Virginia Asian American Leaders Call for Action Against Authoritarian Regimes' Influence in the US

ANNANDALE, Virginia — On Aug. 10, a community leaders’ meeting was hosted by the Asian Community Service Center in Northern Virginia. The event brought together prominent voices and speakers from across the Asian American community to warn the American public of increased infiltration by authoritarian regimes — particularly the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — and how this poses a threat to the U.S. They also urged local governments to take stronger measures to counter it.

The gathering focused on the CCP’s expanding influence operations in the U.S. Host Ms. Kelly noted that in recent years, Beijing has deployed increasingly sophisticated tactics, including information and legal warfare targeting Falun Gong practitioners and New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline rooted in the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Despite being peaceful in nature, the CCP launched a large-scale suppression of the group in 1999 after seeing its popularity, which was estimated at 70 to 100 million practitioners, as a threat to its authoritarian grip. The persecution has continued unabated for over two decades, with thousands of Falun Gong adherents both in China and abroad being routinely subjected to surveillance, arbitrary travel bans, and arrests.