China’s Communist Party Banned This Religion — And Now It’s Coming For Hong Kong
(ANALYSIS) Religious freedom in Hong Kong and Macau seems to be at the mercy of the ruling authoritarian Chinese Communist Party in People's Republic of China.
Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that was banned by the People’s Republic of China in 1999 but remained active in Hong Kong and Macau, has been gradually losing its religious freedom.
China stepped up its efforts to unify Hong Kong by silencing civil rights and opposition activists and it has not spared the followers of Falun Gong, who combine moral teachings from Buddhism and Taoism in the meditation movement.
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A 2024 paper stated that police officers reportedly asked Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong to take down posters saying, “Heaven will destroy the Communist Party.”
Falun Gong practitioners working in the territory’s media or online news sector have also been affected by the crackdown.
In 2021, a printing warehouse for the Epoch Times Hong Kong edition, an outlet associated with Falun Gong, faced an arson attack by four masked attackers armed with batons. In 2021, Hong Kong current affairs host Rachel Wong was reportedly threatened by Chinese police after she discussed the forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners on one of her YouTube channels.
Officers allegedly contacted her relatives in mainland China, urging them to pressure Wong to stop her broadcasts. Attacks on Falun Gong information booths have also become increasingly common. In 2019, two individuals assaulted a Falun Gong practitioner in Hong Kong shortly after she met with police to discuss an upcoming demonstration.
In Macau, Falun Gong adherents were stopped from setting up information stalls at the Ruins of St. Paul's, claiming they obstructed pedestrian movement, a 2022 report by the U.S. Department of State revealed.
Although the Falun Gong practitioners reported that they continued to be able to discuss their beliefs openly with Macau residents, some media reports, especially the Chinese-language newspaper Ta Kung Pao, portrayed Falun Gong members negatively.
The newspaper has accused Falun Gong of ignoring the law and order in Hong Kong, inciting hatred, promoting anti-communism, infiltrating the community on all fronts and “poisoning” the people of Hong Kong. In one article, the newspaper urged the Hong Kong SAR government to ban Falun Gong.
Fear of the National security law
In 2024, nearly 500 practitioners of Falun Gong (which is considered by some to be a “cult” organisation) in China have been persecuted through various forms of punishment such as prison sentences and fines imposed by Chinese courts.
Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong and Macau say they anticipate similar treatment.
Under the Basic Law, the Special Administrative Region government safeguards religious freedom in Hong Kong and Macau, but the bylaws to the National Security Law (NSL), which was introduced during the pandemic, give the local judiciary and police the investigative authority over religious groups and personnel.
Although the law preserves ‘the basic rights and freedom lawfully enjoyed by law-abiding citizens’ and makes no mention of religious or spiritual groups, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the new Hong Kong law will sanction any behavior that endangers national security.
The police had warned Hong Kong current affairs host Rachel Wong that if she continued reporting on organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners, she could be arrested under the sweeping National Security Law and potentially transferred to the mainland.
Since China has long engaged in transnational repression, Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong fear being targeted under the NSL, which prohibits and punishes acts of “treason, secession, and subversion” against the central government.
The spokeswoman for the Hong Kong Falun Dafa Association, an organization representing the same spiritual discipline, had stated that the NSL “will act like a sharp knife hanging over the (association) and the heads of every Falun Gong practitioner in Hong Kong.”
Assurance or threat?
Although the People’s Republic of China is not a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Chinese government notified the U.N. Secretary-General that residents of Macau shall not be restricted in the rights and freedoms to which they are entitled unless otherwise provided for by law.
In case of restrictions, the restrictions shall not contravene the ICCPR. The central government notified the U.N. Secretary-General that the ICCPR would also apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
In reality, questions have been raised by the SAR government on Falun Gong raising funds or receiving foreign funding. Additionally, it has warned Hong Kong citizens to “disassociate themselves from institutions, organizations or individuals endangering national security (including those intending to commit subversion) and refrain from siding with them or providing pecuniary or other types of support.
Otherwise, they may have to pay a heavy price. Meanwhile, Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong and Macau say that they will not stop spreading their movement unless the Communist Party stops persecuting the followers of the movement in mainland China.
Sonia Sarkar is a journalist based in India. She writes on conflict, religion, politics, health and gender rights from Southeast Asia. Her work has appeared in a range of international publications, including the South China Morning Post, Nikkei Asia and Al Jazeera.