July 20 marks the 24th anniversary of the commencement of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) violent suppression of Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice composed of meditative exercises and moral teachings centered on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. By 1999, an estimated 70 million to 100 million people had taken up the practice in mainland China.
The CCP, viewing this popularity as a threat to its authoritarian control over the population, vowed to eliminate the faith group by any means necessary.
Bombarded daily by propaganda slandering Falun Gong, millions of Chinese people were influenced to change their minds about the peaceful practice—which had previously been praised in the media. The CCP used its far-reaching influence on the Chinese people to instigate an unfathomable persecution. On top of this, the propaganda machine even convinced ordinary Chinese people that Falun Gong practitioners deserved the abuses meted out to them.
NTD explored this further with Mikki Willis, the writer, director, and producer of the movie “The Great Awakening.”