(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners from the Greater New York area held a grand parade and rally event in downtown Flushing, New York’s largest Chinese enclave, on April 25, 2026. The event commemorated the 27th anniversary of 10,000 people holding an appeal in Beijing on April 25, 1999, and also called for an end to the persecution of Falun Dafa.

Practitioner Who Participated in the April 25 Appeal Recalls What Happened

Ms. Zhang, a Falun Dafa practitioner who stood along Fuyou Street in Beijing to join in the appeal in 1999, 27 years ago, joined the event in Flushing this year.

She witnessed the whole event in 1999. During that time, she was in her 20s and worked in the Finance Department of the Subsidiary Business Corporation at Posts & Telecom Press.

She said, “At that time, I had been practicing Falun Dafa for more than five years. Not only had I recovered from my hereditary respiratory illness, I also felt that my moral standard had improved greatly. I felt that I was very lucky to be able to cultivate in Falun Dafa.”

According to data, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had been starting to attack Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) deliberately since 1996. Not only did it prohibit the publication of Falun Dafa books, it also resorted to many means such as making use of the media to slander Falun Dafa.

On April 11, 1999, He Zuoxiu, an academician from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the brother-in-law of Luo Gan, secretary of the CCP Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, once again published an article containing factual inaccuracies slandering Falun Gong in a Tianjin-based magazine.

Falun Dafa practitioners in Tianjin went to the magazine publisher a few days later to relay the true situation and clarify that Falun Dafa’s cultivation method teaches people to abide by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, to be a good people. They asked that the magazine correct the article’s content. However, on April 23, Tianjin mobilized about 300 riot police, who beat and arrested 45 Falun Dafa practitioners.

On April 24, Ms. Zhang heard the news about the Tianjin arrests. “When we requested the practitioners’ release, the Tianjin police said that they could not resolve the matter. They asked us to go to Beijing to resolve the issue with the central authorities. Therefore, we all agreed to go to the State Appeals Office the next day to file a petition and tell the government what Falun Dafa was about,” Ms. Zhang said.

Ms. Zhang shared that when they went to appeal, they simply felt that they had all benefited from Dafa, and since fellow practitioners had been arrested, they all had the obligation to reflect the true situation to the government.

Thus, early on the morning on April 25, Ms. Zhang and other practitioners from her practice site went to Fuyou Street, where the State Appeals Office is located.

“When we reached there, I thought it was not yet 6 a.m. but there were already quite a lot of people. At that time, all of us steered clear of the main street and also kept off the sidewalks. We just stood by the side of the street. Later, at about 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., the roads were blocked off. As there were no pedestrians or cars, we stood on the crosswalk,” she said.

Ms. Zhang said that the atmosphere at the scene was very peaceful—even quiet; there were neither slogans nor banners. Everyone was just standing by the roadside or residing at the back to meditate or read the books.

If there was a need to converse, practitioners all kept their volume to a minimum, she said. In the middle of the road there were about three police officers and plainclothes agents, because “the practitioners were all very self-disciplined, so the police officers did not need to maintain any order.”

“The practitioners’ demands were very simple. They just wanted the government to release the arrested practitioners, allow Falun Dafa works to be legally published, and allow Falun Dafa practitioners to have a legal environment to cultivate,” she said.

Ms. Zhang recalled that they later heard that the matter had been resolved, so all the practitioners just left the place quietly. “It was around 9 p.m. when we heard that the matter had been successfully resolved, that our three simple requests had been acceded to, and that the Tianjin police had already released the practitioners, so everyone gradually left the place very happily. As we were leaving, we also picked up the litter on the ground, including the cigarette butts that the police officers had left behind.”

However, after April 25, Ms. Zhang felt that the atmosphere started to become tense. Her manager also started to call her in for talks. The CCP later distorted this peaceful petition by Falun Gong practitioners into an “encirclement of Zhongnanhai,” and started a cruel suppression that continues today.

After the start of the CCP’s total repression, Ms. Zhang was severely persecuted. In 2015, in order to avoid arrest by the CCP, she fled to the United States.

Dr. Lin Xiaoxu: “The April 25 Appeal Exhibited Falun Dafa’s Peacefulness”

Falun Dafa practitioner Dr. Lin Xiaoxu joined the parade in Flushing on April 25, 2026.

As a Falun Dafa practitioner abroad, the memories of the appeal 27 years ago are still fresh in his mind. Dr. Lin Xiaoxu is a virology expert, who heard of the April 25, 1999 event in the United States. He shared that he went through a process of coming to understand during that period of time. He explained, “For many people outside of China, this kind of parade, rally, and meeting government officials seemed to be a very natural thing to do. However, in China, such a high-pressure society, this is actually a really difficult thing to do. Falun Dafa practitioners were taking very big risks by stepping out.”

Dr. Lin said that international society generally felt that the appeal by the Falun Dafa practitioners at that time was all very normal and reasonable.

“Those practitioners only went to Beijing to appeal peacefully after the Tianjin police had arrested practitioners, and their requests to the government were very reasonable. With regard to the distorted media reports, the practitioners also only asked for objective facts. Actually, these are all very basic requests,” he said.

Dr. Lin also shared the special meaning behind the April 25 appeal, which is an exhibition of Falun Dafa’s peacefulness. It not only expressed a form of non-violent protest, but also brought inspiration and hope to many people.

“It just looks like many people practicing the exercises together. They are united together, expressing a form of free will. All these also form a non-destructible force that cannot be suppressed by political powers. The April 25 appeal exhibited the power of such peacefulness,” he said.

Dr. Lin said he hoped that the international community would learn more about Falun Dafa and the positive effects that it has brought to society.

Western Falun Dafa Practitioner: “Hope That Falun Dafa Practitioners in China Persist”

Falun Dafa practitioner Rocio Penuelas joined the march on April 25, 2026.

Rocio Penuelas, a fashion designer, said that commemorating the April 25 event was very important. She said, “Because this conveys a message of peace to the world. The practitioners will not retaliate. Instead, they are using a very peaceful and extensive way to clarify the truth, conveying this message with a calm inner soul.”

She expressed her admiration of the Falun Dafa practitioners in China for their courage and dedication.

Penuelas shared that in Western society people have freedom of speech. They can express their thoughts freely through different means, such as holding parades and rallies. The government often welcomes people to exercise their freedom of speech too. Therefore, when Falun Dafa practitioners in China are being mentioned, Penuelas is full of admiration.

“What they have been doing over all these years are really admirable. They are still persisting even under such brutal persecution. I am really full of respect for their spirit of dedication and courage to be able to overcome this suppression and evil persecution. I encourage them to persist and continue to clarify the truth, from the bottom of my heart,” she said.

Penuelas started cultivating in Falun Dafa in 2008, after being introduced to the practice by a practitioner in Argentina.

“I would like to thank Master Li Hongzhi for his guidance. He taught us how to abide by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance in our daily lives,” she said.