Falun Gong Practitioner Calls for UK Prime Minister to Help Father Imprisoned in China

Falun Gong practitioner Ding Lebin speaking at an event marking 25 years of CCP persecution at Trafalgar Square, central London, on July 20, 2024. Yanning Qi/The Epoch Times

LONDON—The son of a Falun Gong practitioner currently imprisoned in China for his faith has called on the UK Prime Minister to help secure his immediate release.

Ding Lebin’s father, Ding Yuande, was taken away by plainclothes Chinese police from his tea farm in May 2023 without a warrant. He was handed a three-year prison term in December 2023 for practicing Falun Gong.

In January, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for an end to the persecution campaign against the spiritual discipline. The resolution specifically raised the plight of Mr. Ding Yuande, urging Beijing to release him, along with other persecuted Falun Gong practitioners.

The younger Mr. Ding has continued to campaign across Europe for his father’s release. He joined a rally in London on July 20, marking exactly 25 years since the persecution against Falun Gong began in China.

Mr. Ding told the rally that his own family had been torn apart for nearly 12 years due to the relentless persecution.

“I hope [Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer] will urge the CCP to release my father and stop the persecution against my parents immediately,” Mr. Ding said. He said he also hoped the newly elected Prime Minister would ask Beijing to issue passports to his parents so they could come to Europe to be with him, their only child, and reunite their family.

“I hope to share my parents’ story of persecution with more people, communities, as well as politicians in the West. This will offer them a glimpse of the brutal suppression Falun Gong practitioners have endured over the past two and a half decades,” the younger Mr. Ding, a Berlin resident, told The Epoch Times after attending the rally in London.

“This persecutory campaign is not just aimed at Falun Gong practitioners. It’s a persecution of our very humanity,” he added.

Falun Gong, rooted in ancient Chinese beliefs on spiritual improvement, was first introduced to the Chinese public in 1992. With gentle, meditative exercises and moral teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, Falun Gong attracted individuals from all walks of life—from high-ranking officials to villagers—leading to 70 to 100 million practitioners in China by the end of the decade.

Its surging popularity, however, was perceived by the regime as a threat to its control over society. In 1999, then-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Jiang Zemin unleashed a sweeping campaign to wipe out Falun Gong, resulting in millions of practitioners consistently facing the threat of arrests, lengthy imprisonment, torture, and even forced organ harvesting.

Currently, the senior Mr. Ding is held in Shandong Provincial Prison, while his wife, who was arrested at the same time, was later released with the help of global rescue efforts. However, she continues to be under surveillance in the eastern coastal Chinese city of Rizhao.

The younger Mr. Ding also called on the British government to follow the lead of allies the United States and the European Union in condemning and calling for an end to the long-running campaign against the faith group.

EU officials, during a June visit to China, reiterated their concerns over the “very serious human rights situation” in the country and called for an immediate release of several rights activists and religious and spiritual practitioners, including the elder Mr. Ding.

In the United States, the House of Representatives in June adopted a bill calling for “an immediate end” to the suppression of Falun Gong. It also includes measures to sanction those involved in the CCP’s systematic practice of forced organ harvesting.

On July 20, the State Department issued a statement urging Beijing to stop the 25-year-old campaign against Falun Gong and release those who have been imprisoned for their beliefs.

“Only by imposing sanctions and bringing those responsible to justice can the world’s sense of justice and conscience be truly reflected.” Mr. Ding said.

Mr. Ding’s campaign has been given support by Slovak member of the European Parliament, Miriam Lexmann.

“Nobody should ever be persecuted because of their faith and belief. The CCP must stop with the persecution of the Falun Gong and be held accountable for the inhumane crimes of forced organ harvesting,” she said in a social media statement.

“Mr. Ding Yuande and all practitioners must be released!!”

Mr. Ding also received support from UK citizens, including social media influencer Brendan Kavanagh, who posted their encounter on X.

In a short video made on July 19 at London’s St. Pancras International station, Mr. Kavanagh invited Mr. Ding to share his parents’ story on camera and then said, “Let’s take down the CCP.”

Pointing at Mr. Ding’s poster calling for the release of his parents, Mr. Kavanagh urged viewers to support Mr. Ding’s campaign.

“Please check this out; support it for these people who have been unjustly held in prison in China. Let the international community help [in] any way they can.”