U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns has emphasized the importance of freedom of religion and belief in China, urging the Chinese communist regime to release Falun Gong practitioners who have been persecuted for their spiritual beliefs for the past 25 years.
Mr. Burns made this statement on July 22, following the State Department’s call for an end to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) ongoing persecution campaign against Falun Gong, which has resulted in the arrest, imprisonment, and even killing of practitioners for their organs.
He called on the regime to release all detained Falun Gong practitioners and others imprisoned in China for their beliefs, stating, “The United States will continue to speak out in support of freedom of religion and belief in China. We call on the PRC [People’s Republic of China] to release all those imprisoned for their beliefs, including Falun Gong practitioners,” in a statement on social media platform X.
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing marked the 25th anniversary of the start of the persecutory campaign, stating, “We solemnly mark 25 years today since the People’s Republic of China (PRC) began a campaign of repression against practitioners of Falun Gong,” in a statement on X on July 23.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that promotes meditative exercises and moral teachings based on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. By the end of the 1990s, an estimated 70 to 100 million people had adopted the practice in China, receiving praise for its health benefits and positive societal impact.
However, the practice was perceived as a threat by then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin, leading to a widespread persecution campaign against Falun Gong starting on July 20, 1999. Since then, millions of practitioners have been detained, tortured, and killed, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.
Lawmakers from various countries, including Canada, Australia, the UK, Slovenia, Japan, and Taiwan, have also called on Beijing to end its persecution of Falun Gong. Over 130 lawmakers from 15 countries issued a joint statement urging the CCP to “immediately stop the 25-year-long persecution of Falun Gong in China, and to unconditionally release all detained Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience.”
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