Protesting the CCP’s Escalation of Transnational Persecution of Falun Gong — Remarks by U.S. Human Rights Expert Faith McDonn

On July 17, 2025, marking the 26th anniversary of the persecution of Falun Gong, 1,500 Falun Gong practitioners and supporters from the eastern United States gathered on the National Mall near Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., calling to “Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong.” More than a dozen U.S. officials, human rights leaders, and advocates delivered speeches in support of Falun Gong.

Ahead of the rally, officials from the U.S. State Department and over ten bipartisan members of Congress issued statements condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution and demanding its immediate end.

Faith McDonnell, Advocacy Director of Katartismos Global, said at the rally:

“Today I am here again to support Falun Gong, opposing the CCP and its horrifying campaign of group genocide against Falun Gong over the past 26 years, as well as its broader human rights abuses against Uyghurs, Hong Kongers, Chinese Christians, and other oppressed ethnic groups. Today, we are here not only to resist 26 years of persecution, but also to protest the CCP’s sharply escalated transnational persecution of Falun Gong.”

She praised the recent passage in May of House Resolution 1540 (HR1540), the Falun Gong Protection Act, and House Resolution 1503 (HR1503), the 2025 Act to Stop Organ Harvesting. She said: “Both of these resolutions address organ harvesting — a horrific and extremely painful form of murder, tantamount to genocide, which was declared a crime against humanity by the (UK Independent People’s Tribunal) in 2019.”

She added: “We urge the Senate to swiftly pass the Falun Gong Protection Act.”

Regarding the CCP’s recent escalation of transnational persecution of Falun Gong, she said: “The CCP’s attacks on Shen Yun and Falun Gong signal a sudden intensification of its infiltration tactics. Falun Gong practitioners have warned the United States to guard against the CCP and its threat to freedom. The CCP’s infiltration aims to undermine their voices and influence. Shen Yun is a powerful truth-spreading force because it goes beyond mere factual reports and statistics.”

She also noted that one of the CCP’s methods for demonizing Falun Gong and Shen Yun is to leverage The New York Times. She said: “Their so-called investigation into Falun Gong and Shen Yun is shocking. It is a newspaper doing dirty work for the CCP!”