‘They want to eradicate Falun Gong from the face of the earth and not just from China,’ says a religious freedom expert.
Florida marine scientist Sherwood Liu knew something was amiss when friends out of state began messaging him.
“Do you know this guy?”
They were pointing to a federal indictment in which a man had just been charged with spying for Beijing.
Liu didn’t know him.
But the alleged spy, who works in an international information technology firm, might know Liu—quite well.
The indictment accused Li Ping of sharing biographical details of a certain Falun Gong practitioner in St. Petersburg with a Chinese intelligence officer. Who else could it be but Liu?
For more than three decades, since Liu settled in St. Petersburg, only two practitioners have ever lived in the city. Liu was the only one there during the period the man was allegedly collecting information. As the volunteer organizer of meditation exercises in the local area, he was also publicly visible—an easy target.
Whether it was him or not, the arrest was a nagging reminder of how Chinese Communist Party (CCP) strains to keep tabs on dissidents like him, whether they are in China or an ocean away.
As the news sank in, Liu felt an urge to confront the man.
“I wanted to ask: ‘Do you know the consequences if ever the communists got a hold of me?’” Liu told The Epoch Times. He noted that Beijing’s “overseas police” have created 100 or more secret outposts globally, and have been actively trying to catch anyone they don’t like and force them back to China.
“We are dealing with the CCP, there is no rule of law,” Liu said.
Top Target
Falun Gong makes up a sizable community in China. In the 1990s, roughly 1 in 13 Chinese were practicing the meditative discipline. Millions of people across the country rose early to exercise in public parks, while aspiring to live by the practice’s three principles: truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
All that changed in July 1999, when the communist regime unleashed a ruthless eradication campaign and overnight turned Falun Gong into a top state enemy, with followers subjected to public ridicule, propaganda campaigns, and severe torture.
By Eva Fu
