong websites in the UK shows just how far the reach of the CCP extends. Sincerely, Levi Browde, Executive Director Falun Dafa Information Center JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY State Department Sanctions Chinese Official Who Persecuted Falun Gong The U.S. State Department has sanctioned Chief Huang Yuanxiong of China's Xiamen Public Security Bureau in Fujian Province for his involvement in gross human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners who wish to practice their beliefs, namely their detention and interrogation. He and his wife are now ineligible for entry into the United States. "The world cannot stand idly by as the PRC government perpetrates horrific and systematic abuses against people in China, including violating the internationally recognized right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief," the Dec 10, 2020 statement, issued on International Human Rights Day, said. Read More INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT Over 900 Lawmakers from 35 Countries Condemn Persecution of Falun Gong An international joint statement to condemn the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong was published on International Human Rights Day, having accumulated signatures from 921 lawmakers across 35 countries. The statement condemns the “systematic and brutal campaign to ‘eradicate’ the spiritual discipline of Falun Gong” and calls for an immediate end to the human right abuses. “This reflects an unprecedented effort by government representatives from across the political spectrum and around the world to stop the Chinese Communist Party’s injustices against Falun Gong,” says Levi Browde, Executive Director of the Falun Dafa Information Center. Read More INSIDE CHINA 1,077 Falun Gong Practitioners Targeted for Their Faith in October 2020 In October 2020, at least 433 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested and 644 harassed for their faith, bringing the year-to-date arrest and harassment cases to 5,179 and 5,908, respectively. Two hundred and eighty-two (65%) of the arrested practitioners remain in custody at the time of writing. Out of the total 1,077 arrested and harassed, 198 had their homes ransacked. Fifty-three practitioners arrested and thirty-nine harassed were over the age of 65, with the oldest being 92. Thirty-five practitioners had a total of 267,840 yuan (nearly USD$50,000) confiscated by the police, ranging from 200 yuan to 100,000 yuan each, with an average of 7,653 yuan ($1,169) per person. Read More CENSORSHIP IN THE WEST Video: UK Mobile Provider Censors FalunInfo.net and Similar Websites Inside UK Vodafone is blocking access to Faluninfo.net and other Falun Gong-related websites that British residents have been using for almost 20 years. When Vodafone's WiFi router customers attempt to visit Falundafa.org and over a dozen others, they're shown a warning for "adult content." Falun Gong is practiced by people of all ages, including children, and has no adult content whatsoever. Why then would Vodafone do this? FalunInfo's executive director Levi Browde told NTD UK News that this has happened before in western nations. "Very pro-Beijing nationals... will call these software vendors who do restrictions... and tell them all kinds of lies about Falun Gong. It scares the software company and so they start putting Falun Gong websites on age-restricted categories which is completely false." Watch the full video for more details. Watch Now HOLIDAY JOY AROUND THE WORLD New Zealand: Falun Gong Parade Entries Exhibit Traditional Culture, Win First Place In a small town or big city, you might have caught sight a colorful, traditional Chinese-inspired marching band, dance group, and parade float made by people who practice Falun Gong. They take great inspiration from traditional cultures and believe the positive, human spirit found therein can act as an antidote to the sometimes unfulfilling modern world. Falun Gong practitioners around the world put immense effort into their parade entries and love connecting with the public through these art forms. New Zealand's holiday parade season was no exception: dozens of participants performed for tens of thousands of Kiwis in ten parades around the country. Their entry received the First Place Award in Te Awamutu. To see more images of their colorful, traditional holiday spirit and reactions by onlookers, click "Read More." Read More What's the Real Story of Falun Gong? From ancient roots extending back thousands of years, to a house-hold name in China during the Qigong boom in the 1990s, to the largest group of prisoners of conscience in the world, this is the complete story of Falun Gong... READ THE STORY THE FALUN GONG STORY What's the Real Story of Falun Gong? From ancient roots extending back thousands of years, to a house-hold name in China during the Qigong boom in the 1990s, to the largest group of prisoners of conscience in the world, this is the complete story of Falun Gong... READ THE STORY