In the past two months, July and August 2021, 884 innocent people in China were arrested and 2,057 were harassed for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

So far in 2021, 4,175 arrests have been reported, including 731 arrests that took place in 2020. 2,956 arrests occurred in the first half of 2021, 300 in July, and 157 in August. 

Of the 8,236 confirmed incidents of harassment reported this year, 7 took place in 2016; 1,189 in 2020; 6,103 in the first half of 2021; 609 in July; and 290 in August.

For the 2,941 cases (884+2,057) newly confirmed in July and August, the practitioners hailed from 30 provinces and municipalities. The provinces of Hebei (553), Shandong (548) and Sichuan (301) topped the list. Jilin (226), Liaoning (204), Shanxi (147), Heilongjiang (143), and Hubei (113) ranked 4th to 8th with over 100 cases. Seventeen other regions registered double-digit cases and five provinces had single-digit cases. The location of one case of harassment is unknown. 

Among the targeted practitioners, 427 had their homes ransacked, 466 remain in custody, and 17 have been forced to live away from home to avoid further persecution. 

A total of 229 practitioners were over 65, with 6 in their 90s. In particular, a 98-year-old Jilin City, Jilin Province, resident was arrested for talking to people about Falun Gong and held in a metal cage for hours at the police station.

Please find below samples of the arrests and cases of harassment that occurred in July and August 2021.