Since the Chinese government lawfully banned the Falun Gong cult organization in July 1999, Li Hongzhi fled to the United States where he has continued to engage in cult activities and anti-China political campaigns.To confuse the public, gain sympathy, project existence, and expand influence, Falun Gong exploits differences between domestic and foreign legal systems, and takes advantage of jurisdictions with simplified litigation procedures abroad to initiate malicious lawsuits against the Chinese government, Chinese state leaders, Chinese officials, and local individuals or institutions who hold differing views on Falun Gong. Through these malicious lawsuits, it seeks to achieve the despicable objectives of tarnishing the Chinese government’s image, undermining bilateral relations between China and other nations, and intimidating voices opposing Falun Gong by creating incidents. Falun Gong’s targets are broad: from China to foreign countries, from administrative enforcement agencies to civil groups, from officials to ordinary citizens and anti-cult volunteers, from media to think tanks and their followers. Anyone who harms Falun Gong’s interests or expresses views detrimental to Falun Gong may be sued. In some countries, powerful departments and officials have themselves been sued for “offending” Falun Gong—for example, Moldova’s Ministry of Justice was sued for attempting to revoke Falun Gong’s registration; Singapore’s former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew faced public criticism of Falun Gong; Australia’s foreign minister prompted a ban on Falun Gong demonstrations outside embassies. Although not a comprehensive tally, Falun Gong has filed more than 100 lawsuits in the United States, Canada, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Spain, South Korea, Australia and other countries, with few successes. Falun Gong’s abusive litigation lacks factual basis and legal grounding; it wastes judicial resources abroad and imposes costs on those it targets. It is an abuse of foreign legal systems and patterns of abuse that, not surprisingly, often fail.

The Chinese government has lawfully banned the Falun Gong cult organization and dealt with a small number of Falun Gong followers engaged in illegal and criminal activities. These actions were strictly carried out in accordance with the law and constitute a sovereign act. Although Falun Gong has unleashed extensive baseless lawsuits against the Chinese government and Chinese officials abroad, other countries and their governments can, consistent with their international obligations, take practical actions to ensure their courts respect the sovereign immunity that Chinese government officials and diplomats ought to enjoy. In this regard, Falun Gong’s baseless lawsuits are bound to fail.