Book That Exposes Beijing’s 20-year Persecution of Falun Gong Wins Benjamin Franklin Award

Falun Gong practitioners hold a vigil to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the persecution of Falun Gong in China in Taipei, Taiwan, on July 18, 2020. (Minghui)

On May 14, the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) declared at its award ceremony that the 2021 silver winner of The Bill Fisher Award for Best First Book, Nonfiction, of the Benjamin Franklin Award went to Minghui Publishing for its book Minghui Report: The 20-Year Persecution of Falun Gong in China.

Established in 1983, the IBPA is the largest association in the United States for publishers. Its Benjamin Franklin Award is one of the highest national honors for independent publishers.

Michael J. Carson, a senior reviewer of the Midwest Book Review (MBR) Bookwatch, called the book “Impressively informative, exceptionally well organized, and presented.”

In his opinion, the book is a “unique, extraordinary, and comprehensive study that is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, community, college, and university library Falun Gong collections and supplemental studies reading lists.”

Peter Westmore, the former president of the National Civic Council (NCC) in Australia, highly recommended it to libraries as well as government officials in a book review in the August 8, 2020 issue of “News Weekly.”

“For those concerned about the misuse of Chinese power around the world, this book is an essential source of information,” he wrote.

He added that it “deserves to be found in libraries around the world, and in offices of parliamentarians, so that the truth may be told.”

Zhang Lin, a Chinese-language author and former detained Chinese dissident, congratulated Minghui Publishing on the award. He said the award marked a solid recognition of anti-persecution efforts by Falun Gong practitioners in and out of China.

He said that the award would further help disseminate the truth of Falun Gong worldwide and drive home the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“The community of Falun Gong practitioners knows the wicked nature of the CCP best in the world, who deserve respect,” Zhang said.

Zhang remembered while in detention back in China, he met with many of them in prison and forged an unforgettable friendship with them. With his own eyes, he had witnessed fearlessness in them when faced with torture or mistreatment there.

David Li, a representative of Minghui Publishing, thanked the IBPA in his acceptance speech. He said it was an honor for him to speak up for a peaceful community of cultivators in China who have been subjected to brutal persecution for their belief.

“Volunteers for Minghui.org are a great team,” added Li. “Without them, the book wouldn’t be possible. It’s hard to describe how courageous they are while risking their security to collect information amid the CCP’s blockade and surveillance.”

The 450-page book documents firsthand data from communist China and other parts of the world, showing the reader how the regime imposed crackdowns upon Falun Gong followers and how it expanded its persecution overseas and intimidated foreign leaders and business people.

The Minghui report also includes the roles that major perpetrators and the 610 Office system had played in the CCP’s campaign against Falun Gong adherents.

At the same time, it clarifies misunderstandings among certain China experts. It is based on firsthand information that Minghui collected, to show the “brutality of the persecution in China and abroad,” roles of key perpetrators, and clear up “misconceptions held by China experts and scholars who have been misled by the CCP’s narrative,” according to Minghui.org.