July 20, 1999 Archives

Five Falun Gong representatives met U.S. officials at the State Department's headquarters in Washington D.C. on July 20 -- the day commemorated as the anniversary of the persecution of the practice in China. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Destro and a member of his staff were joined by Sam Brownback, U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom, who attended the meeting via phone. "Having this meeting on July 20th obviously means a lot to the Falun Gong community," says Falun Dafa Information Center executive director, Levi Browde. "But in addition to the meaning of the date, we covered a lot of ground on several important topics, including the on-going crime of forced organ harvesting, recent trends in the persecution of Falun Gong in China, and ways in which these crimes can be thoroughly exposed and those responsible brought to justice." Among the Falun Gong practitioners in attendance was Dr. Zhang Yuhua, a former dean at Nanjing Normal University who was imprisoned in China for her faith before escaping to the United States. Dr. Zhang also relayed details about her husband, Ma Zhenyu, who was sentenced to three years in prison for sending letters to a few Chinese officials defending Falun Gong's innocence. Dr. Zhang has not heard from her husband since 2018.

U.S. Administration Officials Meet with Falun Gong Representatives on July 20th Anniversary

A Decade of Courage