Former Chinese Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin died at age 96 on Nov. 30. Jiang was the architect of the persecution of the spiritual discipline Falun Gong.
Under his rule, the Chinese Communist Party launched a sweeping persecution of the group in 1999, when an estimated 70 million to 100 million people across China practiced the discipline, which involves meditative exercises and moral teachings rooted in the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.
As a result of Jiang’s persecution, millions of Chinese saw their lives destroyed, families have been pulled apart, and an untold number have been tortured and killed in labor camps and jails.
The CCP also engages in the practice of forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners, a grisly practice in which detained adherents are killed for their organs which are then sold at high prices on the transplant market—in many cases to foreigners.
During these 23 years of persecution, adherents both inside and outside of China have consistently called attention to the regime’s brutal suppression, in many cases in China risking their own lives in doing so.
This photo gallery highlights some of these realities.
Two plainclothes police officers arrest a Falun Gong practitioner at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, on Dec. 31, 2000. AP Photo/Chien-min Chung
Two Chinese police officers arrest a Falun Gong practitioner at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Jan. 10, 2000. Chien-Min Chung/AP Photo
A woman who holds up a Falun Gong protest banner is detained by police at Beijing's Tiananmen Gate, on Jan. 25, 2001. AP Photo/Greg Baker
Gao Rongrong 10 days after her face was shocked repeatedly with electric batons for more than seven hours by guards at the Longshan Forced Labor Camp, because she practiced Falun Dafa. Minghui.org
Falun Gong practitioners from 12 countries peacefully appeal for an end to the persecution and torture of their Chinese counterparts, on Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 2001. Minghui.org
Zenon Dolnyckyj is wrestled down by Chinese police officers in Tiananmen Square after participating in a sit-in demonstration in support of Falun Gong on Nov. 20, 2001. About twenty Westerners took part in the sit-in and unfurled a giant banner before being taken away and detained by police. AP Photo/Ng Han Guan
Westerners are surrounded by Chinese police officers and police vehicles in Tiananmen Square after unfurling a Falun Gong banner on Tiananmen Square on Nov. 20, 2001. The group was later taken away and detained by police. AP Photo/Ng Han Guan
Falun Gong practitioner Tang Yongjie was tortured by prison guards who applied hot rods to his legs a labor camp in the Boluo Area in Guangdong Province, China, in 2001. Minghui.org
Rao Zhuoyuan with his daughter Deru. Rao died in 2002 after suffering heavy beatings while being detained for his practice of Falun Gong. Minghui.org
Falun Gong practitioners peacefully protest the Chinese regime's persecution of Falun Gong in Melbourne, Australia, on Sept. 22, 2002. Chen Ming/Epoch Times
Jane Dai with her daughter Fadu holds a picture of the family before of Fadu's father, Chen Chengyong, was tortured to death for practicing Falun Gong. Mimi Li/The Epoch Times
Falun Gong demonstrators dramatize an illegal act of paying for human organs during a protest in Washington on April 19, 2006 , in conjunction with the visit by Chinese leader Hu Jintao to the United States. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Former Canadian Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific David Kilgour presents a revised report about organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China, as report co-author and human rights lawyer David Matas listens in the background, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, on Jan. 31, 2007. The Epoch Times
Undercover Footage from Masanjia Forced Labor Camp showing a Falun Gong practitioner lying on bed after being tortured for protesting against the persecution. Shot during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Courtesy of Yu Ming
Falun Gong practitioners hold a candlelight vigil in memory of practitioners who lost their lives in the persecution in China, in San Diego, Calif., in 2009. Alex Li/ The Epoch Times
Some of the victims who died as a result of the persecution of Falun Gong in China. Minghui.org
Falun Gong practitioners hold a peaceful assembly near the U.S. embassy in conjunction with the up-coming visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in Malaysia, on Oct. 6, 2013. The group urged President Obama to publicly condemn the 14-year-long persecution in China of the spiritual practice Falun Gong. The Epoch Times
A woman holds a photo of a man killed by the Chinese regime's persecution of Falun Gong, during a parade in Washington on July 17, 2014. Larry Dye/The Epoch Times
Falun Gong practitioners march in a parade calling for an end to the persecution in China, as the U.S. Capitol building is in the background, in Washington, D.C., on July 17, 2014. Edward Dye/Epoch Times
Practitioners of Falun Dafa (also Falun Gong) hold a candle light vigil to commemorate the 16 years their fellow practitioners have been facing persecution in China, by the Washington Monument on July 16, 2015. Petr Svab/Epoch Times
Wenta Fan holds a sign with a portrait of his mother, Yanjie Luo, who in 2011 was sentenced to 13 years in prison in China for practising Falun Gong, outside Toronto City Hall on Aug. 25, 2016. Fan was among the Falun Gong adherents at the event to appeal to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for help to stop the persecution of their spiritual discipline in China and to seek the release of 12 family members with Canadian ties jailed in China for practising Falun Gong. Yi Ling/Epoch Times
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) speaks at a rally calling for an end of the persecution of Falun Gong, at the Capitol in Washington on July 14, 2016. The Epoch Times
Falun Gong practitioners march in Washington, D.C. on July 14, 2016 calling for Jiang Zemin, the former dictator who instigated the persecution of Falun Gong in China, to be brought to justice. Larry Dye/The Epoch Times
Falun Gong practitioners raise awareness about organ harvesting and other human rights crimes in China, with residents and tourists in Santa Monica, Calif., on July 17, 2016. Xu Touhui/Epoch Times
Du Haipeng calls for the release of his mother, a Falun Gong practitioner imprisoned in China, in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 7, 2016. Minghui.org
Sun Qian, a Falun Dafa adherent and Canadian citizen detained in China since February 2017, in an undated photo. The Epoch Times/Handout
Falun Gong adherents hold an event in front of the Chinese Consulate in Montreal on July 19, 2017, to mark 18 years since the persecution of their spiritual practice was launched by the Chinese regime on July 20, 1999. Nathalie Dieul/The Epoch Times
Falun Gong practitioner Chi Lihua and her daughter, Xu Xinyang, holding before and after photos of Xu Dawei, husband of Chi Lihua and father of Xu Xinyang, at the roundtable “Religious Persecution in China” in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, Washington, on July 23, 2018. Jennifer Zeng/Epoch Times
Falun Gong practitioners take part in a candlelight vigil to commemorate the practitioners killed in China for their belief, in Washington on June 22, 2018. Mark Zou/The Epoch Times
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) addresses a rally of 5,000 Falun Gong practitioners and calls for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong in China, in Washington on June 20, 2018. Edward Dye/Epoch Times
Falun Gong practitioners take part in a parade commemorating the 20th anniversary of the persecution of Falun Gong in China, in Washington on July 18, 2019. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times
Jason Xiong, a Falun Gong practitioner tortured for his belief in China, poses in Manhattan, New York City, on May 16, 2019. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times
Falun Gong practitioners gather in Washington to mark the 22nd year of the persecution in China, on July 16, 2021. Larry Dye/The Epoch Times
Falun Gong practitioners do exercises at an event marking the 22nd anniversary of the start of the Chinese regime’s persecution of Falun Gong, in Washington on July 16, 2021. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times
A Falun Gong practitioner holds a picture of her father, who died as a result of the torture he endured in China because of his belief in Falun Gong, during a candlelight vigil remembering victims of the 22-year-long persecution in China, at the Washington Monument on July 16, 2021. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times
Falun Gong practitioner Zhu Hongbin died after being tortured and starved during his illegal imprisonment at Daqing Prison. Minghui.org
Falun Gong practitioners take part in a parade marking the 30th anniversary of the spiritual discipline's introduction to the public, in New York on May 13, 2022. Larry Dye/The Epoch Times
A girl hands out flyers during a march held by Falun Dafa practitioners through the center of Warsaw, Poland, on Sept. 9, 2022. Mihut Savu/The Epoch Times
Daughter Li Xiaohua and mother Ju Reihjong attend a candlelight vigil to commemorate the victims of the 23-year-long persecution of Falun Gong in China, held at the Washington Monument on July 21, 2022. Ju holds a photo of her husband and Li's father, Li Delong, who died in the persecution. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times
Over a thousand Falun Gong practitioners hold a candlelight vigil at the Washington Monument on July 21, 2022. Lisa Fan/The Epoch Times
