The Longest Political Movement Initiated by the Communist Party of China: Victim Numbers Exceed the Total of All Previous Movements

Pro-democracy activists in San Francisco used an aeroplane banner to protest against the CCP's tyranny. (Xue Mingzhu / Dajiyuan)

[People News] Those familiar with China's history since 1949 are aware of the two catastrophic political movements initiated by the Communist Party: the 'Anti-Rightist Movement' and the 'Cultural Revolution.' However, many have overlooked the fact that the duration and victim count of these two movements pale in comparison to the anti-Falun Gong movement that began in 1999. If we choose not to evade or numb ourselves, it becomes clear that the severe suffering endured by the Chinese people cannot be mitigated by the rapid development of urban infrastructure or the economic phenomenon of 'a portion of people becoming rich first.'

I. Victim Numbers of the Anti-Rightist Movement and the Cultural Revolution

1. Anti-Rightist Movement: 2 years and between 550,000 and over 2 million people

The Anti-Rightist Movement was officially launched in June 1957 with an editorial in the People's Daily and essentially concluded in the summer of 1958. The high-intensity nationwide campaign to identify 'rightists' lasted approximately 1 to 2 years. Although those labeled as 'rightists' and their families faced ongoing labor reform, political discrimination, and social exclusion throughout the Great Leap Forward, the three years of great famine, and the Cultural Revolution for over twenty years, it was not until 1978 that the Central Committee of the Communist Party decided to rehabilitate all those so-called 'wrongly classified' rightists (how many were not wrongly classified?). By the end of 1981, the relevant follow-up work was largely completed, and official documents released by the Communist Party indicated that the number of individuals officially classified as 'rightists' was approximately 550,000.

Most independent scholars and historical research indicate that the actual number of individuals who faced expulsion, labor re-education (tragedies in labor camps such as 'Jiabian Gou'), demotion, and exile exceeds 1 to 2 million. When considering the repercussions faced by their relatives and the social discrimination they encountered, the total number of affected individuals is even larger.

2. Cultural Revolution: 10 years and between 2 million to as many as 20 million people

The so-called 'Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution' commenced on May 16, 1966, with the issuance of the 'May 16 Notification' and concluded after Mao Zedong's death on October 6, 1976, with the 'Crushing of the Gang of Four.' The international academic community and sociological studies generally estimate that the number of abnormal deaths resulting from various forms of violence, purges, political persecution, and mass killings (such as the Guangxi Massacre and the Inner Party Incident) during the Cultural Revolution is between approximately 1.5 million and 2 million.

If we also account for those who suffered from illegal detention, brutal criticism (imprisonment in 'Niupeng'), home searches, exile (the 'Down to the Countryside Movement'), and those who lost their families due to repercussions, the overall number of victims could reach as high as 20 million, representing a significant proportion of the total population in China at that time. This period has been characterized by later generations as the 'Ten Years of Chaos,' 'Ten Years of Turmoil,' and 'Ten Years of Catastrophe.'

II. Anti-Falun Gong Movement: 27 years (still ongoing) and between 70 million and several hundred million people.

Prior to the onset of the persecution in 1999, internal investigations by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities, including the National Sports Administration, and reports from state media consistently confirmed that between 70 million and 100 million people were practicing Falun Gong in China. This represented approximately 6% to 8% of the total population at that time, and in reality, it was even closer to 10%. Since Falun Gong does not operate on a membership basis and does not maintain a roster, many practitioners are difficult to account for in statistics. Consequently, the entire group, along with their families, was directly targeted by the CCP both in name and policy, as outlined in the internal directive of the “610 Office,” which aimed to “discredit them publicly, cut off their economic resources, and eliminate them physically.”

From July 1999 onwards, this enormous group of tens of millions, potentially even hundreds of millions, along with their families, has been subjected to the CCP's state machinery characterized by mental oppression, economic deprivation, and brutal personal persecution.

1. Number of Direct Victims

According to Minghui.org and various international human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, the CCP has systematically persecuted millions of individuals over the past 27 years (1999-2026). Many have experienced illegal administrative detention, criminal detention, prolonged wrongful imprisonment, forced brainwashing (through various “legal education centers,” which were later renamed “comprehensive governance offices”), and forced labor in re-education camps (which, after the abolition of the labor camp system, transitioned to detention centers, prisons, and residential surveillance).

Minghui.org serves as a human rights database for Falun Gong, documenting and verifying thousands, even tens of thousands of cases of deaths or disabilities resulting from torture, abuse, and medical persecution. The verification process is extremely challenging due to the Chinese Communist Party's information blockade and secret directives such as 'kill the white and label it as suicide' and 'do not check identities, incinerate directly.' As a result, only a small fraction of the actual cases has been verified so far.

Additionally, several independent international investigation reports (including the findings of the London Independent Tribunal) have indicated that hundreds of thousands of illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners have become direct victims of large-scale forced organ harvesting. Civil estimates suggest that the actual number may exceed one million.

2. The extent of collateral damage

Due to the 'guilt by association' policy and the strong collaboration of the education system (with textbooks and classrooms forcibly incorporating anti-Falun Gong, anti-American, and anti-Japanese hate propaganda), the estimated 70 million to 100 million practitioners not only face the threat of forced brainwashing 'transformation' (abandoning their faith), but also risk losing their education, employment, becoming homeless, having their assets confiscated, being monitored through household registration, and suffering mental trauma. Furthermore, the entire country of China, under the repeated promotion of the 'self-immolation hoax,' has developed a fear of discussing the Falun Gong issue, resulting in a reflexive self-censorship, as well as widespread hatred and fear among the population.

When considering all the family members and relatives of Falun Gong practitioners (not to mention colleagues, classmates, neighbors, and community members), the total number of individuals (assuming each person has both parents, in-laws, and one child) ranges from 300 million to 500 million. As of 2025, the total population of the United States is approximately 347.28 million. Furthermore, the total number of instances of repeated arrests, detentions, surveillance, and defamation over the past 27 years has already surpassed the scale of the entire population of China at least once.

III. Conclusion

If the forced organ harvesting from living individuals symbolizes the brutal extent of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong, then the duration of this campaign and the total number of victims reflect the CCP's profound fear and hatred towards Falun Gong.

In this era, a party (a rogue party) that controls all national resources and commands the military, courts, and prisons, along with its leader (Jiang Zemin and others), harbors such animosity towards the peaceful and benevolent community of Falun Gong practitioners, vowing at all costs to 'eliminate' them. Why is this the case? This is a question that all compassionate individuals around the world should take a moment to consider.

(Minghui.org)
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