Leaked Documents Reveal 610 Office Intensified Persecution of Spiritual Group in Recent Years

Falun Gong practitioners commemorate the deaths of adherents who were persecuted to death by the Chinese regime, during a march down Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C., on June 20, 2018. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

The Chinese regime’s persecution of Falun Gong has continued for 21 years. Since July 1999, adherents of the spiritual group have been rounded up and detained inside prisons, jails, labor camps, and brainwashing centers where psychological torture is deployed to coerce them into giving up their faith.

The regime established an extralegal secret police force, called the 610 Office, on June 10, 1999, to carry out the suppression campaign across the country. It extended to every level of government: the provincial, city, and district.

Recently, The Epoch Times obtained internal documents on the restructuring of the 610 Office in Dalian city, located in the northeastern province of Liaoning.

The documents revealed that since the end of 2017, the persecution of Falun Gong has escalated in Dalian. Recently, a high-level Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official claimed that the 610 Office was disbanded. But the documents showed otherwise.

Dalian 610 Office Restructured

The Epoch Times obtained a document issued by the Chinese Communist Party’s Organizing Committee of the United Front Work Department in Dalian on Dec. 27, 2017. The document showed the committee ordered Dalian’s 610 Office to restructure in order to strengthen efforts to suppress Falun Gong.

The document required Dalian to “enhance intelligence work” on heretical religions—to carry out the “transformation” of local Falun Gong practitioners and put them under high pressure. “Transformation” refers to coercion efforts that pressure adherents into giving up their faith.

It also proposed various ways to involve overseas Falun Gong practitioners, such as coercing overseas relatives to pressure them into giving up the practice.

The Chinese regime initially publicized its persecution efforts through state media propaganda. But as Falun Gong adherents around the world raised awareness about China’s persecution campaign, since 2004, the regime has kept its tactics secret.

The document notes that the Party will now adopt a more aggressive propaganda effort, instead of the previous policy of “only do, but don’t talk about it.”

“Anti-heretical religion” propaganda should now be increased on media platforms, the document said.

Another document, dated May 18, 2018, was also obtained by The Epoch Times. It was an internal document from the Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC) of the Dalian Municipal Party Committee regarding how security departments’ work would be assessed. The PLAC is a Party agency that oversees the country’s security apparatus, including police, courts, and jails.

According to one of the assessments, the direct persecution of Falun Gong counted for 18 points out of the department’s total grade of 92—nearly 20 percent.

High-Ranking Official’s Comment on 610 Office Exposed

In a May 31 report by Minghui.org, a U.S.-based website that publishes first-hand information about the persecution of Falun Gong in China, Zhao Leji, one of the Party’s top officials belonging to the Politburo standing committee, recently made a comment about the 610 Office during a work meeting, according to an inside source.

On March 21, 2018, the CCP announced that the 610 Office and its functions would be subsumed under the PLAC and the Ministry of Public Security. The 610 Office appears to have been renamed, with no references to its official or informal names appearing after 2019.

According to the insider, Zhao said to the attendees, “The 610 Office is disbanded, merged, and no longer exists independently. That’s for show for the anti-China Western forces, because they always argue about human rights and freedom. How can you believe that [it’s really disbanded]?”

He continued, “Look, Falun Gong still exists, the issue is still there. It must be done quickly, and must be done well.”

The 2020 Plenary Session Reported on the Persecution of Falun Gong

China’s highest prosecutor office reported about the persecution of Falun Gong during a plenary session held on May 25, as part of an annual political meeting when Party elite typically discuss future personnel changes and policies. This is the first time in five years that the CCP publicized its persecution of Falun Gong during this meeting.

New President of China Law Society Deploys Persecution of Falun Gong

On the morning of March 20, 2019, Wang Chen, a member of the powerful Politburo and vice chairman of the standing committee that oversees the Party’s rubber-stamp legislature, was elected president of the China Law Society. This is the official organization for China’s legal studies profession.

Many internal documents obtained by The Epoch Times showed that after taking office, Wang intensively held various special training courses to deploy the persecution of Falun Gong.