International Campaign Seeks the Release of Persecuted Falun Gong Adherent in China

An undated photo of Ding Lebin's parents in Rizhao City, Shandong Province. Courtesy of Ding Lebin

European and Japanese legislators call for the release of a Chinese citizen arrested for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual practice heavily persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Ding Yuande and his wife, Ma Rumei, were detained on May 12 in Shandong Province along with at least 70 Falun Gong practitioners. The detentions were part of a mass arrest campaign for the 24th anniversary of World Falun Dafa Day, celebrated annually on May 13, according to Mr. Ding and the Falun Dafa Information Center.

Their son, Ding Lebin, a Berlin resident, immediately started an advocacy campaign for the release of his parents.

The International Society for Human Rights—a nongovernmental organization in Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council—wrote to the Chinese ambassador to Germany, the former Chinese foreign minister, and CCP officials, urging for the release of the couple. Volunteers with the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) also called the local police station, requesting they be freed.

The international pressure ostensibly led to the release of Ms. Ma on May 24.

However, Mr. Ding Yuande remains in detention and was formally arrested on July 20 by the Donggang District Police Department in Rizhao city, Shandong Province. He is “at risk of torture and longer-term imprisonment,” according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline involving meditative exercises and moral teachings based on three core principles: truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The practice gained popularity in China during the 1990s, with 70 million to 100 million adherents by the end of the decade, according to official estimates at the time.

The atheist communist regime, fearing the number of practitioners posed a threat to its authoritarian control, initiated a sweeping campaign on July 20, 1999, to eradicate the practice—a program that continues today. Since then, millions have been detained in prisons, labor camps, and other facilities, with hundreds of thousands tortured while incarcerated, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.

Appealing for Ding Yuande’s Release

“International pressure can bring about change for my father,” Mr. Ding Lebin told the German Falun Dafa Information Center. “Just like it saved my mother.”

The campaign for the release of Mr. Ding Lebin’s parents includes sending letters to the Chinese ambassador to Germany as well as Chinese officials.

Members of the European, German, Belgian, and Czech Republic parliaments wrote to the Chinese ambassador to Germany, appealing for the release of Mr. Ding Yuande.

Meanwhile, former Speaker of the Slovak National Council Frantisek Miklosk and member of the Berlin State Parliament Ronald Gläser sent letters to the municipal Party secretary of Rizhao city, where Mr. Ding is detained.

In both letters, the legislators underscore that the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong has violated fundamental human rights enshrined in the Chinese Constitution.

They further urged the Party secretary of Rizhao to “immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Ding Yuande, end the persecution of the Chinese couple, and grant them travel documents to join their son in Germany.”

Japanese local councilors also participated in the campaign. In their letter, they called upon the Chinese regime to release Mr. Ding and mentioned he is at risk not only of suffering torture but also of forced organ harvesting.

In 2019, the China Tribunal, an independent expert panel, concluded that the Chinese regime has been committing forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience for years—and “on a substantial scale.”

The tribunal also concluded that detained Falun Gong practitioners were likely the primary source of such organs. Uyghurs and other persecuted minorities in northwest China are also at risk, along with Tibetans and House Christians, experts have said.

The Japanese local councilors urged the Chinese regime to protect the human rights of Falun Gong practitioners and other religious and ethnic minorities persecuted in China, to immediately release those detained at concentration camps and other facilities, and to stop forced organ harvesting altogether.

“Every protest letter will not only help release my parents but also contribute to ending the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong in China,” said Mr. Ding Lebin, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.

“The Chinese Communist Party is afraid that more people abroad will know the true situation of Falun Gong practitioners in China.”

The campaign for Mr. Ding Yuande’s release continues.

His son calls for people to participate by printing out a rescue postcard or letter, signing it, and sending it to the Chinese ambassador to Germany or the new municipal Party secretary of Rizhao city, Li Zaiwu. He has provided a sample letter that can be accessed through the QR code below.