We are pleased to receive and publish the report sent to us by the Italian Falun Dafa Association on the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) transnational repression against Falun Gong. FOB has on several occasions addressed the dire situation faced by Falun Gong practitioners (and others) in China, who are victims of abuse, arbitrary detention, killings and forced organ harvesting. The issue had also come to the attention of the European Parliament, which, in a resolution dated 18 January 2024, took a stand against the persecution of Falun Gong in China.
13 May marks World Falun Dafa Day, commemorating the first public introduction of the practice on 13 May 1992 in Changchun, China, and celebrating the millions of courageous people who continue to practise Falun Gong to this day despite the danger and threat of persecution.
Foreign interference and the crackdown on Falun Gong and Shen Yun in Italy
Report by the Italian Falun Dafa Association – July 2025
Update – April 2026
Executive summary
This report aims to expose the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) transnational crackdown on Falun Gong, as part of the wider persecution of the Falun Gong practice carried out by the Chinese regime since 1999. This crackdown is also taking place in Italy.
This transnational campaign of interference and repression is unprecedented in its scale, duration, depth of penetration into society and the variety of methods employed. These incidents are not random. Behind them lies a deliberate policy, vast bureaucratic structures and directives from the highest echelons of the CCP’s security apparatus, both in China and abroad.
The Falun Gong community has responded by actively raising awareness among civil society and the political sphere, calling for help in ending the persecution and upholding human rights. However, it has run into a sophisticated and well-orchestrated campaign of foreign interference and repression by the CCP, which aims to suppress and silence their defence and resistance.
The Falun Gong community in Italy has also sought in recent years to raise awareness of human rights violations in China and has had to contend with intimidation and repression by the CCP. It is important to note that, unlike other ethnic minority groups and exiles targeted by the CCP, the Falun Gong community is not composed exclusively of members of the Chinese diaspora or of those who have fled China. In Italy, the majority of people who practise Falun Gong are Italian, and here in Italy they suffer the violence of the persecution carried out by the CCP.
Transnational repression takes the form of propaganda and the manipulation of the narrative surrounding Falun Gong and the persecution in order to discredit the victims; physical assaults and intimidation; and the manipulation and exertion of pressure on politicians, administrators, cultural leaders, event organisers and the media.
This phenomenon of foreign interference is becoming increasingly covert and invisible. Consequently, awareness of this phenomenon is generally relatively low, leading to a response that is seriously inadequate given the level of threat posed by the CCP’s transnational interference and repression, and the damage caused to Italy’s internal affairs, sovereignty and fundamental values, such as the protection of fundamental freedoms and human dignity.
In recent years, the international community has shown increasing support for Falun Gong; many influential figures have expressed their support and appreciation for Falun Gong’s peaceful resistance and the values it upholds; and significant laws and resolutions have been passed by international institutions denouncing the persecution, condemning the perpetrators and laying the groundwork for the protection of the Falun Gong community. The Chinese regime’s response has been to escalate persecution within China and transnational repression through new, more sophisticated and violent methods, seeking to turn Western institutions against Falun Gong and the organisations founded by its practitioners: organised smear campaigns on social media and through the complicity of Western media, legal warfare, and violent threats.
The full report, containing all the details, can be viewed at this link (in Italian language only).
