Published by AAFC
The Falun Gong are a far-right religious cult that romanticize China’s “Century of Humiliation” where China was doubly oppressed by both feudal lords and foreign colonial powers such as the western powers, imperial Japan and tzarist Russia. The ideology they spread is racist, misogynist, anti-LGBT, skeptical of modern medicine, and generally reactionary. They operate several organizations, including the dance troupe Shen Yun.
It is no surprise that the Shen Yun dance troupe has a track record of subjecting their dancers to horrible abuses. Dancers are barely paid, are physically and mentally abused, and are recruited at a very young age to ensure complacency. 1While the Shen Yun performances are their most recognizable form of propaganda, their disinformation reaches beyond the theatre as well.
Falun Gong also run the Epoch Times newspaper, which promotes far-right conspiracy theories such as anti-vaccine misinformation. They have spread falsehoods about human rights abuses, which undermines real cases of abuse in the world. For instance, their claim that the Chinese government is harvesting organs, which is completely unsubstantiated.
A report by NBC News revealed the cult as the second-largest funder of pro-Trump Facebook advertising after the Trump campaign itself.2 For a group that has its base largely in Asian communities, it’s very telling of their sinister motivations in endorsing Trump, a political figure who promotes bigotry towards Asians.
In 2010, the U.S. State Department offered 1.5 million to a Falun Gong related group promoting “internet freedom”. 3 Why would such a dangerous and untrustworthy group be granted huge funds? The U.S. State Department has outlined a detailed plan to provoke a war with China. By aiding the Falun Gong in spreading their hatred of modern-day China, they manipulate the public’s opinion of potentially waging a war against China. The cult’s activities threaten the rights of Asian-Americans, and such a dangerous group should be defunded and held accountable.
1 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-21/inside-falun-gong-master-li-hongzhi-the-mountain-dragon-springs/12442518
2 https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/trump-qanon-impending-judgment-day-behind-facebook-fueled-rise-epoch-n1044121
