Editing Falun Gong (section)

===Falun Gong's response to the persecution===
[[File:Protesting the Persecution of Falun Gong in Washington DC.jpg|thumb|Practitioners meditate to protest the persecution of Falun Gong at a demonstration in Washington, D.C.]]
Falun Gong's response to the persecution in China began in July 1999 with appeals to local, provincial, and central petitioning offices in Beijing.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Elisabeth |last1=Rosenthal |first2=Erik |last2=Eckholm |title=Vast Numbers of Sect Members Keep Pressure on Beijing |work=The New York Times |date=28 October 1999}}</ref> It soon progressed to larger demonstrations, with hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners traveling daily to Tiananmen Square to perform Falun Gong exercises or raise banners in defense of the practice. These demonstrations were invariably broken up by security forces, and the practitioners involved were arrested—sometimes violently—and detained. By 25 April 2000, a total of more than 30,000 practitioners had been arrested on the square;<ref name="johnson2000">{{Cite web |url=http://www.pulitzer.org/archives/6464 |title=Defiant Falun Dafa Members Converge on Tiananmen |last=Johnson |first=Ian |date=25 April 2000 |website=The Wall Street Journal |via=The Pulitzer Prizes |page=A21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229022658/http://www.pulitzer.org/archives/6464 |archive-date=29 December 2009 |access-date=10 October 2009}}</ref> seven hundred Falun Gong followers were arrested during a demonstration in the square on 1 January 2001.<ref name="Perry">{{Cite book |title=Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance |last1=Selden |first1=Elizabeth J. |last2=Perry |first2=Mark |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0415301701}}</ref> Public protests continued well into 2001. Writing for the ''Wall Street Journal'', Ian Johnson wrote that "Falun Gong faithful have mustered what is arguably the most sustained challenge to authority in 50 years of Communist rule."<ref name="DE" /> Jiang Zemin reportedly described Falun Gong as the biggest political issue in China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|page=134}}

Falun Gong asserted that its struggle with the CCP amounted to a struggle of good versus evil.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|page=135}} Falun Gong called on Chinese to denounce affiliations with the CCP, the [[Communist Youth League of China|Communist Youth League]], and the [[Young Pioneers of China|Young Pioneers]].<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|page=135}} Falun Gong instructed its adherents in China to "tell the truth" (''jiang zhenxiangh''), which would advance their progress towards Consummation and fulfill their roles in saving humankind.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|page=135}} The primary means of "telling the truth" included circulating pamphlets and video to publicize the persecution and suppression of Falun Gong by the state.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=135-136}}

By late 2001, demonstrations in Tiananmen Square had become less frequent, and the practice was driven deeper underground. As public protest fell out of favor, practitioners established underground "material sites", which would produce literature and DVDs to counter the portrayal of Falun Gong in the official media. Practitioners then distribute these materials, often door-to-door.<ref>{{cite book |first=Liao |last=Yiwu |title=The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories, China from the Bottom Up |year=2008 |publisher=Anchor |page=230}}</ref> Falun Gong sources estimated in 2009 that over 200,000 such sites exist across China today.<ref name="GC" /> The production, possession, or distribution of these materials is frequently grounds for security agents to incarcerate or [[sentence (law)|sentence]] Falun Gong practitioners.<ref>{{Cite web|title=2009 Annual Report |work=Congressional-Executive Commission on China|url=https://www.cecc.gov/publications/annual-reports/2009-annual-report|access-date=2023-02-10|date=10 October 2009 |archive-date=10 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210134452/https://www.cecc.gov/publications/annual-reports/2009-annual-report|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2002, Falun Gong activists in China tapped into television broadcasts, replacing regular state-run programming with their own content. One of the more notable instances occurred in March 2002, when Falun Gong practitioners in [[Changchun]] intercepted eight cable television networks in Jilin Province, and for nearly an hour, televised a program titled "Self-Immolation or a Staged Act?". All six of the Falun Gong practitioners involved were captured over the next few months. Two were killed immediately, while the other four were all dead by 2010 as a result of injuries sustained while imprisoned.<ref name="mediacontrol">{{Cite book |url=http://hrichina.org/sites/default/files/oldsite/PDFs/Reports/HRIC-Fog-of-Censorship.pdf |title=The Fog of Censorship: Media Control in China |author=He Qinglian |author-link=He Qinglian |publisher=Human Rights in China |year=2008 |isbn=978-0971735620 |pages=xii |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229083633/http://hrichina.org/sites/default/files/oldsite/PDFs/Reports/HRIC-Fog-of-Censorship.pdf |archive-date=29 February 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ws-20101206">{{Cite news |url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/thin-airwaves_519589.html?nopager=1 |title=Into Thin Airwaves |last=Gutmann |first=Ethan |date=6 December 2010 |work=The Weekly Standard |access-date=1 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105190542/http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/thin-airwaves_519589.html?nopager=1 |archive-date=5 January 2012}}</ref>

Outside China, Falun Gong practitioners established international media organizations to gain wider exposure for their cause and challenge narratives of the Chinese state-run media. These include ''[[The Epoch Times]]'' newspaper, [[New Tang Dynasty Television]], and [[Sound of Hope]] radio station.<ref name=Ownbyfuture/> According to Zhao, through ''The Epoch Times'' it can be discerned how Falun Gong is building a "de facto media alliance" with China's democracy movements in exile, as demonstrated by its frequent printing of articles by prominent overseas Chinese critics of the PRC government.<ref name="zhao"/> In 2004, ''The Epoch Times'' published a collection of nine editorials that presented a critical history of the Chinese Communist Party.<ref name=Ping/><ref>{{cite news |last=Steel |first=Kevin |title=Revolution number nine |work=The Western Standard |date=11 July 2005}}</ref> This catalyzed the Tuidang movement, which encourages Chinese citizens to renounce their affiliations to the Chinese Communist Party, including ex post facto renunciations of the [[Communist Youth League of China|Communist Youth League]] and [[Young Pioneers of China|Young Pioneers]]. ''The Epoch Times'' claims that tens of millions have renounced the Chinese Communist Party as part of the movement, though these numbers have not been independently verified.<ref>{{cite conference |last=Gutmann |first=Ethan |title=The Chinese Internet: A dream deferred? |conference=National Endowment for Democracy panel discussion "Tiananmen 20 years on" |date=2 June 2009}}</ref>

In 2006, Falun Gong practitioners in the United States formed [[Shen Yun Performing Arts]], a dance and music company that tours internationally.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/12/shen-yun-falun-gong-traditional-chinese-dance-troupe-china-doesnt-want-you-to-see |title=The traditional Chinese dance troupe China doesn't want you to see |last=Hune-Brown |first=Nicholas |date=12 December 2017 |work=The Guardian |access-date=19 December 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219160004/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/12/shen-yun-falun-gong-traditional-chinese-dance-troupe-china-doesnt-want-you-to-see |archive-date=19 December 2017}}</ref> During Shen Yun's 2024 season, the company's eight touring troupes performed over 800 shows on five continents. By 2024, Shen Yun accumulated $266 million in assets mainly through ticket sales and by keeping its costs down through numerous volunteer hours and sometimes personal savings of Falun Gong adherents.<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 December 2024 |title=How Shen Yun Tapped Religious Fervor to Make $266 Million |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/29/nyregion/shen-yun-money-falun-gong.html |website=The New York Times}}</ref>

Falun Gong software developers in the United States are also responsible for the creation of several popular censorship-circumvention tools employed by internet users in China.<ref name="Beiser, Vince 2010">{{cite magazine |author-link=Vince Beiser |last=Beiser |first=Vince |date=1 November 2010 |url=https://www.wired.com/2010/11/ff_firewallfighters/ |title=Digital Weapons Help Dissidents Punch Holes in China's Great Firewall |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222135454/https://www.wired.com/2010/11/ff_firewallfighters/ |archive-date=22 December 2016}}</ref>

Falun Gong practitioners outside China have filed dozens of lawsuits against Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, [[Bo Xilai]], and other Chinese officials alleging genocide and crimes against humanity.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Human Rights Law Foundation |url=http://www.hrlf.net/direct.html |title=Direct Litigation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111144251/http://www.hrlf.net/direct.html |archive-date=11 November 2011 |access-date=19 March 2011}}</ref> According to International Advocates for Justice, Falun Gong has filed the largest number of human rights lawsuits in the 21st century and the charges are among the most severe international crimes defined by international criminal laws.<ref name="Ownbyfuture"/> As of 2006, 54 civil and criminal lawsuits were under way in 33 countries.<ref name=Ownbyfuture/> In many instances, courts have refused to adjudicate the cases on the grounds of sovereign immunity. In late 2009, however, separate courts in Spain and Argentina indicted Jiang and Luo on charges of "crimes of humanity" and genocide, and asked for their arrest—the ruling is acknowledged to be largely symbolic and unlikely to be carried out.<ref name="elmundo">{{Cite web|title=La Audiencia pide interrogar al ex presidente chino Jiang por genocidio|language=es| date = 14 November 2009|url=https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/11/14/espana/1258230601.html|access-date=2023-02-10|website=El Mundo|archive-date=10 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210134441/https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/11/14/espana/1258230601.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2009-12-23|title=Argentine judge asks China arrests over Falun Gong| last = Henao | first = Luis Andres|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-argentina-china-falungong-idUSTRE5BM02B20091223|access-date=2023-02-10|archive-date=3 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151203212405/https://www.reuters.com/article/2009/12/23/us-argentina-china-falungong-idUSTRE5BM02B20091223|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ArgentinaJudge">{{Cite web|publisher=Falun Dafa Information Center| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110925154535/http://www.faluninfo.net/article/935/?cid=82| archive-date= 25 September 2011| title= Argentine Judge Orders Arrest of Top Chinese Communist Party Officials for Crimes Against Humanity| date= 20 December 2009| url = http://www.faluninfo.net/article/935/?cid=82| url-status =dead}}</ref> The court in Spain also indicted Bo Xilai, [[Jia Qinglin]] and [[Wu Guanzheng]].<ref name=elmundo/>

Falun Gong practitioners and their supporters also filed a lawsuit in May 2011 against the technology company [[Cisco Systems]], alleging that the company helped design and implement a surveillance system for the Chinese government to suppress Falun Gong. Cisco denied customizing their technology for this purpose.<ref>{{Cite web| date = 20 May 2011| first = Terry | last = Baynes| title= Suit claims Cisco helped China repress religious group| work= Thomson Reuters| publisher = Westlaw| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527012636/http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Legal/News/2011/05_-_May/Suit_claims_Cisco_helped_China_repress_religious_group/| archive-date= 27 May 2011| url = http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Legal/News/2011/05_-_May/Suit_claims_Cisco_helped_China_repress_religious_group/| url-status= dead}}</ref> The [[United States District Court for the Northern District of California]] dismissed the lawsuit in September 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 5, 2014 |title=Doe I v. Cisco Systems, Inc., 66 F. Supp. 3d 1239 (N.D. Cal. 2014) |url=https://casetext.com/case/doe-v-cisco-sys-inc-1 |access-date=March 9, 2025 |website=casetext.com |archive-date=13 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240313042627/https://casetext.com/case/doe-v-cisco-sys-inc-1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In July 2023, the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit]] reversed and ruled the lawsuit may proceed to trial.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2023-07-07 |title=Lawsuit alleging California tech giant aided Chinese torture may proceed, 9th Circuit says |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-07/9th-circuit-revives-case-alleging-california-tech-titan-aided-torture-by-china |access-date=2023-08-10 |website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=July 7, 2023 |title=''Doe I, et al v. Cisco Systems, Inc., et al'', No. 15-16909 (9th Cir. 2023) |url=https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2023/07/07/15-16909.pdf |access-date=August 9, 2023 |publisher=United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit}}</ref> Cisco filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court in January 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dodge |first=William S. |date=2025-02-04 |title=Cisco's Cert Petition |url=https://tlblog.org/ciscos-cert-petition/ |access-date=2025-03-09 |website=Transnational Litigation Blog |language=en-US}}</ref>

Sociologist Andrew Junker described Falun Gong's [[nonviolent resistance]] to the persecution as the "most well-organized and tenacious grassroots Chinese protest movement ever to challenge the CCP".<ref name="JUNKER-2019-6">Junker (2019), p. 6.</ref> He argued that Falun Gong's more effective and enduring mobilization, compared to the pro-democracy movement ({{lang|zh-Latn|[[Democracy movements of China|minyun]]}}), is due in part to its decentralized organizational structure and emphasis on individual initiative.<ref name="JUNKER-2019-186">Junker (2019), p. 186.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lee |first=Chengpang |date=2019 |title=Review: Junker, Andrew: Becoming activists in global China – social movements in the Chinese diaspora |url=https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/69185/ssoar-stss-2019-2-rez-lee.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |journal=Studies of Transition States and Societies |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=76–77 |via=Social Science Open Source Repository}}</ref>