Under Chinese Pressure, Malaysia Arrested 76 Falun Gong Practitioners
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- 16. 5.
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Malaysian police claim China did not interfere. However, the arrests were made just before Xi Jinping’s visit, and China applauded them.
By Yang Feng
May 16, 2025
China Anti-Xie-Jiao Association, an organization that the Chinese Communist Party controls, celebrated on May 9 the arrest of 76 Falun Gong practitioners in Malaysia last month and the press conference of May 8, where the Kuala Lumpur police defended the arrests against local and international media criticism. 47 Malaysian Chinese and 29 Chinese had been arrested on April 13.
Paradoxically, at the press conference, Kuala Lumpur police chief Rusdi Isa “urged the public not to assume that there was interference from third parties,” meaning China. He insisted that he has been personally fighting Falun Gong for years. However, China’s applause following after 24 hours seems to indicate just the opposite.
China Anti-Xie-Jiao Association presents itself as “the largest anti-cult association in the world.” The claim is true since the CCP ensures that the association has branches in all cities and towns, as well as many villages. However, the translation of “xie jiao” as “cults,” adopted in Chinese official English-language documents, is questionable. “Xie jiao” has been used in China since the 7th century CE to designate “organizations promoting heterodox teachings.” What teachings are “heterodox” has always been determined by governments in Chinese history.
The arrests in Malaysia were due to Chinese requests, which is confirmed by the fact that they occurred just ahead of President Xi Jinping’s visit to the country between April 15 and 17. Falun Gong practitioners internationally often protest Xi Jinping’s visits and call public attention to their persecution in China. Some Malaysian practitioners reported that their detention continued throughout Xi’s visit.
On the other hand, beyond the obvious Chinese pressure, it is also true that Malaysia is a country increasingly hostile to religious liberty. The duty to register religious organizations is interpreted to mean that unregistered organizations, or those to which registration has been denied, are illegal, and members can be arrested at any time.
Source: bitterwinter.org
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