NEW DELHI: As world leaders gathered at the United Nations in Manhattan for the 81st General Assembly on September 22, nearly 100 Falun Gong practitioners assembled at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza to draw attention to what they described as the continuing persecution of the spiritual practice in China by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The rally took place alongside the opening of the General Assembly’s high-level debate, which brings heads of state and government to New York. Practitioners displayed banners calling for an end to the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong, including messages reading “Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong” and “Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance”. Others performed the practice’s slow and meditative exercises.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, combines meditation and physical exercises with moral teachings centred on truthfulness, compassion and forbearance. The CCP began its nationwide campaign against the practice in July 1999. The Falun Dafa Information Centre, a New York-based organisation that documents the persecution, says millions of practitioners have since been detained and that hundreds of thousands have been subjected to torture, while thousands of deaths have been documented.
For Liu Jiying, who attended Tuesday’s demonstration, the CCP’s persecution is inseparable from her own experience in China. Liu was living in Beijing when the campaign began in 1999. On December 1 that year, she travelled to appeal to Chinese authorities but was detained.
In 2001, Liu and 10 other Falun Gong practitioners were arrested during a gathering at a private residence. She was subsequently sentenced to eight years in prison and was released in 2009, according to her account to media at the New York rally.
A family separated by the China crackdown
The CCP persecution also had consequences for Liu’s family. Her husband worked at a local prosecutor’s office and, according to Liu, came under pressure to divorce her. The couple separated not long after the persecution began.
Liu was arrested again in 2016. Her mother became deeply worried about her daughter’s situation and, according to Liu, stopped taking proper care of herself. She died two months after Liu’s arrest.
Later that year, Liu was released on bond and eventually managed to leave China and travel to the United States. Despite the experiences she described, Liu appeared relaxed at the New York gathering, saying that she tries not to dwell too deeply on everything she has endured.
🔥9月22日，联合国大会会场外，纽约法輪功学员夏德珍说，非常感谢美国政府对信仰自由的保护和捍卫。在中国说一句“法轮大法好”就可能面临监禁、酷刑，不放弃信仰可能会失去生命。如今站在美国自由的街道上，感慨万千，非常珍惜这个机会，希望川普总统、希望美国政府制止中共的跨国镇压，保障法輪功学员… pic.twitter.com/ZbPNrNK1Oa
— 海外爆料 (@zhihui999) September 22, 2026
She said the CCP’s persecution remains an immediate concern because people she knows are still imprisoned in China. Liu specifically referred to her close friend and fellow Beijing practitioner Li Guiping, who remains incarcerated. She said she attended the United Nations demonstration to call for the release of Falun Gong practitioners still in police custody in Beijing.
The Falun Dafa Information Centre also says the CCP’s campaign has extended beyond China through what it describes as transnational repression. According to a recent survey by the centre, more than 600 incidents involving Falun Gong practitioners were documented across the United States over a five-year period beginning in 2020.
The centre has also pointed to U.S. federal prosecutions involving Chinese government agents. It says at least six agents of the Chinese government have been convicted in U.S. federal courts in cases involving activities targeting Falun Gong practitioners, including incidents in New York.
Practitioners call for an end to CCP persecution
Oanh Le, originally from Vietnam, was another participant at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza. She said 10 members of her family practise Falun Gong, beginning with her father and later extending to her aunt, cousins, sister and herself.
Le said the practice had made her feel physically better and encouraged her to improve her conduct in everyday life. At the rally, she said she wanted to help people understand what practitioners were experiencing in China.
“I hope to share the truth with people and hope to stop that persecution,” Le said. The practitioners plan to remain at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza through Friday. They have also organised a vehicle parade through Manhattan, with cars carrying messages calling for an end to the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong.
As the UN General Assembly continues its high-level meetings in New York, the practitioners say they intend to use the international gathering to keep attention focused on the China-based persecution that they say has shaped their lives for more than two decades.
