On the eve of her wedding, Zhang Wanxia’s life took a dramatic turn. Her fiancé, Yin Xinxiao, was suddenly detained and interrogated by police for hours—his only “crime” was practising Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline rooted in traditional Chinese meditation and moral teachings.
The incident foreshadowed what lay ahead for Zhang: years of state persecution, torture, and forced labour under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The crackdown on Falun Gong officially began on July 20, 1999, when Chinese authorities banned the practice nationwide.
Over the past 26 years, human rights groups, independent investigators, and international media have documented systematic repression, including arbitrary detention, torture, forced labour, and ideological “reeducation.” Zhang would become one of countless victims of this campaign.
Now living in the United States, Zhang has emerged as a vocal critic of Beijing’s policies—warning that the CCP’s repression is no longer confined to China’s borders.
Falun Gong: From public practice to state target
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, was introduced to the public in the early 1990s. It combines slow-moving exercises with teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.
By 1999, the Chinese state estimates put the number of practitioners at around 70 million.
Zhang’s family experienced its effects firsthand. Her mother, diagnosed with severe liver cirrhosis in 1997, began practising Falun Gong after joining a local group in a park.
Within months, Zhang observed a dramatic improvement—her mother regained physical strength, resumed cooking, and displayed emotional stability. Doctors had previously predicted she had only months to live.
Witnessing this transformation, Zhang began practising at age 24. What began as a health interest soon became a spiritual commitment.
Criminalised faith and state retaliation
When the CCP launched its nationwide campaign against Falun Gong, Zhang and her family attempted to petition authorities in Beijing to reverse the ban. Instead, they faced retaliation.
Relatives were harassed, and Zhang’s fiancé was detained just one day before their wedding.
Despite mounting pressure, Zhang refused to abandon her beliefs. Her husband was later sent to a labour camp under a now-defunct policy that allowed authorities to detain people for years without trial.
While eight months pregnant, Zhang went to Tiananmen Square and publicly declared, “Falun Dafa is good.” Police responded violently. She was thrown to the ground, beaten, and punched in the stomach. Zhang later recounted fearing for her unborn child’s life after the assault.
Three days after giving birth alone, police raided her home and threatened to imprison her unless she renounced her faith.
Inside China’s ‘black jails’
In 2003, Zhang was sent to Wangcun Reeducation Through Labour Camp in Shandong Province.
These facilities—often referred to as “black jails”—have been described by human rights organisations as centres of psychological coercion and physical abuse.
Zhang endured prolonged sleep deprivation, constant propaganda sessions, freezing exposure, and stress positions. At times, she was hung from stair railings by her wrists, blindfolded, and verbally abused by fellow inmates under the guards’ direction.
On one occasion, after refusing to cooperate with forced labour, guards encouraged criminal detainees to beat her. She was injured so severely that she required medical treatment. A shocked doctor reportedly treated her wounds.
Determined to expose the abuses, Zhang secretly wrote a detailed account of her experiences and smuggled it out.
The letter was verified by relatives and later published by human rights activists. Her story appeared on Minghui.org, a U.S.-based organisation documenting Falun Gong persecution.
International pressure followed. Calls flooded the labour camp from overseas activists. Authorities replaced camp leadership, and although Zhang’s sentence was extended, the most severe torture reportedly stopped.
She was released in October 2005.
From survivor to witness
Zhang arrived in the United States in 2017. She has since shared her testimony at public forums, urging Americans to recognise what she describes as Beijing’s expanding global influence campaign.
“The CCP is now carrying out transnational repression,” Zhang told The Epoch Times. “It aims to undermine freedom of belief and expression in democratic countries.”
Her warning aligns with growing evidence from watchdog groups and U.S. government agencies.
In 2022, whistleblower reports and intelligence assessments indicated that Chinese leader Xi Jinping had ordered an escalation in overseas harassment of dissidents, religious groups, and critics.
This includes surveillance, intimidation, online smear campaigns, and pressure on U.S.-based organisations.
Transnational repression takes shape
Human rights groups have documented cases of Chinese authorities targeting Falun Gong practitioners abroad through harassment of family members still in China, cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns, diplomatic pressure on foreign governments, and attempts to influence U.S. media narratives.
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged individuals accused of acting as unregistered agents of Beijing, while lawmakers have held hearings on foreign interference in American civil society.
Zhang views these developments as part of a broader strategy.
“The CCP wants to export its repression model,” she said. “It seeks to weaken democratic institutions and silence religious communities.”
A broader pattern of control
Falun Gong is not the only target. Beijing has also been accused of repressing Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, underground Christian churches, and democracy activists—both inside and outside China.
Freedom House has described China as a leading perpetrator of transnational repression, with operations spanning North America, Europe, and Asia.
Zhang believes Americans must recognise the ideological roots of this campaign.
“This is a confrontation between belief and enforced atheism,” she said. “Between freedom and authoritarian control.”
Warning without rhetoric
Zhang’s message is not framed in ideology but in personal experience. She describes her past not to provoke emotion, but to warn of documented patterns.
“I don’t want what happened in China to happen here,” she said. “I have lived through it.” Her testimony underscores a growing concern among security analysts and human rights experts: that authoritarian repression is increasingly crossing borders, challenging democratic safeguards.