(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy on the evening of April 24, 2026, to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the April 25 Appeal in Beijing. They condemned the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners and its transnational suppression and called on the international community to condemn and help stop this tyranny.
Practitioners gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy on April 24, 2026, to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the April 25 Appeal.
April 25 Peaceful Appeal Displayed the Greatness of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance
Hao Li, a representative for Falun Dafa practitioners in Canberra, said, “The practitioners in China face the biggest and most evil tyranny in the world. Despite the tough environment, they appealed peacefully on April 25, 1999. This appeal was a great display of dignity and upright values. Practitioners demonstrated Falun Dafa’s core principles: Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Some international media outlets called it the largest, most peaceful appeal in Chinese history.
“Twenty-seven years have passed. Falun Dafa practitioners continue to uphold Falun Dafa and fulfill their great historic mission with compassion, even though they face brutal persecution and organ harvesting—the unprecedented evil persecution in China.”
She condemned the CCP for extending the persecution outside China and called on the international community to help end the persecution. She said, “The CCP uses various means to suppress and slander Falun Dafa and Shen Yun and spread its propaganda outside China. The CCP escalated its transnational suppression this year. They sent bomb threats to the theaters where Shen Yun was scheduled to perform. They even sent bomb threats targeting the Australian Prime Minister [in order] to prevent Shen Yun from performing in Australia. Similar threats were also sent to nine other democratic countries including Canada, the UK, and Italy. The CCP’s shameless behavior is a blatant violation and threat to the sovereignty, independence, freedom and security of democratic countries. We call on people from all walks of life to help stop the CCP’s brutal persecution and the transnational suppression of Falun Dafa practitioners.”
Practitioner Recalls April 25 Appeal
Emma, who participated in the appeal on April 25, 1999, in Beijing, said, “I still vividly remember what happened that day.
“The day before, April 24, 1999, we heard that several Falun Dafa practitioners in Tianjin had been arrested, and the police refused to release them. Local practitioners met to discuss what we should do. We practiced Falun Dafa. Their arrests meant that our belief was not recognized by the government. Falun Dafa teaches us to be good people and is beneficial to the nation, society, and us. We decided to go to the National Appeals Office to tell the officials that Falun Dafa practitioners became good people by practicing Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and elevated their moral standards accordingly. We planned to request that the practitioners in Tianjin be released immediately.
“Our entire family had practiced Falun Dafa for more than three years at the time. All of us decided to go to the National Appeals Office in Beijing. I was 26 years old and had just gotten married. I told my husband that I wanted to go to Beijing as soon as possible in the hope that I could help get the detained practitioners released early. Several other young practitioners and I planned to go to Beijing together. We didn’t know what result we could achieve, and we didn’t know what it meant to appeal or how to do it. We didn’t have any experience in this regard. We thought that we might meet some officials that could help us. We wanted to tell them our personal experiences of practicing Falun Dafa and how we benefited from it.
“We took the bus and then the train and arrived in Beijing around 8 a.m. on April 25, 1999. As we walked out of the train station in Beijing, we saw many police officers questioning people who’d just gotten off the train. We didn’t want the police to question us, because we still needed to go to the appeals office. Six of us were young. The police may have thought we were tourists, so they didn’t question us.
“We asked people where the National Appeals Office was and were told that it was on Fuyou Street. We noticed many people were heading in that direction, and we saw many police officers along the way. We saw many practitioners standing quiety when we got near the National Appeals Office. We found a spot to stand. Soon the practitioners coming from all directions filled the streets near the appeals office and they quietly stood along the foot paths. We didn’t block traffic or the walkways.
“A police officer stood every few dozen meters. We soon heard that the appeals office had asked us to send representatives to talk to them. We all waited quietly for the representatives to tell us the result of the meeting. The practitioners came from all over the country. Some took night buses or trains. Some were elderly. They sat on the ground when they got tired and ate the snacks they brought when they got hungry.
“The practitioners put their garbage into plastic bags. Some young practitioners collected the garbage and threw it into the rubbish bin. When the police saw how we quietly stood there, they relaxed.
“Our representatives came out and told us the Premier had accepted our requests, which were that the detained the practitioners would be released, that practitioners could practice Falun Dafa freely, and that Falun Dafa books could be published legally. They asked us to leave. It was about 8 or 9 p.m. and it was already dark. Every practitioner left Fuyou Street quickly and quietly.
“I later heard that overseas media outlets had praised this appeal. They said that so many people didn’t leave any garbage, and they even picked up the cigarette butts that the police officers threw onto the ground. When I heard this, I felt that it wasn’t worth mentioning. Master tells us to be good people and consider others first. This is what we should do. On the other hand, the media in China reported that we were strictly organized and disciplined. They underestimated practitioners who have strong belief in being good people and elevating their moral character.
“In the blink of an eye, 27 years have passed. I’m over 50 now. I am so lucky that I have Falun Dafa’s principles to guide me. I improve myself according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I will carry forward the spirit of the April 25 Appeal and continue clarifying the truth to people calmly and rationally.”
Background: What Is the April 25 Appeal?
Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries. Millions of people have embraced the teachings—which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance as well as five gentle exercises—and experienced improved health and well-being.
On April 23 and 24, 1999, police officials in Tianjin, a city near Beijing, assaulted and arrested dozens of practitioners who gathered outside a magazine office to discuss errors in a recently-published article attacking Falun Dafa. As word spread of the arrests and more practitioners inquired with officials, they were told they had to take their appeals to Beijing.
The following day, April 25, some 10,000 Falun Dafa practitioners spontaneously gathered at the National Appeals office in Beijing, as they had been instructed by Tianjin officials. The gathering was peaceful and orderly. Several Falun Dafa representatives were called in to meet with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and members of his staff. That evening, practitioners’ concerns were answered. The arrested practitioners in Tianjin were released, and everyone went home.
Jiang Zemin, former head of the CCP, perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and issued an order to ban Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999.
Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners due to the persecution over the years, although the actual number is suspected to be much higher. Countless more have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.
There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply the organ transplant industry.
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Category: April 25 Events
