Hundreds Rally in Toronto to Call on Beijing to End Decades-Long Persecution of Falun Gong

Hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners took part in a rally and a parade through downtown Toronto on July 15, 2023, to call on the Chinese regime to stop its persecution of Falun Gong. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times

Twenty-four years ago, the leader of communist China vowed to eradicate Falun Gong, a hugely popular spiritual practice, and launched a far-reaching persecution campaign against its adherents that continues today.

Outside China, however, Falun Gong is embraced and celebrated in Canada as well as over 100 other countries worldwide.

On July 15, hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners gathered for a rally and marched in a parade through downtown Toronto to raise awareness about the ongoing persecution in China as well as the various human rights abuses committed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The Tian Guo marching band participated in a parade through downtown Toronto on July 15, 2023, to call on the Chinese regime to end its persecution of Falun Gong. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times

Speaking at the rally before the parade, Joel Chipkar, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, emphasized the widespread popularity and health benefits of Falun Gong in China before the CCP launched its persecution campaign on July 20, 1999.

“Most people don’t remember how Falun Gong was respected and awarded across China, how Chinese officials praised Falun Gong for helping to save the country billions of dollars in health-care costs, how Falun Gong spread across China faster than any spiritual teaching in history,” Mr. Chipkar said at the rally held at Queens Park, Toronto.

Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, was introduced in China in 1992, and grew rapidly due to its benefits to people’s mental and physical well-being. By 1999, the practice had attracted 70-100 million adherents, according to Chinese regime estimates.

Former CCP leader Jiang Zemin, however, perceived that popularity to be a threat to the regime’s rule, and launched an unprecedented campaign and brutal oppression to eradicate the practice. The campaign included book burnings, mass-arrests and imprisonment, torture, brainwashing, forced labour, and killing for organs.

Joel Chipkar, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, speaks at a rally at Queen's Park in Toronto on July 15, 2023, calling on the Chinese regime to end its persecution of Falun Gong in China. Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times

“We find it strange when people ask why did the Communist Party persecute Falun Gong. We’re talking about the Chinese Communist Party here. They are responsible for the deaths of over 80 million people since 1950,” Mr. Chipkar said, pointing to the regime’s history of abusing religious and ethnic minorities in the country, including Tibetans, Christians, and Uyghurs.

Speaking at the rally, former Conservative MP Wladyslaw Lizon commended Falun Gong practitioners for their courage in standing up against the CCP and their proactive efforts to expose the regime’s crimes. Mr. Lizon, who was born and raised in Soviet-controlled Poland, noted that just as the USSR eventually crumbled, the totalitarian rule of the CCP will also meet its end due to the unwavering efforts of truth-seekers around the world.

“The [persecution] methods that are used by the Chinese Communist Party against their own people—imprisonment, murder, torture, forced labour, colonies or camps—these were all the methods that were used in the past,” he said. “They use those methods to inflict fear. And the moment people learn to lose that fear, [the CCP] will fail, and we will be successful.”

Former Conservative MP Wladyslaw Lizon raises his hand in a sign of victory to encourage Falun Gong practitioners as he condemns the Chinese regime for its persecution campaign, during a rally at Queen's Park in Toronto on July 15, 2023. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times

Former senator Consiglio Di Nino expressed support for the resilience of Falun Gong practitioners and their determination to end the unjust persecution in China, while continuing to raise awareness about it.

“Until it is resolved, until the problem no longer exists, the message cannot and must not stop,” he said. “Do it louder, do it stronger. We need to make sure that until the issue is totally resolved, that the world continues to understand what is happening in China.”

Former Senator Consiglio Di Nino speaks at a rally at Queen's Park in Toronto on July 15, 2023, calling on the Chinese regime to end its persecution campaign against Falun Gong adherents. Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times

Jiang Jiaji, a representative from the Democratic Alliance Hong Kong, a pro-democracy organization, said his father has been arbitrarily jailed for 21 years in China.

“In the 24 years that Falun Gong was under persecution, young people, people of my age—I was just 4 years old at the time of my father’s arrest—I cannot imagine that in nearly the entire span of my life, Falun Gong has already been persecuted for 24 years,” Mr. Jiang, 28, said in Chinese.

“But, today, Falun Gong adherents are still here, continuing to prove to the Chinese people, particularly young people like me, that people, even when they are under the rule of the communist regime, have the right to fight for their own beliefs and fight for their own human rights.”

Jiang Jiaji, a representative from Democratic Alliance, a pro-Hong Kong democracy organization, speaks at a rally in support of Falun Gong at Queen's Park in Toronto on July 15, 2023. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times

Falun Gong adherents perform the practice's meditative exercises at Queen's Park in Toronto on July 15, 2023.  Evan Ning/The Epoch Times

Falun Gong adherents perform the practice's meditative exercises at Queen's Park in Toronto on July 15, 2023.  Evan Ning/The Epoch Times

Falun Gong adherents perform the practice's sitting meditation at Queen's Park in Toronto on July 15, 2023.  Evan Ning/The Epoch Times