Peaceful Resistance: Falun Gong Practitioners Across Canada Commemorate 27th Anniversary of Appeal in Beijing

Falun Gong practitioners in several cities across Canada held events this week to commemorate the 27th anniversary of a 10,000-strong peaceful appeal in Beijing by their fellow practitioners calling for the freedom to practise their faith.Ottawa practitioners gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy on April 22 to commemorate the April 25, 1999, appeal. Toronto, Calgary, and Montreal practitioners held events in front of the Chinese Consulate in their respective cities, and events were also held in Vancouver and Edmonton.On April 25, 1999, more than 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered quietly in Beijing outside Zhongnanhai, the Chinese regime’s central headquarters, to call for the release of 45 practitioners who had been arbitrarily detained by police in the city of Tianjin.More than 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gather on Fuyou Street in Beijing on April 25, 1999. Courtesy of Minghui.orgThey also petitioned for their constitutionally protected right to belief after numerous incidents of practitioners across China being harassed and investigated because of their belief. The practitioners also called on the communist regime to lift a ban it had imposed on Falun Gong books.Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice rooted in the Buddhist tradition. Introduced to the public in China in 1992, it consists of gentle meditative exercises and the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The practice spread rapidly in China throughout the 1990s, and by 1999 an estimated 70 million to 100 million people had taken up the practice.The Chinese regime, viewing this popularity as a threat to its own power, escalated the persecution of Falun Gong following the April 25th appeal in 1999. The regime launched a full-scale violent suppression and hate propaganda campaign against Falun Gong practitioners just three months later, in July 1999, aimed at eradicating the spiritual practice.Falun Gong practitioners gather in front of the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa on April 22, 2026, to mark the 27th anniversary of their fellow adherents’ April 25, 1999, peaceful appeal in Beijing calling for freedom of belief. Jonathan Ren/The Epoch TimesThe persecution campaign has now persisted for 27 years, with those who refuse to give up their faith being subject to surveillance, kidnapping, detention, imprisonment, indoctrination, and torture.Several million practitioners have been detained over the years, with likely several hundred thousand currently in custody, according to the U.S.-based Falun Dafa Information Centre on its webpage focused on statistics and evidence. The centre further reports that there are more than 5,000 documented cases of practitioners who have died from torture and abuse and that hundreds of thousands have been killed for their organs.In addition to Toronto, practitioners also held events in other major cities across Canada last week to commemorate the April 25th appeal. Ottawa practitioners gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy on April 22. Calgary and Montreal practitioners held events in front of the Chinese Consulate in their respective cities, and events were also held in Vancouver and Edmonton.Falun Gong practitioners gather in front of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto to commemorate the 27th anniversary of their fellow practitioners’ April 25, 1999, appeal in Beijing calling for freedom of belief. Evan Ning/The Epoch TimesA Falun Gong practitioner speaks to passersby in downtown Vancouver about her spiritual practice and its persecution by the Chinese regime on April 25, 2026, during an event at the Vancouver Art Gallery to commemorate the 27th anniversary of Falun Gong practitioners’ April 25, 1999, appeal in Beijing calling for freedom of belief. The Epoch Times‘Call to Action’Bogdan Diordiev, a Falun Gong practitioner who spoke at the Toronto event, said the practitioners who participated in the 1999 appeal did so “without anger or slogans” and only asked for “justice, dignity, and the ability to live according to their conscience.”“Their courage remains an enduring example of peaceful resistance,” he said.Toronto Falun Gong practitioner Bogdan Diordiev speaks outside the Chinese Consulate in Toronto on April 25, 2026, as Falun Gong practitioners gather to commemorate the 27th anniversary of their fellow practitioners’ April 25, 1999, appeal in Beijing calling for freedom of belief. Evan Ning/The Epoch TimesDiordiev said he and fellow practitioners were gathered outside the Chinese Consulate in Toronto to honour those who stood up for the right to belief in 1999, but also for the countless individuals who have suffered since then.“Their stories remind us of the profound cost of denying fundamental human rights,” he said. “We remember them with respect, and we carry forward their commitment to truth, compassion, and tolerance.”“This anniversary is not only a time for reflection, but also a call to action.”Falun Gong practitioners gather in front of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto on April 25, 2026, to commemorate the 27th anniversary of their fellow practitioners’ April 25, 1999, appeal in Beijing calling for freedom of belief. Evan Ning/The Epoch TimesThe persecution has extended to other countries, including Canada, and Diordiev said practitioners urge the Canadian government to stop all transnational repression on Canadian soil by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), noting that freedom of belief is a universal human right that “transcends borders, politics, and ideology.”“Let this gathering serve as both a memorial and a commitment—a commitment to remember those who have suffered, to support those who continue to endure hardship, and to speak out peacefully for justice,” he said.Diordiev noted that two CCP documents leaked in 2024 revealed that Chinese leader Xi Jinping had directly ordered a new coordinated campaign against Falun Gong, which has escalated sharply over the past two years. The campaign has combined disinformation, lawfare, and hoax bomb threats targeting Falun Gong and Shen Yun Performing Arts, a New York-based classical Chinese dance company founded by leading classical Chinese artists who are Falun Gong practitioners.In 2024, a political insider revealed a directive issued by Xi in 2022 to suppress Falun Gong globally, targeting organizations founded by Falun Gong practitioners. As previously reported by The Epoch Times, details of the 2022 secret meeting were provided by Yuan Hongbing, a Chinese legal scholar living in exile in Australia who has maintained connections within the Chinese regime’s top political circles.Toronto Falun Gong practitioner Daniel Sky speaks to reporters outside the Chinese Consulate in Toronto on April 25, 2026, during an event to commemorate the 27th anniversary of Falun Gong practitioners’ April 25, 1999, appeal in Beijing calling for freedom of belief. Eric R/NTD‘Very Touching’Falun Gong practitioners are gathered outside the Chinese Consulate to uphold their faith and to ask the Chinese regime to stop persecuting the spiritual practice, Toronto practitioner Daniel Sky told Epoch Times sister outlet NTD in an interview at the April 25 event. The practitioners at the Toronto event are also upholding the same demeanour that the practitioners demonstrated in China in 1999, he said, adding that many people found the appeal 27 years ago to be “very touching,” including the Chinese police.“We always leave the sidewalk clear, just like they did in Beijing, and people can see that we’re not a dangerous group or something bad, but actually something that brings benefit to every country,” Sky said.He said one of the most terrible things about transnational repression by the CCP is “the way it’s done through side channels and slowly telling things that are not true to the public,” which he said leads the public to side with the CCP’s lies or to believe that these issues are not important to speak out against.“When we have an activity like this that’s really about our community, we would like to let all Canadians know that, actually, the CCP’s transnational repression will affect everyone, and already does,” he said.A Falun Gong practitioner hands a pedestrian a flyer about the persecution of Falun Gong in China, during an event in front of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto on April 25, 2026, to commemorate the 27th anniversary of Falun Gong practitioners’ April 25, 1999, appeal in Beijing calling for freedom of belief. Evan Ning/The Epoch TimesFalun Gong practitioners gather in front of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto on April 25, 2026, to commemorate the 27th anniversary of their fellow practitioners’ April 25, 1999, appeal in Beijing calling for freedom of belief. Evan Ning/The Epoch TimesTransnational repression is “an aggressive form of foreign interference whereby states or their proxies attempt to intimidate, harass, harm or coerce individuals or communities outside their borders,” says a statement on the issue by the leaders of the G7 last June.Sky noted that an example of this includes the recent cancellation of six scheduled Shen Yun performances in Toronto in late March and early April, which he said is a “direct attack” on Canadians’ freedoms to be able to see what they would like to see and believe what they choose to believe.The last six of eight scheduled performances were cancelled by the hosting venue, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, in response to bomb threats it received, with the decision to cancel made despite police confirming that the threats were not credible. The show’s local presenter, the Falun Dafa Association of Toronto, has revealed more recent emails from the sender of the bomb threats boasting about causing the shows’ cancellations in Toronto and about having links to the CCP.Sky said that to protect Canadians, the federal government and law enforcement agencies need to ensure they have the facts and not trust “so-called partnerships” with certain foreign elements like the CCP that “do not have Canadians’ best interests at heart.”Falun Gong practitioners gather in front of the Chinese Consulate in Montreal on April 21, 2026, to commemorate the 27th anniversary of their fellow practitioners’ April 25, 1999, appeal in Beijing calling for freedom of belief. The Epoch TimesFalun Gong practitioners gather in front of the Chinese Consulate in Montreal on April 21, 2026, to commemorate the 27th anniversary of their fellow practitioners’ April 25, 1999, appeal in Beijing calling for freedom of belief. The Epoch TimesFalun Gong practitioners perform one of the meditative exercises of their spiritual practice at an event at Dr. Wilbert McIntyre Park in Edmonton on April 17, 2026, to commemorate the 27th anniversary of their fellow practitioners’ April 25, 1999, appeal in Beijing calling for freedom of belief. The Epoch TimesFalun Gong practitioners speak to passersby about their spiritual practice and its persecution by the Chinese regime at an event at Dr. Wilbert McIntyre Park in Edmonton on April 17, 2026, to commemorate the 27th anniversary of their fellow practitioners’ April 25, 1999, appeal in Beijing calling for freedom of belief. The Epoch TimesEva Fu and NTD contributed to this report.