Grassroots Dissent in China: Past, Present, and Future

What does grassroots resistance to authoritarianism look like in China—and beyond? On April 24, the Falun Dafa Information Center hosted a powerful conversation exploring the past 25 years of religious dissent and the evolving future for rights advocates in China.

The Center hosted this webinar to commemorate and recognize the legacy of the peaceful April 25, 1999 appeal by Falun Gong practitioners. On that day, thousands of Falun Gong practitioners quietly gathered for a sit-in in Beijing asking for the release of arrested believers and freedom to practice their faith.

The event featured a presentation by Dr. Larry Liu, an expert on the Falun Gong human rights crisis and dissent, and a panel of firsthand accounts from three grassroots activists:

• A former engineer from Jiangsu Province who secretly operated a home-based underground printshop for 24 years.

• A Chinese American IT professional who has made over 50,000 calls into China to expose rights abuses and debunk CCP propaganda.

• An activist in Germany whose father is imprisoned in China, and who has advocated for his release at the European Parliament and United Nations.

The event was moderated by Cynthia Sun, senior researcher at the Falun Dafa Information Center and FoRB Fellow 2025 with the First Freedom Foundation. Opening comments and discussion were followed by Q&A from the audience.