In July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party launched one of the most severe acts of religious persecution since the Cultural Revolution—a violent campaign to wipe out Falun Gong, an indigenous spiritual group with tens of millions of Chinese practitioners. Twenty-five years later, this CCP campaign continues with large-scale imprisonments inside China as well as systematic propaganda and harassment in the United States.
Beyond the horrific toll on the Falun Gong community, the CCP’s relentless repression campaign has had wide-ranging repercussions for China and the world. Executing the campaign has sharpened the CCP’s security apparatus, served as a blueprint for repressing other designated enemies, and honed the party’s ability to influence Western media.
Join Hudson Institute as expert panels take stock of the Falun Gong crackdown over the past quarter of a century.
Agenda
Opening Remarks
Nina Shea, Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Religious Freedom, Hudson Institute
Keynote Address
Miles Yu, Senior Fellow and Director, China Center, Hudson Institute
Panel 1: The Modes of CCP Persecution and Effective US Policy Responses
This panel will discuss the current state of repression, surveillance, and persecution of Falun Gong in China, transnational repression against the group abroad, and recommended US policies to counter the CCP’s campaign.
Moderator
Panel 2: Propaganda, Disinformation, and Foreign Influence
This panel will discuss the CCP’s evolving mechanisms for spreading propaganda narratives to influence foreign media and how this has affected the Falun Gong diaspora and the American public.
Moderator
Join Hudson Institute Senior Fellows Michael Doran and Ludovic Hood, Research Fellow Zineb Riboua, and Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, for a timely discussion about the conflicts in the region and America’s strategic and diplomatic paths forward.
Join Senior Fellow Dr. Rebeccah Heinrichs and Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) for a fireside discussion on how Congress can guide American strategy, the need to modernize the defense industrial base, and the vital role of allies and partners in an unstable international environment.
Join Senior Fellow Michael Doran for a candid conversation with H.E. Narek Mkrtchyan, ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the United States of America, as they discuss the developments, challenges, and opportunities defining the US-Armenia relationship.
Please join Hudson Institute’s China Center as Miles Yu hosts a panel with key members of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan and the Democratic Progressive Party to examine Taiwan’s mobilization efforts against the CCP’s increasing threats.
