During the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg, as part of debates on violations of human rights, democratic principles, and the rule of law, a discussion took place regarding the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, with a particular focus on the case of Ding Yuande. Speaking on behalf of the ECR Group was Anna Fotyga, co-author of the EP resolution.
“In his new book, *China Nexus*, the prominent British human rights defender Benedict Rogers discusses the methods used in China to violate freedom of religion and belief, which are directed against Muslim Uyghurs, Tibetan Buddhists, Christians, and Falun Gong practitioners,” Anna Fotyga stated. The former head of Polish diplomacy noted that the case of Ding Yuande, referred to in the resolution, is evidence of the use of such methods. “His son protested today in front of the Parliament building,” the MEP recalled, and she supported the call by other MEPs to speak out about this case and the repression being carried out by China.
On May 12, 2023, Falun Gong practitioner Ding Yuande was arrested in China’s Shandong Province. On December 15, he was sentenced to three years in prison and fined. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) banned the Falun Gong spiritual movement in 1999, labeling it an “evil cult” and viewing it as a threat to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Falun Gong practitioners face persecution, surveillance, arrests, and detentions, and members of the movement are sentenced to long prison terms, where they are reportedly subjected to various methods of physical and psychological coercion, including torture, in an attempt to force them to renounce their beliefs and practices. There have been cases of deaths in custody, and cases of forced organ harvesting are reported on a significant scale, although the CCP denies this. Freedom of religion and belief in China continues to deteriorate, and the CCP requires all religions to adhere to its ideology and teach the party’s doctrine.
