On July 20, 2025, Falun Gong practitioners and supporters gathered in Philadelphia’s Chinatown to commemorate 26 years of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) ongoing persecution of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice consisting of meditation and teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.
The rally spotlighted the brutality of the CCP’s continued persecution, including torture, forced labor, forced organ harvesting, and transnational repression targeting Falun Gong practitioners overseas as well as in the United States. During the event, survivors shared their testimonies, and local leaders called for action to address the CCP’s human rights abuses.
On July 20, 1999, the CCP began a brutal suppression campaign against Falun Gong, outlawing the practice and targeting its tens of millions of adherents for imprisonment, torture, and forced labor. Reports of forced organ harvesting from detained practitioners began to emerge in 2006 and have since drawn international condemnation….