The New York Times Uses Mainstream American Techniques and Methods to Repeat the Lies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Which Has Launched an Unrestricted War against Falun Gong in the United States
According to investigation results by WOIPFG, recently, The New York Times has disregarded the brutal persecution and atrocities committed by the CCP against Falun Gong practitioners and published a series of reports attacking Falun Gong, covering up the CCP’s crimes of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners, distorting facts about Shen Yun Performing Arts, and targeting The Epoch Times. These actions align closely with the CCP’s recent overseas “public opinion warfare”, which is part of its renewed effort to persecute Falun Gong.[1]
Ignoring the fact of the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong, since August 2024, The New York Times journalist Nicole Hong (Chinese name: Hong Qianqian) has authored 10 anti-Falun Gong articles that distort facts. Furthermore, her father, George Hong (Chinese name: Hong Zhaohui), served as an “honorary council member” of the Western Returned Scholars Association[2] (aka. Overseas-educated Scholars Association of China), which is a CCP-affiliated united front organization tasked with overseas infiltration and intelligence gathering. The Western Returned Scholars Association (WRSA), which is a united front organization directly funded and supported by China’s intelligence agencies, has also received inscriptions from successive CCP leaders, including Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping. Additionally, George Hong holds multiple positions in pro-CCP overseas Chinese associations[3] [4] [5] and has been an active proponent of the CCP’s united front policies. He has been twice received by and photographed with Jiang Zemin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.[6] [7] Therefore, Nicole Hong, the journalist who authored the anti-Falun Gong articles for The New York Times, has a deeply rooted connection to the CCP’s united front system.[8]
During the CCP’s launch of the “legal warfare” against overseas Falun Gong, the malicious prosecution of Shen Yun Performing Arts and the founder of Falun Gong took place at the same time.
Evidence from multiple sources confirms that under the direct deployment of the incumbent CCP head Xi Jinping, the CCP, through the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, has manipulated multiple government departments, including the Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of State Security, United Front Work Department and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to launch a new round of intensified persecution against the Falun Gong religious group. With its primary focus being overseas, the CCP has launched a “public opinion warfare” and “legal warfare” targeting the founder of Falun Dafa, as well as attacking Shen Yun Performing Arts, The Epoch Times, and other media outlets founded by Falun Gong practitioners. These efforts of the CCP aim to smear and defame the Falun Gong religious group, brainwash the people around the world, and eliminate people’s belief in Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, thus seeking to eradicate the Falun Gong practitioners who uphold these values.[9]
A series of recent malicious attacks on the Falun Gong religious community outside of China is part of a comprehensive plan by the CCP, which is deployed in 2024, to strike against overseas Falun Gong and attempt to eradicate the Falun Gong religious community in the United States through a systematically coordinated joint operation. This includes The New York Times covering up the CCP’s crimes of organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners and distorting facts about Shen Yun Performing Arts, as well as the defamation of Falun Gong by the CCP’s Internet influencers, and malicious lawsuits initiated by people with ulterior motives, all of which disturb and exploit the U.S. judicial system.
These actions are part of the CCP’s systematic persecution of Falun Gong abroad, planned and coordinated by the CCP’s Political and Legal Affairs Commission, Ministry of State Security and Ministry of Public Security. The specific implementation is carried out by CCP-established “Falun Gong Suppression Offices” located in major regions around the globe, such as the “North American Falun Gong Suppression Office”.[10]
The CCP’s unrestricted warfare in the United States directly threatens the national security of the United States, challenges the foundation of freedom of religious belief in the country, violates U.S. sovereignty, and infringes on the religious freedom and other human rights of American citizens.
The CCP has mobilized China’s state resources to launch overseas attacks against Falun Gong, focusing on slandering against and defaming the founder of Falun Dafa, as well as targeting Shen Yun Performing Arts and The Epoch Times through “public opinion warfare” and “legal warfare”. These actions take place after the initiation of the CCP’s ongoing 25-year-long brutal persecution against the Falun Gong religious community, particularly mass live organ harvesting crimes against humanity, which have long been exposed. Now, such activities are being carried out within the United States, by using unrestricted warfare!
The foundation of the United States is the freedom of religious belief, and what the U.S. takes pride in is its freedom of speech, democracy, and the rule of law. In its attacks on Falun Gong, the CCP has chosen to use one century-old major American newspaper, The New York Times, and it has chosen to involve the U.S. Department of Justice in the malicious lawsuits. Moreover, this persecution of Falun Gong is being carried out openly and on a large scale within the territory of the world’s strongest nation, for the CCP to demonstrate its bullying to the world and to pave the way for communist domination worldwide.
The reason for the CCP to act this way is based on a new strategy planned through its assessment and consideration of global developments and shifting dynamics.
First, the CCP believes that it has become formidable enough to break the post-World War II international order and establish a new system with the CCP at its core. Regardless of whether people find this judgment absurd or not, there is such a consensus within the CCP. Attacking Falun Gong, Shen Yun Performing Arts, The Epoch Times, and some of their key individuals is one of the CCP’s strategic objectives in confronting the United States and pursuing global dominance.
Second, Falun Gong practitioners have endured 25 years of brutal persecution by the CCP, especially the live organ harvesting. The CCP has committed crimes unprecedented in human history—state-sponsored genocide and crimes against humanity—which are unacceptable to mankind. These are the CCP’s gravest and most fatal crimes. Furthermore, the United States has many Falun Gong practitioners with significant and positive influence, as well as Shen Yun Performing Arts, which conducts global tours showcasing world-class, purely virtuous, and stunning traditional art performances. Additionally, there are programs exposing the truth about the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong in Shen Yun’s performances. These factors increasingly terrify the CCP.
As a result, the CCP has now made Falun Gong and Shen Yun Performing Arts its primary targets, and it has specifically chosen to act on U.S. soil. This is because the CCP aims to implicate the United States as an accomplice in its persecution of Falun Gong and shift the blame for this atrocity of the century onto the U.S. This strategy is a combination of the CCP’s overall strategic ambitions and its specific vulnerabilities.
If the CCP succeeds in bullying and persecuting Falun Gong in the United States, the U.S. government and the American people will be morally kidnapped by the CCP. And America’s credibility and its leadership position on the international stage will be undermined. As a result, no one will dare to hold the CCP accountable for its crimes, and the CCP will be free to bully the world at will.
These actions severely undermine the foundational principle of religious freedom, on which the United States was built. They gravely infringe upon the United States’ national sovereignty and the inalienable human rights of its citizens to religious belief. They pose a serious threat to U.S. national security, significantly damage America’s proud tradition of free speech and democratic rule of law, and strongly contribute to the expansion of the CCP’s crimes against humanity in persecuting Falun Gong on the international stage. Moreover, they exacerbate the dire plight of Falun Gong practitioners in mainland China. This is something that human civilization cannot tolerate.
The details of the CCP’s public opinion warfare and legal warfare against Falun Gong in the United States are as follows:
I. The CCP’s “Public Opinion Warfare” and “Legal Warfare” Target the Founder of Falun Dafa
According to The Epoch Times, in October 2022, the CCP head Xi Jinping held a secret meeting, on which he instructed senior CCP officials from the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, Ministry of State Security, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and United Front Work Department to develop a new strategy targeting Falun Gong in the international community.
On December 5, 2024, Australian-based Chinese jurist and former law professor Yuan Hongbing revealed to The Epoch Times the details of the secret meeting held before the CCP’s 20th National Congress, along with Xi Jinping’s instructions. These plans directly stem from the conspiratorial arrangements at the highest levels of Zhongnanhai, with the mastermind being the CCP head Xi Jinping.[11]
Xi mentioned, “From the perspective of specific action plans, there is one central focus and two basic directions”. According to the source, the “one central focus” Xi referred to is Falun Dafa’s founder and his family. Xi stated, “The target is to be directly focused on Falun Gong’s founder”.
Xi believes that one of the key reasons why the CCP’s efforts to suppress Falun Gong before the 18th National Congress were ineffective was that they did not grasp the key point or control this central focus. Xi meant that the goal is to thoroughly and comprehensively attack the character of Falun Dafa’s founder, by using various issues to attack him. That is, “character assassination” is the “central focus”.
The two specific directions are “public opinion warfare” and “legal warfare”. The “public opinion warfare” is further divided into two parts. The first is to fully utilize some media outlets and “self-media” accounts, which are not officially affiliated with the CCP, to attack Falun Gong. Xi believes that using official CCP media for the attacks has two major drawbacks. The first is that it would appear that the CCP hasn’t been able to eliminate Falun Gong for such a long time, which undermines the CCP’s authority. Furthermore, using the CCP’s official media to conduct public opinion campaigns internationally is not the most effective. Therefore, the best approach is to use unofficial media outlets and self-media accounts with ambiguous identities and unclear stances, whether in Chinese or English, to carry out the “public opinion warfare” for the CCP.
II. WOIPFG Special Report: The CCP Top Leadership’s Covert Plans to Intensify Attacks on Overseas Falun Gong, Shen Yun, and The Epoch Times
On December 6, 2024, WOIPFG obtained confidential intelligence through our specialized investigative channels within mainland China.[12] The intelligence pertains to the top leadership of the CCP’s plans to intensify attacks on overseas Falun Gong, Shen Yun, and The Epoch Times. Below is a summary:
The CCP’s Ministry of Public Security recently convened a video conference, which was chaired by Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong. Many internal directives from the CCP’s top leadership were outlined in the meeting, and they had already been disseminated to provincial and departmental levels across China and are currently being implemented. The key points pertaining to Falun Gong are as follows:
1. Mobilize all CCP operatives (referred to internally as “special agents”) and intelligence informants stationed in the United States. At all costs, they must establish contact with core members of Trump’s team to swiftly determine Trump’s true stance toward the CCP and uncover any potential sanctions the American government is planning to impose on China.
2. Intensify support for individuals opposing Falun Gong. The CCP ministries and departments are directed to provide additional materials and intelligence, including photos and videos, while ensuring personal information in these materials is carefully managed to avoid revealing the involvement of CCP intelligence departments in the planning. Financial assistance may be provided through methods such as “donations”. Select public opinion operatives (commonly known as the “50 cent army”) from various regions in China and abroad, who are familiar with Falun Gong, to participate in this effort. Emphasize amplifying claims that Falun Gong violates U.S. laws and disrespects the authority of the U.S. government. Use these fabricated “narratives” to pressure the U.S. government and relevant institutions to withdraw support for Falun Gong, with the ultimate goal of eradicating Falun Gong from the United States.
3. Continue intensifying attacks and smear campaigns against the “key individuals” and “targeted individuals” of Shen Yun Performing Arts, The Epoch Times, and Falun Gong. CCP operatives (special agents) and newly deployed external propaganda resources may be (continuously) mobilized to participate in overseas operations. Efforts should prioritize disrupting and fracturing relationships within overseas Falun Gong communities. Specific actions can be tailored locally by agents and intelligence agencies, while ensuring coordination to avoid contradictions or conflicts among themselves.
4 Mobilize all undercover personnel (CCP agents) to continue executing the plan targeting overseas Falun Gong practitioners for them to abandon their practice (Editor’s Note: This is referred to as the “Exit Falun Gong Plan”). This may include establishing relief funds through Chinese business associations or utilizing third parties with clean backgrounds to offer assistance (e.g. financial aid) to those who have left Falun Gong, to increase the success rate of individuals abandoning the practice. Afterwards, leverage all individuals who have left Falun Gong to consistently (fabricate and) expose alleged “dark secrets” within the community.
5. Deploy high-level operatives (CCP senior agents) to execute “critical assault operations”, which include targeted attacks and smear campaigns, against selected high-ranking individuals within the Falun Gong community and The Epoch Times. The objective is to win over and convert one or two prominent Falun Gong members, to ensure that they turn against the spiritual discipline at a decisive moment. This action is intended to deliver “a fatal blow” to Falun Gong and to discredit U.S. officials who support Falun Gong.
6. The primary objective is to make every effort to sabotage the relationship between Falun Gong and the United States before Trump takes office the second time. While the ideal goal is to eliminate Falun Gong from the U.S., at a minimum, the aim is to sever the relationship between the American government and Falun Gong, as well as any potential collaboration between them. The plan, proposed by Chen Yixin, a member of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission and Minister of State Security, has already received the support of the CCP’s top leadership. In the next phase, the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Public Security will intensify their cooperation in helping execute this plan. The CCP leadership is deeply concerned about potential U.S. sanctions, as Falun Gong holds evidence of their serious crimes. This is the primary motivation behind the CCP’s escalating attacks on key figures from The Epoch Times and Shen Yun Performing Arts. The ultimate target of these attacks will be the founder of Falun Dafa.
Using the alias “Hua Sheng”, an insider from the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security told The Epoch Times in November 2024 that the current wave of attacks against Falun Gong and Shen Yun Performing Arts is part of a systematic and complete plan. According to him, every step of the operation is being controlled and orchestrated by the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of State Security from behind the scenes. The individuals that take overt actions are merely pawns. The materials they have exposed were also collected and filmed by State Security agents within the targeted groups, then distributed through these individuals. Otherwise, how could they suddenly have access to such materials? With only these individuals’ own capabilities, it would be impossible for them to do this.[13]
On January 6, 2025, WOIPFG released a confidential intelligence report from high-level CCP sources in Beijing. The report reveals that Xi Jinping’s strategic objective is to attack the United States. Since Xi Jinping further consolidated his power through constitutional amendments in 2018, his strategic goals have been clearly focused on the U.S. The priorities of various CCP departments have been completely redirected toward targeting the U.S. in pursuit of the so-called CCP’s “Chinese dream”. The CCP’s “legal warfare” and “public opinion warfare” against Falun Gong, Shen Yun, and The Epoch Times are part of this broader strategy against the United States.[14] The CCP has selected individuals (commonly known as the “50 cent army”) familiar with Falun Gong from various places to participate in these efforts to continuously spread fabricated rumors that Falun Gong practitioners violate U.S. laws and disregard U.S. government authority. Through public opinion, they aim to pressure the U.S. government to withdraw its support for Falun Gong, with the ultimate goal of seeking to have Falun Gong eradicated in the United States.
The CCP’s main goal is to make every effort to destroy Falun Gong’s influence on the United States. Ideally, they want to eliminate Falun Gong from the U.S., but at the very least, their goal is to disrupt the relationship between the American government and Falun Gong. The presence of Falun Dafa’s founder in the U.S. and the interactions between Falun Gong practitioners in the U.S. and those in mainland China have become a significant concern for Xi Jinping’s regime. Particularly after Trump takes office the second time, with his comprehensive focus on countering the CCP, the elimination of Falun Gong in the United States has become a consensus among the CCP’s top leadership.[15]
III. The New York Times’ Distortion of Facts in Its Articles is Completely Aligned with the CCP’s Recent New Round of Persecution Called “Public Opinion Warfare” against Overseas Falun Gong Practitioners, in Terms of Its Policies and Timeline
In November 2024, an insider from the CCP’s Public Security Ministry revealed to The Epoch Times that the CCP’s overseas attacks on Falun Gong are one of the plans by the newly appointed Minister of State Security, Chen Yixin, who aims at currying favor and seeking rewards for his ambitions of gaining power. The Ministry of State Security has been continuously providing so-called internal materials for the attacks behind the scenes.[16]
On January 8, 2025, WOIPFG released confidential intelligence from high-ranking CCP officials in Beijing. It is revealed that the attacks by The New York Times on The Epoch Times, the founder of Falun Dafa, and Shen Yun Performing Arts were orchestrated by the CCP behind the scenes. The CCP mobilized massive resources for this effort. The New York Times had long been planning to attack The Epoch Times and Falun Gong as part of the CCP’s broader strategy against the United States. Specifically, targeting the founder of Falun Dafa, Shen Yun, and The Epoch Times is a part of the CCP’s comprehensive confrontation against the U.S. Currently, all actions are being carried out in accordance with the plans of the Ministry of Public Security and Yixin Chen (head of the Ministry of State Security).[17]
On January 8, 2025, a conscientious insider from the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security revealed to The Epoch Times that the CCP’s overseas attacks on Shen Yun and Falun Gong are far more complex than they appear on the surface. What the CCP fears most is the possibility that the U.S. government will officially begin investigating the torture and live organ harvesting suffered by Falun Gong practitioners in China, as such an investigation would mark the beginning of the CCP’s downfall. The CCP is attempting to shift the narrative by pushing for Falun Gong to be criminalized in the U.S., in an effort to evade responsibility for its monumental human rights crimes.[18]
Starting from August 2024, The New York Times published 10 articles attacking Shen Yun within five months, which aligns with the CCP’s plan for transnational suppression of Falun Gong. A conscientious insider from China’s Public Security Bureau (using the pseudonym Shen Liang) made inquiries through various channels and learned from a former director-level official within the 610 Office system that the situation is far more complex than it appears, with deep and hidden undercurrents.
The New York Times has long maintained a close relationship with the CCP. It is well known that the CCP has always regarded Falun Gong as its number one enemy and has relentlessly suppressed the spiritual discipline. On the issue of Falun Gong, the CCP has never made any concessions. As a result, The New York Times’ stance on this issue aligns almost entirely with the CCP’s official position, and this series of articles reflects that stance.
Several employees of The New York Times previously worked for China Daily, an English-language newspaper controlled by the CCP. In recent years, China Daily has paid millions of dollars to U.S. media outlets to publish Beijing-approved propaganda content.[19]
Publicly available information shows that Joseph Kahn, the incumbent executive editor of The New York Times, has unusual and secretive ties to the Chinese Communist regime, particularly to the Shanghai faction associated with Jiang Zemin. From 1994 to 2008, Kahn served as a correspondent in China and later as the Beijing bureau chief for The New York Times, a period spanning 14 years during Jiang Zemin’s rule and continued influence. Kahn’s Chinese wife’s real estate business extends across Beijing and New York. Kahn personally contributed to writing an obituary that portrayed Jiang Zemin in a positive light. His father, Leo Kahn, was the co-founder of Staples, the largest office supply retailer in the U.S., which became an exclusive supplier for the Beijing Olympics.[20]
On August 16, 2024, The New York Times published an article that once again ignored the substantial evidence of the CCP murdering illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners to harvest their organs.[21] [22] [23] Instead, it cited the claims of an “expert” on human rights in China, who asserted that such evidence does not exist. However, they completely ignored or refused to disclose three basic facts.
1) A large number of media reports, human rights reports of the U.S. State Department, third-party independent investigations and even court judgments have confirmed the existence of live organ harvesting. On June 25, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed the Falun Gong Protection Act. The bill requires the United States to stop the CCP’s state-sponsored organ harvesting of living Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience, and requires the United States to impose sanctions on those who participate in and assist in live organ harvesting in China.
2) The Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center was renamed after Alibaba Group Executive Vice Chairman Joseph Tsai donated 30 million US dollars. The New York Times did not disclose any possible connection between this “China Center” and the CCP.
3) Didi Kirsten Tatlow, a former China-based reporter for The New York Times, stated in a testimony that The New York Times made it impossible for her to continue reporting on the CCP’s organ harvesting. Her request to expand the scope of the investigation into the CCP’s organ harvesting from death row inmates to include prisoners of conscience was also ignored and rejected by the editor.[24] Shortly afterwards, she left the publication.
In her testimony provided to the China Tribunal (an independent expert panel in London responsible for reviewing evidence of live organ harvesting) in 2019, Tatlow stated: “It was my impression The New York Times, my employer at the time, was not pleased that I was pursuing these stories [on organ transplant abuses], and after initially tolerating my efforts, made it impossible for me to continue.”[25]
The conclusion of the China Tribunal was that the CCP regime had indeed carried out large-scale organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience. However, The New York Times ignored this verdict and a substantial amount of fundamental evidence, including Tatlow’s statement.
Over the past 25 years, The New York Times has often displayed bias in its reporting on China, disregarding the facts of the CCP’s brutal persecution and atrocities committed against Falun Gong practitioners.[26]
In 2001, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., then-publisher of The New York Times, along with several editors and reporters, had an opportunity to meet with Jiang Zemin, and the newspaper established a special connection with the main culprit behind the persecution of Falun Gong.[27]
By the time The New York Times interviewed Jiang Zemin in 2001, it had already published several dozens of articles about Falun Gong, and nearly all of them repeated the CCP’s propaganda that described Falun Gong as a “cult” or “sect”.
Jiang Zemin was clearly very pleased with The New York Times. In the 2001 interview, he called the newspaper “a very good paper”. The newspaper published a sycophantic interview with the headline “In Jiang’s Words: ‘I Hope the Western World Can Understand China Better.’”Within a few days, the CCP unblocked access to The New York Times’ website in China.
*The New York Times’ Support for the Dictator’s Narrative
By 2002, The New York Times had entered a pro-Jiang mode, adopting the CCP’s propaganda tone and claiming that Falun Gong had been successfully “crushed”.
The newspaper cited CCP sources claiming that Falun Gong was outdated and that there had only ever been 2 million Falun Gong practitioners in the past. It even asserted that the figure of 70 million practitioners provided by Falun Gong adherents was baseless.
However, several years ago, before the persecution started, many Western and Chinese media outlets, including the Associated Press and The New York Times, reported figures of 70 million or 100 million practitioners. These figures were generally attributed to estimates by the Chinese State Sports Administration, which had the most accurate data due to a large-scale survey of Falun Gong practitioners it conducted in the late 1990s.
The New York Times has consistently ignored the fact that Bo Xilai was involved in the persecution of Falun Gong. By 2009, Falun Gong practitioners had filed over 70 lawsuits in more than 30 courts worldwide against Jiang Zemin and other perpetrators of the persecution, including more than a dozen cases targeting Bo Xilai.
Figure 1. Court documents from lawsuits filed against Jiang Zemin and his associates in relation to the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong. (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit)
Some U.S. courts have issued absentia judgments against individuals involved in carrying out torture. In 2009, a Spanish court charged five incumbent and former CCP officials with crimes of torture, including Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Bo Xilai, and Jia Qinglin.[28] In the same year, an Argentinian court issued international arrest warrants for Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan.
The New York Times turned a blind eye to all of these facts. In 2014, the newspaper reported that the Spanish Parliament was preparing to curb the international jurisdiction of the courts, claiming that it “complicated diplomacy in unpredictable ways”.
The article described the Spanish judges as “overzealous” and “provocateurs”.
On November 15, 2011, the body of British businessman Neil Heywood was found at the Lucky Holiday Hotel in Chongqing. In 2012, the Bo Xilai scandal erupted. The New York Times’ related coverage seemed to defend Gu Kailai (Bo’s wife and Heywood’s murderer), and the reports never explored what her true motive behind the murder might have been. Just as Heywood’s death triggered a political avalanche, The New York Times began developing its Chinese-language website. This 20 million US dollar project aimed to tap into the potentially lucrative Chinese market. The new website required continuous approval from the CCP and was launched in June 2012.
After Jiang’s death in 2022, the newspaper published an eulogy, describing Jiang as a “garrulous” and “disarming” politician who “presided over a decade of meteoric economic growth”. What set this eulogy apart was that the newspaper’s executive editor, Joseph Kahn, personally contributed to the eulogy, marking the only time he did so since becoming the newspaper’s executive editor earlier that year.
The eulogy glorified Jiang Zemin’s responsibility for the persecution of Falun Gong as mere “intolerance of dissent” and brushed the persecution off with one single sentence, thus mirroring the CCP’s propaganda.
IV. The Family Background of The New York Times Reporter Nicole Hong
Nicole Hong’s father, George Hong (Chinese name: Hong Zhaohui), served as an “honorary council member” of the Western Returned Scholars Association[29] (aka. Overseas-educated Scholars Association of China), which is a CCP-affiliated united front organization tasked with overseas infiltration and intelligence gathering. The Western Returned Scholars Association (WRSA), which is a united front organization directly funded and supported by China’s intelligence agencies, has also received inscriptions from successive CCP leaders, including Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping. Additionally, George Hong holds multiple positions in pro-CCP overseas Chinese associations[30] [31] [32] and has been an active proponent of the CCP’s united front policies. He has been twice received by and photographed with Jiang Zemin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.[33] [34] Therefore, Nicole Hong, the journalist who authored the anti-Falun Gong articles for The New York Times, has a deeply rooted connection to the CCP’s united front system.[35]
Figure 2. Screenshot of a web page mentioning Geroge Hong as an honorary council member of the Western Returned Scholars Association.
The WRSA (also known as the Overseas-educated Scholars Association of China) is a nationwide organization for overseas-educated individuals, led by the Secretariat of the CCP Central Committee and managed by the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee. The WRSA has been supported by successive CCP leaders. In 2003, the association received its additional name “Overseas-educated Scholars Association of China”. On October 21, 2013, CCP leader Xi Jinping attended the 100th anniversary of the WRSA’s establishment and delivered a speech. On May 12, 2016, the General Office of the CCP Central Committee issued the “Opinions on Strengthening the Development of the WRSA (Overseas-educated Scholars Association of China)”, marking the first dedicated document regarding the WRSA. In January 2021, the WRSA held its first National Members’ Congress, during which Ding Zhongli, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, was elected president of the WRSA’s 8th Council. On October 21, 2023, Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter for the WRSA’s 110th anniversary, explicitly stating that the WRSA is a group with “united front characteristics” and calling for the association to enhance its political alignment. Wang Huning, member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee and Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), attended the event and delivered a speech.[36]
Figure 3. Xi Jinping’s congratulatory letter for the 110th anniversary of the Western Returned Scholars Association.
After the relationship between Nicole Hong and George Hong was brought to attention and exposed by overseas media, Chinese domestic media immediately deleted related reports. Without coordination from institutions such as the CCP Central Propaganda Department or the State Council Information Office, it would be nearly impossible for so many Chinese domestic media websites to take such coordinated actions solely for a New York Times reporter.[37]
V. Chun-Ko Chang, Who Maliciously Sues Shen Yun Performing Arts and the Founder of Falun Dafa, Frequently Interacts with the CCP
With the CCP launching its overseas “legal warfare” against Falun Gong, Chun-Ko Chang, a former Fei Tian student, simultaneously initiated a malicious lawsuit against Shen Yun Performing Arts and the founder of Falun Dafa.
On November 25, 2024, former Fei Tian student Chang filed a lawsuit against eight organizations and individuals, including Shen Yun Performing Arts, Fei Tian College and Fei Tian Academy of the Arts. Chang claimed that she was subjected to coercion and abuse, but she voluntarily applied to enroll as a graduate student at Fei Tian College, hoping to continue her work with Fei Tian and Shen Yun. Even during the three years after leaving Fei Tian and Shen Yun, in an entirely unconstrained environment, she repeatedly expressed her gratitude for the education she received at Fei Tian Collge and for the instructors there. However, by early 2024, her attitude suddenly underwent a 180 degree reversal. One key event she revealed in an interview was that she and her husband visited the Beijing Dance Academy and Shanghai in mainland China. A reasonable suspicion is that she was heavily influenced by CCP propaganda, as she later asked in an interview: “Is it true that Falun Gong practitioners have their organs harvested alive?” The crime of “live organ harvesting” is a serious crime against humanity, confirmed in many media reports, U.S. State Department human rights reports, Congressional testimonies, and related legislative bills.[38]
Since mid-June 2024, Chang has been interviewed by various self-media outlets, and her statements were quoted twice in The New York Times’ reports attacking Shen Yun. Since Chang’s statements in these media outlets are seriously inconsistent with the facts, Professor Zhang Tianliang from Fei Tian College, who taught Chang previously, issued two lengthy clarifications on X (Twitter), by using Chang’s own interview records, communication logs, and other facts as evidence. Xian Yuan, a teacher from Fei Tian Academy of the Arts, also recorded a video to refute Chang’s false claims. However, Chang ignored these facts and has not made any corrections or apologies.
The Beijing Dance Academy is a state-run institution under the CCP, serving as a tool for the CCP’s global campaign against Shen Yun, and is also a major competitor of Shen Yun Performing Arts and its affiliated schools worldwide. After leaving Fei Tian, Chang worked for a Taiwanese dance studio that collaborates with the Beijing Dance Academy. The studio’s public Facebook page shows that her role is listed as a “Classical Dance Department teacher at the Beijing Dance Academy”. For over one year after leaving Shen Yun, Chang maintained active communication with the company and even attempted to return. However, after establishing ties with the Beijing Dance Academy, she adopted a completely different stance.[39]
Public data shows that Chun-Ko Chang teaches in a small dance studio with limited income. And yet she filed a lawsuit from Taiwan against eight institutions and individuals in the US, including Shen Yun Performing Arts, Fei Tian College, and Fei Tian Academy of Arts, hiring lawyers from two law firms in three locations in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Chicago. Such a large-scale class action simply exceeds by far her financial and resource capabilities.
According to information from high-level CCP sources obtained by WOIPFG investigators based in mainland China:
The whistleblower stated that former Shen Yun student Chang went to Beijing to meet with CCP national security officials. Currently, these national security heads are hesitant to travel abroad. After the president of a U.S. business association was arrested by the FBI, CCP officials are now very cautious when sending personnel to carry out tasks abroad. If they are caught, the related CCP officials would be held accountable. As per the whistleblower, the choice of the Beijing Dance Academy is clearly in line with the style of the CCP’s National Security Department. On the surface, it seems reasonable, but anyone can see the problem. Traveling all the way to Beijing just to visit the Beijing Dance Academy is like “covering one’s ears while stealing a bell”. This is the way the CCP’s National Security Department operates.
Chang was converted by a CCP agent, who had infiltrated the Falun Gong community in Taiwan, and Chang’s mother was also converted.
VI. The Case of Bill Guan, Former CFO of The Epoch Times, Involves Covert Operations by the CCP Behind the Scenes
According to investigative leads obtained by WOIPFG investigators in Beijing, which revealed intelligence from high-level CCP insiders, the CCP’s current plan to attack The Epoch Times is part of its deployment of a larger strategy to compete with the United States for world dominance. In recent several years, the CCP has been attacking and discrediting The Epoch Times through The New York Times. On December 31, 2024, The New York Times published an article entitled “Shen Yun Needed Publicity. The Epoch Times Wrote 17,000 Articles”, which was authored by Nicole Hong and Michael Rothfeld, specifically mentioning the case of Bill Guan, the former CFO of The Epoch Times, thus linking The Epoch Times to Shen Yun and Falun Gong.
According to a special report released by WOIPFG on January 8, 2025, an informer with conscience inside the CCP’s top leadership said that Falun Gong’s situation would not improve significantly, because the CCP’s forces in the United States couldn’t be easily eliminated. American people cannot imagine the evil of the CCP, whose crimes are those that people in normal American society have never witnessed. The CCP leadership consistently emphasizes the need to focus on gathering intelligence about the United States in all their directives. This has become a routine practice for the CCP leadership in recent years. The significant influence of the English edition of The Epoch Times in the United States is the contextual reason why The Epoch Times and its key personnel have become primary targets of the CCP’s attacks.
As per the whistleblower, there are also CCP agents within Falun Gong communities to sabotage them from the inside, by specifically collecting any information on key individuals related to Falun Gong, The Epoch Times, and Shen Yun. The agents may also fabricate damaging materials and stories involving alleged crimes. The CCP’s national security system operates through overseas institutions that cooperate in such actions. Once targeted and disrupted by CCP agents, it becomes almost impossible for anyone to clarify things from both inside and outside. These are the ruthless tactics that the CCP is very skilled at using to manipulate and undermine individuals and groups.
The CCP has always been systematically collecting information and intelligence on key figures of The Epoch Times. This includes a particular focus on gathering comprehensive data and work-related information about The Epoch Times founder Tang Zhong, its first editor-in-chief Guo Jun, and former CFO Bill Guan, among other senior personnel. For years, the CCP has been preparing materials and intelligence on these key employees. The CCP has deployed a strategy involving agents using malicious reporting, defamation, and other methods characteristic of unrestricted warfare to initiate a series of legal cases. The objective is to destroy these key figures and imprison them, thereby undermining The Epoch Times.
Currently, various self-media accounts operated by CCP agents online are fabricating rumors. They are using Guan’s case to create a large number of falsehoods aimed at attacking Falun Gong, Shen Yun, and the founder of Falun Dafa.
As part of the CCP’s campaign to persecute Falun Gong, two unregistered CCP foreign agents in the United States, Chen Jun and Lin Feng, were involved in a CCP-led persecution scheme. They attempted to manipulate the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblower program through bribery, aiming to initiate an investigation based on a flawed report submitted by CCP agent Chen Jun against Shen Yun Performing Arts. Their goal was to audit Shen Yun Performing Arts and revoke its tax-exempt status as a U.S. nonprofit organization. In 2024, Chen Jun and Lin Feng pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, admitting to charges of acting as illegal foreign agents of the CCP and bribing U.S. public officials. The court found them guilty.
The CCP is waging a legal and public opinion war against The Epoch Times and Shen Yun Performing Arts in the United States. The CCP is inciting “insiders” from Falun Gong, The Epoch Times, and Shen Yun Performing Arts to carry out a series of malicious lawsuits and frivolous legal actions. This set of morally bankrupt unrestricted warfare tactics by the CCP is currently taking place in the United States.
World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG)
Tel: 347-448-5790; Fax: 347-402-1444
Mail: P.O. Box 84, New York, NY, 10116 USA
Report mailbox: http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/3387
Websites: http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/, http://www.upholdjustice.org/
References
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[2]Zeng, J. (2024, September 26). Exclusive revelation: The father of the author of The New York Times’ article attacking Shen Yun is an “Honorary Council Member” of a CCP United Front-affiliated organization: Part one of the investigative series. Retrieved from: https://www.jenniferzengblog.com/home/2024/9/26/new-york-times-hong-zhaohui-hong-qianqian
[3] The official website of the Western Returned Scholars Association (Oversea-educated Scholars Association of China): http://www.wrsa.net/content_39103324.htm
WOIPFG link: https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/media_files/2025/01/3.docx
[4] As the Vice President of the Chinese School Association in the United States (CSAUS), George Hong visited Zhang Weichao, Deputy Director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, on July 26, 1995. Following his visit, the State Education Commission and the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office shipped 4,500 sets of the latest standardized elementary school textbooks from China to the United States to support overseas Chinese education. Original source: https://csaus.one/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/1995fall.pdf ; Backup source: https://web.archive.org/web/20240702012740/https://csaus.one/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/1995fall.pdf
[5] Baidu Baike. Western Returned Scholars Association. Retrieved from:
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WOIPFG link: https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/media_files/2025/01/5.png
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WOIPFG link:
https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/media_files/2025/01/6.png
[7] Xi Jinping delivers an important speech at the 100th anniversary celebration of the Western Returned Scholars Association.
https://tv.sohu.com/20131022/n388639515.shtml
https://www.gov.cn/ldhd/2013-10/21/content_2511441.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20241225145943/https://www.gov.cn/ldhd/2013-10/21/content_2511441.htm
WOIPFG link:
https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/media_files/2025/01/7.docx
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https://www.ganjingworld.com/s/z8z932b8a2
Leo Kahn, Kaan's father, is the co-founder of Staples, the largest office supply retailer in the United States. https://www.cifnews.com/tag/staples
WOIPFG archived link:：https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/media_files/2025/01/7.docx
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[20] Li, Y. (2024, November 25) [Exclusive Breaking News] Li Yanming: Why Is The New York Times Launching Large-Scale Attacks on Shen Yun and Falun Gong? Exposing Six Secret Ties Between The New York Times Editor Kahn and Jiang Zemin’s Shanghai Faction. Retrieved from: https://www.ganjingworld.com/s/z8z932b8a2
Kahn's father, Leo Kahn, is the co-founder of Staples, the largest office supplies retailer in the United States. https://www.cifnews.com/tag/staples
WOIPFG link:
https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/media_files/2025/01/7.docx
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[28] Doe v Jiang Zemin, Bo Xilai, Lou Gan et al. Human Rights Law Foundation. Retrieved from: https://hrlf.net/doe-vs-jiang-zemin/
[29]Zeng, J. (2024, September 26). Exclusive revelation: The father of the author of The New York Times’ article attacking Shen Yun is an “Honorary Council Member” of a CCP United Front-affiliated organization: Part one of the investigative series. Retrieved from: https://www.jenniferzengblog.com/home/2024/9/26/new-york-times-hong-zhaohui-hong-qianqian
[30] The official website of the Western Returned Scholars Association (Oversea-educated Scholars Association of China): http://www.wrsa.net/content_39103324.htm
WOIPFG link: https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/media_files/2025/01/3.docx
[31] As the Vice President of the Chinese School Association in the United States (CSAUS), George Hong visited Zhang Weichao, Deputy Director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, on July 26, 1995. Following his visit, the State Education Commission and the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office shipped 4,500 sets of the latest standardized elementary school textbooks from China to the United States to support overseas Chinese education. Original source: https://csaus.one/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/1995fall.pdf ; Backup source: https://web.archive.org/web/20240702012740/https://csaus.one/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/1995fall.pdf
[32] Baidu Baike. Western Returned Scholars Association. Retrieved from:
Archived website: https://archive.is/2Wa0y
WOIPFG link: https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/media_files/2025/01/5.png
[33] (2008, November 3). Educator George Hong. Zhoushan Middle School in Zhejiang Province. Retrieved from: http://www.zjzszx.cn/pic_content.jsp?urltype=news.NewsContentUrl&wbtreeid=1329&wbnewsid=5775 The article “Educator George Hong” states: “George Hong... also initiated the establishment of the Chinese School Association In the United States (CSAUS) and served as its first vice president (1994–1995). Dr. Hong was also a key founder of the Association of Chinese Professors of Social Sciences In the United States (ACPSS) and served as its first executive vice president and secretary-general of the association (1995–1997). From 1989 to 1997, he returned to China seven times to attend international conferences and delivered lectures at several universities and academic institutions in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. He has been interviewed and reported by media outlets such as People’s Daily Overseas Edition and China Central Television (CCTV) for his academic research activities abroad. He was also twice received by and photographed with President Jiang Zemin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.”
WOIPFG link:
https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/media_files/2025/01/6.png
[34] Xi Jinping delivers an important speech at the 100th anniversary celebration of the Western Returned Scholars Association.
https://tv.sohu.com/20131022/n388639515.shtml
https://www.gov.cn/ldhd/2013-10/21/content_2511441.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20241225145943/https://www.gov.cn/ldhd/2013-10/21/content_2511441.htm
WOIPFG link:
https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/media_files/2025/01/7.docx
[35] Xiao, R. (2024, August 27). The New York Times journalist Nicole Hong’s father has a united front background; Wang Zhiyuan: The New York Times is blatantly lying. Vision Times. Retrieved from: https://www.secretchina.com/news/gb/2024/08/28/1068308.html
[36] Li, Y. (2024, December 21) Li Yanming: “The CCP Factional Influence Behind the Western Returned Scholars Association”. The Epoch Times. Retrieved from: https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/24/12/21/n14395400.htm
[37] Zhen, Y. (2024, November 27) [Special Report] The True Story Behind a Former Student Suing Shen Yun and Fei Tian. The Epoch Times. Retrieved from: https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/24/11/27/n14379528.htm
[38] Zhen, Y. (2024, November 27) [Special Report] The True Story Behind a Former Student Suing Shen Yun and Fei Tian. The Epoch Times. Retrieved from: https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/24/11/27/n14379528.htm
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