Xi Jingping and the National People's Congress
In a 2002 article in the journal Asian Survey, James Tong discussed the Chinese government’s “effective campaign” to crush the Falun Gong movement.
“Contrary to predictions that its collapse is probable, even imminent and certain, this study demonstrates that the regime does not lack the capacity to respond to political challenges, the will to utilize that capacity, and the ability to achieve intended results. . . . Indeed, compared to the regime reaction in the 1986 and 1989 student movements, the Jiang Politburo was much more resolute and effective in dealing with the Falungong than its predecessors were with the students [prior to the crushing of student protestors at Tiananmen Square].”
In the years since Tong published these conclusions in 2002, the Chinese state under Xi Jinping, top dog since 2012, has intensified its oversight and repression of many aspects of life in China, including by exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic. But Falun Gong and other CCP-harried religious groups have proved to be resilient.
