Editing Falun Gong (section)

==Falun Gong outside China==
{{main|Falun Gong outside mainland China}}

[[File:Falun Dafa the second exercise, standing meditation.jpg|thumb|Falun Gong practitioners outside China hold events such as this group exercise in [[Los Angeles]].]]
Li Hongzhi began teaching Falun Gong internationally in March 1995. His first stop was in Paris where, at the invitation of the Chinese ambassador, he held a lecture seminar at the PRC embassy. This was followed by lectures in Sweden in May 1995. Between 1995 and 1999, Li gave lectures in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, and Singapore.<ref name=Ownbyfuture/>

Falun Gong's growth outside China largely corresponded to the migration of students from mainland China to the West in the early-to-mid-1990s. Falun Gong associations and clubs began appearing in Europe, North America and Australia, with activities centered mainly on university campuses.<ref name="Porter">{{harvp|Porter|2003|pp=38–39}}</ref>

Translations of Falun Gong teachings began appearing in the late 1990s. As the practice began proliferating outside China, Li was beginning to receive recognition in the United States and elsewhere in the western world. In May 1999, Li was welcomed to [[Toronto]] with greetings from the [[Mayor of Toronto|city's mayor]] and the provincial [[Lieutenant Governor of Ontario|lieutenant governor]], and in the two months that followed also received recognition from the cities of [[Chicago]] and [[San Jose, California|San Jose]].<ref>{{harvp|Chan|2004|pp=665–683}}</ref>

Although the practice was beginning to attract an overseas constituency in the 1990s, it remained relatively unknown outside China until the Spring of 1999, when tensions between Falun Gong and the CCP became a subject of international media coverage. With the increased attention, the practice gained a greater following outside China. Following the launch of the CCP's suppression campaign against Falun Gong, the overseas presence became vital to the practice's resistance in China and its continued survival.<ref name=Ownbyfuture/> Falun Gong practitioners overseas have responded to the persecution in China through regular demonstrations, parades, and through the creation of media outlets, performing arts companies, and censorship-circumvention software mainly intended to reach mainland Chinese audiences.<ref name="Beiser, Vince 2010" />

In its study of [[transnational repression]] committed by governments, Freedom House has reported that practitioners of Falun Gong have been targeted by the [[Transnational repression by China|Chinese government's transnational repression]] campaign.<ref>{{Cite web |title=China: Transnational Repression Origin Country Case Study |url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/transnational-repression/china |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812092224/https://freedomhouse.org/report/transnational-repression/china |archive-date=2022-08-12 |access-date= |website=[[Freedom House]] |language=en}}</ref> According to ''[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]]'', Xi Jinping reportedly directed CCP officials in 2022 to intensify efforts to "completely, and on an international scale, suppress Falun Gong's momentum" by shaping global public opinion and using [[Lawfare|legal warfare]] against Falun Gong organizations abroad, including in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nazeer |first=Tasnim |date=February 24, 2025 |title=Leaked CCP Files Expose Global Crackdown on Dissent |url=https://thediplomat.com/2025/02/leaked-ccp-files-expose-global-crackdown-on-dissent/ |access-date=July 30, 2025 |website=The Diplomat}}</ref>

In 2023, two unregistered PRC agents, were indicted for bribing an IRS official to manipulate the IRS whistleblower program against Shen Yun Performing Arts in order to strip its tax-exempt status.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 26, 2023 |title=US: Chinese agents paid bribes in plot to disrupt anti-communist Falun Gong movement |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/us-chinese-agents-paid-bribes-in-plot-to-disrupt-anti-communist-falun-gong-movement/ |access-date=December 9, 2024 |work=[[CBS News]]}}</ref> Both were sentenced in 2024.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Chinese agent who targeted Shen Yun group gets 20 months in prison |url=https://ktla.com/news/local-news/chinese-agent-who-targeted-shen-yun-group-gets-20-months-in-pris/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250526203941/https://ktla.com/news/local-news/chinese-agent-who-targeted-shen-yun-group-gets-20-months-in-pris/ |archive-date=26 May 2025 |access-date=2025-07-30 |work=KTLA |language=en-US |url-status=live }}</ref>