In October 2022, Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a secret meeting instructing top state officials—overseeing political, intelligence, and influence operations—on a new strategy to target the Falun Gong religious group internationally, The Epoch Times has learned.
At the core of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s new anti-Falun Gong strategy is launching disinformation campaigns via social media influencers and Western media outlets; and using the American legal system to go after companies started by Falun Gong practitioners.
Details of the 2022 secret meeting were provided by Yuan Hongbing, a Chinese legal scholar living in exile in Australia who has maintained connections within China’s top political circles. His account is based on information he received from two sources: an individual from a veteran CCP family, who now opposes Xi; and an insider with knowledge speaking out for reasons of conscience.
The meeting took place right before the 20th National Congress, which saw Xi secure an unprecedented third term as Party leader. Xi told officials at the meeting that the regime’s previous efforts to suppress Falun Gong overseas had essentially failed.
‘Dire Situation,’ Says Xi
The meeting was held by the Political and Legal Affairs Commission and was attended by the ministers of National Security and State Security, the secretary and several deputy secretaries of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and from the United Work Front Department, the key Chinese agency tasked with overseas influence operations, according to Yuan.
Yuan said one of the main reasons Xi deemed international efforts against Falun Gong to be a failure was the growth of media organizations started by Falun Gong practitioners, which Xi says have become the main “hostile force” against the CCP, not just in Chinese but also in English.
Media founded by Falun Gong practitioners include The Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty Television (NTD), which were started in the early 2000s initially in Chinese and now in many languages with branches across the world.
A television station control room of the NTD Television Network, one of the media outlets targeted by the CCP, at its headquarters in New York City, in a file photo.
The Epoch Times
Xi said that despite years of expending large amounts of manpower, material resources, and money, the CCP has not only failed to suppress these media, but instead let them grow into a leading counterforce to the CCP internationally and in the media industry.
The CCP leader described the situation as “dire,” and said it was a major oversight of the responsible officials.
Xi believes the failure stems in part from a lack of “strategic planning” and “thorough, forceful coordination,” according to Yuan.
On top of that, Xi considered the existing suppression tactics as too “reserved, conservative, and not creative enough;” and while the regime has poured a significant amount of resources toward the effort, a large portion of that, upon disciplinary inspection, turned out to be wasted through corruption.
Xi told the attendees to start “cultivating anti-Falun Gong forces afresh” and reassess the current personnel designated to the task overseas, and to impose punishment or cut them off if necessary.
Shift in Strategy
“Infiltrate, break down, and dissolve”—these have been the strategies Chinese influence operatives have used against targets in the Chinese diaspora such as Falun Gong.
Xi said they were not sufficient.
Traditionally, the Chinese foreign ministry and the 610 Office—an extralegal apparatus specifically charged with the persecution work—had carried out the campaign overseas. Xi ordered a structural overhaul, according to Yuan.
Xi assigned the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the overseer of all legal enforcement authorities, to coordinate the task both inside China and outside.
Under the commission’s oversight, the Ministry of Public Security, with its roughly 2 million law enforcement officers, was put in charge of persecution efforts in China.
The Ministry of State Security, China’s top spy agency, was tasked with attacking Falun Gong overseas, with the United Front Work Department, the CCP overseas influence operation arm, and the relevant department from the foreign ministry, playing a supporting role.
“To fight a snake, hit at the seventh inch,” Yuan’s source quoted Xi as saying. The phrase is a Chinese idiom meaning to strike where it hurts most.
Chinese legal expert Yuan Hongbing in a file photo.
Chen Ming/The Epoch Times
Xi instructed officials to use lawfare and disinformation, deploying media with no traceable ties to the CCP, and social media to attack Falun Gong.
He instructed them to focus their efforts on tarnishing the reputation of Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, and on discrediting media outlets established by Falun Gong through insiders. The reason for using social media and Western media in their public opinion battle is because Xi believes that the CCP’s state media is not effective internationally due to being viewed as propaganda. The Western press has historically been utilized in propaganda wars by communist nations. Ronald J. Rychlak, a law professor at the University of Mississippi and an expert in disinformation, stated that the CCP is following the same tactics as the Soviets in spreading their narrative through recognized Western media outlets. Casey Fleming, CEO of BlackOps Partners and a counterintelligence expert, noted that the CCP has been engaging in this behavior for decades and has become increasingly proficient, especially with the use of new technologies like social media.
After the Party Congress, the Ministry of State Security appointed Chen Yixin as its new leader. Chen had previously served as the mayor of Wuhan and later as the secretary-general of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, during which time the persecution against Falun Gong escalated. A whistleblower who recently came forward also identified Chen as the driving force behind the campaign against Falun Gong overseas. Chen reportedly views this issue as his political capital and aims to resolve the “Falun Gong issue” by the end of the year.
Under Chen’s leadership, human rights abuses surged, with tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners facing harassment or arrest and hundreds dying. Wuhan, where Chen previously served, became a model for persecution. Chen’s ministry has established networks that can be mobilized, including an “anti-Falun Gong North America Office.” Little information is available about this office online, indicating its secretive nature. Additionally, the CCP has embedded agents in various ways, including operating secret police stations in foreign countries.
The international campaign against Falun Gong and its affiliated groups has intensified in recent years, with numerous social media accounts targeting them. One Chinese American influencer publicly took credit for assisting The New York Times in launching attacks against Shen Yun Performing Arts. This individual also filed complaints against Shen Yun with New York state authorities and faces charges for illegal firearms possession. The New York Times articles aimed to smear Shen Yun by distorting information about the group’s practicum program. The recent articles published coincided with a former student filing a civil lawsuit alleging labor violations.
Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times, Yiyuan Chang/NTD, York Du/NTD
According to Perry, since the CCP is considered an adversary, the United States must remain vigilant. He emphasized the need for increased scrutiny on all CCP activities, assuming they are done purposefully. Perry suggested that severe and immediate consequences should be imposed when misconduct is identified.
He also mentioned the opportunity to send a strong message to the CCP and Xi Jinping through actions such as closing consulates and utilizing other diplomatic measures if necessary.
Perry described the Communist Party of China as a criminal organization operating a country. He emphasized that the United States should not allow criminal organizations to abuse government systems to persecute adversaries or violate human rights, and the same should apply to the CCP.
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