Commentary
Making use of China’s economic rise and engagement with the outside world over the past several decades, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has expanded its influence in American politics, public institutions, business circles, media, and civil society, with the ultimate aim of undermining the United States as an obstacle to Beijing’s ambitions for global hegemony.
In a display of the CCP’s influence, the Party has in recent years intensified its efforts to bring down Falun Gong — a popular Chinese faith group harshly suppressed in its home country since 1999 — in the U.S. and other countries.
The CCP’s overseas offensive against Falun Gong consists primarily of manipulating the American legal system and media outlets against the spiritual practice and organizations founded by its adherents, particularly the critically acclaimed, commercially successful performing arts company Shen Yun.
While crafting a prejudiced narrative against Falun Gong among the U.S. public, the Party also hopes to sabotage Falun Gong practitioners’ efforts to raise awareness about the persecution, stand up for their faith, and expose the malign nature of Communist China.
A disturbing new offensive
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In recent years, investigations by the U.S. Congress, think tank reports, and intelligence officials have revealed a multi-pronged CCP strategy: using security agencies, hacker teams, the Party’s United Front Work Department, and proxies to infiltrate American society, manipulate public opinion, conduct espionage, and suppress dissent. Since late 2022, the CCP leadership has ordered an escalation in the campaign against Falun Gong, with a particular focus on the U.S., mobilizing multiple departments to draft plans using “lawfare” and disinformation in an effort to “eradicate” Falun Gong globally. One whistleblower even alleges that the effort is directly personally by Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
These plans involve manipulating social media and search engines, activating sleeper agents, and using Western mainstream media to demonize Falun Gong. For example, individuals connected to the CCP-run Beijing Dance Academy were encouraged to spread false narratives about Shen Yun that sparked lawsuits, which were then cited in The New York Times. A recent series of New York Times articles on Shen Yun was filled with distortions and inaccuracies about Shen Yun and the Falun Gong belief system, effectively bringing CCP narratives into mainstream American discourse.
Brigadier General Robert Spalding noted: “The CCP uses our own media [against us]. One good example is its attack on the Falun Gong. It basically convinced the entire academic, university system in the United States that they are a brainwashed cult [when in fact]… they are just dissidents of the communist regime. [The CCP] has done the same thing to our media institutions… controlling our own narratives within the United States.”
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (法輪大法), is a spiritual discipline of the Buddhist tradition centered on the core principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance (真善忍), with millions of adherents in China and around the world.
During the 1990s, Falun Gong spread rapidly throughout China, being welcomed by both the public and authorities for its role in improving morality and physical health. By 1999 the government estimated that 70–100 million people, or about 1 in 13 Chinese, were Falun Gong practitioners.
Fearing that the faith’s popularity would threaten the Marxist atheism of the CCP, the Party launched a nationwide campaign to destroy Falun Gong. Thousands have been confirmed as having lost their lives at the hands of the regime, including by the execution method of organ harvesting.
Primary targets of Beijing’s transnational repression
For the past quarter-century, Falun Gong practitioners abroad, especially in the United States, have consistently spoken out to expose the CCP’s persecution. The Epoch Times (known in Chinese as Dajiyuan), founded by Falun Gong practitioners, has become the world’s largest independent Chinese-language newspaper, while Shen Yun Performing Arts is recognized as a top-tier classical Chinese dance and music company that showcases the essence of 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. Its eight touring companies perform at hundreds of theaters worldwide, reaching an audience of over 1 million annually.
Shen Yun was established by Falun Gong practitioners in upstate New York in 2006 to present traditional Chinese culture from before communism, and some of its programs depict the CCP’s tyranny and the steadfast faith of Falun Gong practitioners.
For over a decade, the CCP has tried to counter Shen Yun and Falun Gong through tactics including defamation, spreading disinformation, and direct interference. According to a 2021 report by Freedom House, “Media and cultural initiatives associated with Falun Gong have reported suspicious break-ins targeting sensitive information, vehicle tampering, and pressure from Chinese authorities for local businesses to cut off advertising or other contractual obligations with them.”
However, these efforts have largely failed, as evidenced by Shen Yun’s rapid growth and worldwide acclaim.
US countermeasures and challenges
The U.S. authorities have taken some steps to respond to the CCP’s transnational repression targeting Falun Gong. Last year, two CCP agents were convicted of attempting to bribe an IRS official to revoke Shen Yun’s nonprofit tax-exempt status. A New York judge also dismissed a series of frivolous environmental lawsuits against Shen Yun’s headquarters that were filed by individuals tied to the CCP.
Still, growing awareness of the CCP’s strategies in media, social platforms, and legal systems underscores the potential threat posed to Falun Gong, Shen Yun, and broader American society.
In September 2024, the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee warned that the CCP has been waging “political and economic warfare” through infiltration of federal agencies and critical industries.”
The ultimate goal of this campaign is not only to suppress Falun Gong and other Chinese dissidents in the United States, but also to test a replicable playbook that can be used against any person or organization in the United States.
If successful, the CCP would be able to further influence U.S. policymaking and limit freedom of speech. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio warned about Beijing’s economic influence: “If we stay on the road we’re on right now, in less than 10 years virtually everything that matters to us in life will depend on whether China will allow us to have it or not.”
The CCP’s current campaign is driven by its fear of Falun Gong’s growing role in bringing a different narrative to the Chinese people. As Falun Gong’s voice gains strength in the U.S., the CCP worries that its human rights abuses will be more fully exposed, threatening the regime’s grip on power in China.
