Beijing's Influence on American University Campuses: The Falun Gong Case Study and Beyond

Beijing's Influence on American University Campuses: The Falun Gong Case Study and Beyond - Panel Discussion and Q&A
Date: November 3rd, 2023
Location: Lehman Hall 201, Harvard Yard, Cambridge, MA
Hosted by the Falun Dafa Club at Harvard Griffin GSAS

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) engages in the world’s most comprehensive campaign of transnational repression, targeting exile communities, members of the diaspora, and supporters in dozens of countries around the world with digital surveillance, attempted censorship, and even physical attacks. This campaign has also reached university campuses in the United States, generating discussion among faculty, students, administrators, and policymakers.

An under-appreciated target of this campaign are practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice violently persecuted by the CCP in China. A recent study found that at least 45 US universities have Falun Gong practitioners or clubs on campus and that many encounter suspicious surveillance, intimidation from Chinese officials or their proxies, and even demonizing depictions in Chinese-language textbooks used in American classrooms. Join researchers and student representatives for a discussion exploring how the Chinese Communist Party silences dissident voices on American university and college campuses.

00:00-04:39 Introduction and Keynote Address
04:39-23:54 "Surveillance, Slander, and Censorship: How the Chinese Communist Party’s Persecution Impacts Falun Gong Believers on U.S. University Campuses" - Cynthia Sun from Falun Dafa Information Center
23:54-43:49 "Challenges and Reprisals Faced by Falun Gong Practitioner Students in the U.S. and Suggestions to Better Uphold Freedom of Expression on Campus" - Emily Huang from Students for Falun Gong
43:49-1:14:13 Q&A Discussion