On Sept. 20, 2026, more than 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners from Toronto, Ottawa, and several other Canadian cities gathered at Queen’s Park in Toronto for a large rally, followed by a march.
They protested the CCP’s 27-year-long persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and called on the international community to recognize the regime’s increasingly rampant acts of “transnational repression” in recent years.
Representatives of several Chinese pro-democracy groups spoke at the rally. A number of Hong Kong immigrants and democracy activists also made a special trip to attend and show their support for Falun Gong practitioners through their presence.
Falun Gong practitioners from cities including Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver held various banners at the rally, creating a distinctive scene in Queen’s Park.
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Falun Gong practitioners share their experiences of transnational repression
At the rally, several Falun Gong practitioners recounted their personal experiences of transnational repression in Canada.
Ms. Pan said the past year had seen the most severe CCP interference in Shen Yun performances and harassment of Falun Gong practitioners at truth-clarification sites in Canada in more than two decades.
The tactics included publicly attacking and verbally abusing practitioners, tearing down banners, and damaging the supports of display boards.
However, she also said she had seen many Chinese people who had learned the truth decide to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations, including the Communist Youth League and Young Pioneers.
Ms. Zhang, who regularly raises awareness about Falun Gong at Toronto City Hall Square, recalled that in October last year, a Chinese man approached her, snatched and tore up her informational materials, verbally abused her, and even attempted to attack her physically. Fortunately, City Hall staff intervened in time and stopped him.
Professor Maria Cheung, an emeritus professor at the University of Manitoba who has spent many years researching human rights issues in China, said at the rally that the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong had long since extended into Canada.
She said the regime carried out its suppression by collecting practitioners’ personal information, harassing their relatives in China after they spoke out, and disrupting Shen Yun performances.
Cheung also said that Canada’s existing foreign-interference legislation, Bill C-70, remained insufficient. She urged victims to document their personal experiences as thoroughly as possible and submit them to the government, expressing hope that more effective legislation against transnational repression would be introduced in the future.
Shen Yun repeatedly targeted by transnational repression; participants urge Canada to take notice
In recent years, the CCP has intensified efforts to suppress dissidents and other critics abroad through what governments and human rights groups describe as “transnational repression.”
Earlier this year, the CCP used diplomatic pressure and even false bomb threats in attempts to prevent Shen Yun performances in Toronto, Ottawa, and other locations.
The Ottawa performances have still not gone ahead as scheduled. Several Shen Yun performances in Toronto, Vancouver, and Mississauga were also temporarily canceled following bomb threats. After efforts to address the security concerns, Shen Yun was able to return to Toronto more than two months later.
Dissident Dong Guangping arrived in Canada after fleeing China and attended a Shen Yun performance in Toronto the very next day.
He told The Epoch Times that the CCP was an “evil authoritarian ruling organization” that subjected organized groups—particularly Falun Gong—to even harsher persecution.
He said this reflected the essence of the CCP’s efforts to maintain its authoritarian rule and conceal its false propaganda.
Dong said the CCP was also doing everything it could to sabotage Shen Yun performances because “it is afraid of Shen Yun’s influence, so it tries every possible means to cause disruption.”
He called on the CCP to immediately end its persecution of Falun Gong and said his greatest wish was to see constitutional democracy established in China and the CCP’s authoritarian rule brought to an end.
Li Zanzhou, a member of the Chinese Democracy Party who watched Shen Yun at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre in late June, said that the values of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance expressed by Shen Yun were part of the cultural foundation of the Chinese nation.
He said this was precisely why the CCP continued to suppress it.
“When a person embraces truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, they gain boundless strength. When we have faith, our lives are elevated,” he said.
Li expressed hope that Shen Yun would continue performing successfully in Canada, North America, and around the world.
Participants also urged the Canadian government and other governments worldwide to take such transnational threats seriously and adopt concrete measures to protect the legal rights and personal safety of Chinese residents in Canada, Falun Gong practitioners, and Shen Yun Performing Arts.
China is becoming ‘a larger North Korea’
Wu Zhiwei, a member of the Canadian Committee of the Chinese Democracy Party, also said he was deeply moved by the scale of the rally.
He noted that, with the support of the CCP’s advanced surveillance technologies, repression overseas had continued to intensify, while controls within China had become increasingly severe. He said the situation was even more brutal than during the Cultural Revolution, with some people describing China as becoming “a larger North Korea.”
Wu urged Falun Gong practitioners to prioritize their personal safety while remaining steadfast in their faith. He also called on them to step up their overseas advocacy efforts and encourage more people of Chinese heritage to join the movement against repression, persecution, and totalitarianism.
He welcomed Shen Yun’s role in preserving the heritage of traditional Chinese civilization.
“Overseas, this outstanding traditional culture has been able to continue. I hope people throughout China will continue to promote and carry it forward,” he said.
Wu also expressed support for Shen Yun’s return to Ottawa as soon as possible.
A family of three who recently moved from Hong Kong to Canada also came to the rally with self-made display boards to show their support.
Mai Zixuan said he had been targeted by Hong Kong authorities for participating in the 2019 anti-extradition protests and helping others, which eventually forced him to leave Hong Kong for Canada.
He said that overseas Chinese living in a free society do not have to fear being arrested by the police and should unite to resist the CCP’s cross-border interference.
“We must say no to transnational repression! No to the Communist Party!” he said.
The three family members also held up their display boards and shouted, “Hong Kong people support Falun Gong! Oppose the Communist Party’s persecution of Falun Gong!”
Dissident Dong Guangping, who had recently escaped China and arrived in Canada, also spoke with The Epoch Times. He described the CCP as an “evil authoritarian ruling organization” that subjects organized groups—particularly Falun Gong—to harsher persecution. He said this reflects the nature of the CCP’s efforts to maintain authoritarian rule and conceal its propaganda.
Dong said the CCP was also making every effort to disrupt Shen Yun performances because it fears the group’s influence.
“It is afraid of Shen Yun’s influence, so it tries every possible means to cause disruption and prevent you from performing,” he said.
He called on the CCP to immediately end its persecution of Falun Gong and said his greatest wish was to see constitutional democracy established in China and the CCP’s authoritarian rule brought to an end.
Community leaders attend rally, call for protection of freedom
Yu Houqiang, chairman of the Canadian Committee of the Chinese Democracy Party, said in his speech that he attended the rally to represent the Chinese Democracy Party in supporting Falun Gong. He said he particularly admired Falun Gong practitioners for their steadfast pursuit of freedom.
“I came to Canada for my own freedom and for the freedom of my next generation. I believe that everyone here went through tremendous hardship before finding the freedom that belongs to them,” he said.
Yu specifically mentioned that Shen Yun, which had performed in Ottawa for 18 years, is now unable to stage a performance there, describing this as a reflection of how freedom has gradually been eroded by the CCP.
He called on the community to stand together and protect the hard-won freedoms they have gained.
Hou Shijun said he had participated in such events about 10 times. He said the Falun Gong principles of “Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance” align with the values he personally pursues.
He argued that Chinese society is currently experiencing a decline in moral standards, along with a loss of spiritual and religious faith among the population. In his view, the spirit of “Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance” is needed to revitalize Chinese civilization and rebuild the moral foundation of the Chinese people.
Hou also criticized the CCP’s nearly two decades of transnational suppression of Shen Yun, saying the campaign had become increasingly aggressive in recent years, including repeated bomb threats and diplomatic pressure. As a result, Shen Yun is still unable to perform in Ottawa, although the company was able to return to Toronto this time.
He called on the Chinese community to strengthen communication with the Canadian government and urged Ottawa to attach greater importance to the CCP’s transnational repression activities in Canada.
“This violates Canadian law, and it also violates human rights,” he said.
Kwai Teng, a member of the Canadian Alliance for Democracy and a Hong Kong Muay Thai champion, also attended to show his support.
He said that since arriving in Canada in May 2025, he had attended almost every Falun Gong anti-persecution event.
Through his interactions with Falun Gong practitioners, he said, he had been deeply impressed by their integrity and extensive knowledge and strongly identified with the principles of “Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.”
He said that despite the CCP’s persecution of practitioners through alleged forced organ harvesting, defamation, imprisonment, and other means, their faith had never been shaken.
He also mentioned attending his first Shen Yun performance in Toronto in June. He said he believed the performance preserved authentic elements of traditional Chinese culture.
Kwai emphasized that he hoped Shen Yun would eventually be able to resume performances in Ottawa and called on the Canadian government to protect the performing arts company.
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