Toronto: Dignitaries Stand with Falun Gong at Press Conference Condemning the Chinese Regime’s Persecution

(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners held a press conference in front of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto on the evening of July 20, 2025. They called on legislators and people to condemn and help end the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution. They also reminded everyone that the CCP conducts transnational repression in Canada.

Practitioners recounted their family members’ suffering in the persecution in China and called for help to rescue imprisoned practitioners.

Wladslaw Lizon, former member of Parliament (MP), participated in the press conference and stated that justice will prevail over evil. In addition, Shuvaloy Majumdar MP and Dan Muys MP expressed their support via video and condemned the transnational repression.

Practitioners held a press conference in front of the Chinese Consulate and called for the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong to end.

The CCP Must Be Held Accountable for Its Crimes

Wladslaw Lizon, former MP, addressed the press conference.

Mr. Wladslaw Lizon first thanked the organizers of the press conference. He said while pointing to the consulate building, “One day, the CCP regime will be held responsible for the atrocities against its own people, Falun Gong practitioners, and other groups.”

He went on to say, “We stand together with those who are jailed or sent to labor camps, and people whose organs are harvested [while they are] alive. We tell the world that we don’t forget those people who are persecuted. I truly hope that a big change in China will come, and I am sure it will come.” Finally, he made a victory gesture and said, “We will be victorious!”

Canada Must Defend Freedom, Belief, and Democracy

Shuvaloy Majumdar MPVideo message from Shuvaloy Majumdar MP

Shuvaloy Majumdar MP stated in his video, “Today marks 26 years since the Chinese Communist Party began its brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Millions have faced detention and torture simply for their peaceful beliefs. That persecution has extended to Canada through transnational repression, and attacks on cultural events including Shen Yun.

“Canada must counteract this interference and stand up for freedom, faith, and democracy at home and abroad. I stand with Falun Gong practitioners in their pursuit of freedom and dignity.”

Transnational Repression Must be Condemned

Dan Muys MPVideo message from Dan Muys MP

Dan Muys MP stated in his video that Falun Gong practitioners are peaceful believers in Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, but the CCP has persecuted Falun Gong for 26 years and even committed forced organ harvesting.

He reminded the public, “Now, we see that the CCP’s agents act around the world against practitioners of Falun Gong. That is an alarming concern. A letter was recently signed by a number of parliamentarians in Canada and other legislatures in countries around the world against this practice of repression and sound the alarm against it.”

He specifically talked about the CCP’s threats that Shen Yun Performing Arts Company faced during its tour in Canada. He said, “Shen Yun is about traditional Chinese culture and dance. These performances are subject to bomb threats, death threats, that are even happening right here on Canadian soil. That is very alarming. Now, there is a foreign agent registry in Canada. We must publicly condemn this behavior and call for an immediate end to these foreign actors on Canadian soil.”

Calling to Release Falun Gong Practitioners

Practitioner Yang Man (third from left) calls on the international community to pay attention to the CCP’s persecution of her mother Ms. Pan Jing

Falun Gong practitioner Yang Man from Liaoning Province addressed the press conference and described the persecution her mother, Ms. Pan Jing, suffered in China. “Over the years, my mother has been arrested at least seven times, sent to forced labor camps twice, and was once detained in a mental hospital.”

Ms. Yang said, “In December 2000, my mother was seized by the police from the Dandong Station Police Station and illegally detained in the Dandong Detention Center for persecution. More than a month later, she was detained in the Dandong Mental Hospital, where my mother’s limbs were tied to a bed frame and she was force-fed unknown drugs.

“One morning in April 2002, several police officers from the Dandong Public Security Bureau suddenly broke into my home and took my mother. They took her to an empty house in a residential area and forced her to wear a torture device that has shackles and handcuffs connected. After she was handcuffed, my mother couldn’t stand up straight. Several police officers took turns watching her and didn’t allow her to sleep for eight days and nights.”

Ms. Yang said in September that year, her mother was arrested again by several police officers from the Dandong Public Security Bureau and imprisoned in a metal cage that was only several square meters. More than a month later, her mother was incarcerated in the Masanjia Labor Camp for three years.

Ms. Yang continued, “In October 2005, the police from Dandong 2^nd Street Police Station forcibly detained my mother in the detention center. A month later, my mother was sent to Masanjia Labor Camp. In the end, my mother was tortured to near death, and the labor camp extorted 500 yuan (US $70) from my family before releasing her. In December 2007, my mother was walking on the street and was violently seized by several police officers from the Dandong Yongchang Police Station for no reason. After taking her to the police station, they spread my mother’s arms and handcuffed them to a radiator in a spread-eagle position, and illegally detained her for seven hours. They released her because there was really no evidence.”

In September 2014, the police from Dandong Yongchang Police Station went to her mother’s home many times to get her to take a blood test and to sign a confession. Her mother refused. In early March 2023, Ms. Yang learned that her mother was sentenced to three years in prison by the Zhen’an District Court and extorted a fine of 5,000 yuan (US $700). She was then detained in the 12th Ward of Liaoning Women’s Prison, which is the so-called “intensive training and correction prison area.” The prison guards used various cruel means to brainwash Falun Gong practitioners and force them to give up their beliefs.

This May, Ms. Pan Jing went on a hunger strike again in prison to protest the persecution. Ms. Yang said during the press conference, “I hope the outside world will pay attention to the persecution of Ms. Pan Jing by the Liaoning Women’s Prison, and at the same time call on the CCP to stop the persecution of all Falun Gong practitioners.”

Persecuted for Distributing Fliers

Emily calls on people to pay attention to the persecution.

Falun Gong practitioner Emily described what she and her parents experienced in China. She said, “We were constantly under pressure from all sides. My parents’ company and the local neighborhood committee even assigned people to monitor us, warning us not to go to Beijing to petition or tell others about Falun Gong and the persecution, otherwise we would lose our jobs and freedom.”

When the persecution began, Emily, who was only seven years old, was forced to bear the pressure. “My school teacher forced me to give up my belief in Falun Gong. I was very sad every day under this pressure. I was worried about my parents’ safety, and I couldn’t study at ease. I often had nightmares and was afraid of seeing the police and police cars.”

Emily described the rude treatment her mother suffered for distributing flyers. She said, “The police did not allow my mother to use the restroom. They forced her to tell them where she got the flyers, and ridiculed her with dirty words. Two female police officers forcibly attempted to rip off my mother’s clothes and search her. My mother strongly resisted, and they gave up.”

In order to escape the CCP’s persecution, Emily and her parents came to Canada in 2012 and finally gained freedom of belief. Emily is still worried about the safety of practitioners in China. She said, “The CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong has lasted for 26 years. To this day, there are still thousands of Falun Gong practitioners in China who are suffering from various forms of persecution.”

Emily emphasized in her speech, “Today, the CCP has extended the persecution to Falun Gong practitioners overseas, buying off various media and organizations to slander and discredit Falun Gong practitioners and their beliefs, and even directly sending spies to harass and threaten them.” She called on everyone to pay attention to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China and around the world.

A Young Practitioner Recalls Her Mother’s Suffering

Huang Shan described her mother’s suffering

Huang Shan, a Falun Gong practitioner from Beijing, first described how her mother recovered her health after practicing Falun Gong. “I personally witnessed how my mother went from a person with a serious blood disease who would bleed at the slightest touch to being healthy. She has not needed to go to the hospital for 30 years as a result of practicing Falun Gong.”

Ms. Huang said, “The CCP has used its TV stations to spread all kinds of slanderous propaganda against Falun Gong. None of my mother’s fellow practitioners are like that. Moreover, everything the CCP spreads to slander the teachings of Dafa is false.”

She then described how her mother was persecuted in a labor camp for one and a half years for distributing Falun Gong fliers to passersby on the road. She said, “I still remember clearly that after learning that my mother was sent to a forced labor camp, my father and I went there to visit her for the first time. I could only talk to her through the phone through the window, and I could see her face. I think what she did was right, and what she told everyone was true, but her arrest was definitely wrong. So, I firmly said to her, ‘Mom, I stand by you.’”