Falun Gong outside mainland China

[1] Led by Li Hongzhi, who is viewed by adherents as a deity-like figure, Falun Gong practitioners operate a variety of organizations in the United States and elsewhere, including the dance troupe Shen Yun.

The latter has been broadly noted as a politically far-right[28] media entity, and it has received significant attention in the United States for promoting conspiracy theories, such as QAnon and anti-vaccine misinformation, and producing advertisements for former U.S. President Donald Trump.

[33][34] Nonetheless, some observers have noted that Falun Gong has failed to attract the level of sympathy and sustained international attention afforded to Tibetans, Chinese Christians or democracy activists.

Although the practice was beginning to attract an overseas constituency, it remained relatively unknown in the Western world until the Spring of 1999, when tensions between Falun Gong and CCP authorities became a subject of international media coverage.

[46] Volunteer "assistants" or "contact persons" coordinate local activities, but they do not hold authority over other practitioners, regardless of how long they have practiced Falun Gong; they cannot collect money, conduct healings, or teach or interpret doctrine for others.

[50] Scott Lowe, for instance, believes that the Internet is not a significant factor in attracting people to the practice; instead, the influence of family and friends, as well as the prospect of better health, seem far more important in establishing initial interest.

[41][46][54] Group study sessions typically take place in the evenings in private residences or university or high school classrooms, and are described by David Ownby as "the closest thing to a regular 'congregational experience'" that Falun Gong offers.

Ownby suggests that Falun Gong appealed to a broad spectrum of social groups, "including university professors and students, high party and government officials, well-educated cadres and members of the comfortable middle class, and [...] the old, the infirm, the unemployed, and the desperate.

[58] In a study conducted by David Ownby, close to 30% of practitioners said they were attracted to Falun Dafa for its "intellectual content", 27% for "spiritual enlightenment", 20% for "health benefits", 15% the exercises, 7% for Li Hongzhi himself, and 2% for the community.

[52] Several respondents apparently realized that other forms of qigong were "shallow, exoteric, and superficial," while they came to believe that Falun Gong is the "most complete, efficacious, and comprehensive system of spiritual cultivation on the planet.

Twenty-six respondents said they felt a newfound sense of moral certitude and spiritual growth, while ten "discovered a firm determination to carry their cultivation through to the end goal of enlightenment or consummation, no matter what obstacles might appear in their path.

As the persecution in China progressed, overseas Falun Gong efforts increasingly tied their pleas for relief to Western human rights discourse, emphasizing the implications for freedom of speech, assembly, and conscience.

Lawyers acting on behalf of Falun Gong practitioners have filed dozens of largely symbolic lawsuits around the world against Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, and other Chinese officials alleging genocide and crimes against humanity.

The suit alleges, based mainly on internal Cisco documents, that the technology company "designed and implemented a surveillance system for the Chinese Communist Party, knowing it would be used to root out members of the Falun Gong religion and subject them to detention, forced labor and torture."

[70] In 2008, the Appeals Court of Quebec, Canada, ruled that a Chinese language newspaper "Les Presses Chinoises" had defamed Falun Gong when it depicted the practice as dangerous and perverse.

[79] In contrast to marches, which focus on bringing attention to the persecution in China, celebratory Falun Gong parades usually incorporate traditional-style Chinese dances, costumes, song, exercise demonstrations, drumming, floats, and banners.

Chen alleged that his primary function at the consulate involved efforts to monitor and harass Falun Gong and to minimize support for the practice from Australian media and elected officials.

In 2001, Hong Kong officials admitted that they had used a blacklist to deny entry to approximately 100 Falun Gong practitioners during a visit by then-General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin.

[116] Months later, Hong Kong immigration officials denied visas to several members of the Falun Gong-affiliated Shen Yun dance company, which was scheduled to perform in the territory in January 2010.

[100] In 2002, 25-year-old Ottawa practitioner Leon Wang reported being kicked, dragged, and beaten inside the Chinese embassy after he was caught taking pictures of an anti-Falun Gong exhibit being held there.

The purpose of his visit was to protest outside the South Africa-China Binational Commission (BNC) meetings and to launch a lawsuit against high-ranking Chinese officials for their involvement in the persecution of Falun Gong.

"[129] According to Perry Link, pressure on Western institutions also takes more subtle forms, including academic self-censorship, whereby research on Falun Gong is avoided because it could result in a denial of visas for fieldwork in China.

[130] Ethan Gutmann also noted that media organizations and human rights groups also self-censor on the topic, given the PRC government's attitude toward the practice, and the potential repercussions that may follow for making overt representations on Falun Gong's behalf.

[139] In May 2023, Los Angeles residents John Chen and Lin Feng were indicted and charged by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly engaging in a CCP 610 Office-directed scheme to strip the tax-exempt status of an entity run by Falun Gong practitioners.

[147][148] United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Torture, Extrajudicial executions, Violence against Women and Freedom of Religion or Belief have issued numerous reports condemning the persecution of Falun Gong in China, and relayed hundreds of cases of concern to Chinese authorities.

In 2003, for instance, The Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings wrote that reports from China "describe harrowing scenes in which detainees, many of whom are followers of the Falun Gong movement, die as a result of severe ill-treatment, neglect or medical attention.

"[149] In 2010, the special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief condemned the defamation against minority religious groups, singling out the governments of Iran and China for their treatment of the Baháʼí Faith and Falun Gong, respectively.

"Small communities, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Baháʼís, Ahmadis, Falun Gong and others are sometimes stigmatized as "cults" and frequently meet with societal prejudices which may escalate into fully fledged conspiracy theories," said the rapporteur at the UN general assembly.

[131] Katrina Lantos Swett, vice chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, notes that most Americans are aware of the persecution of "Tibetan Buddhists and unregistered Christian groups or pro-democracy and free speech advocates such as Liu Xiaobo and Ai Weiwei," and yet "know little to nothing about China's assault on the Falun Gong.

[152] By the latter half of 2001, however, the volume of media reports declined precipitously, and by 2002, coverage of Falun Gong by major news organizations like the New York Times and Washington Post had almost completely ceased, particularly from within China.