Former Hong Kong Leader Threatens Falun Gong Practitioners in Finland

The actions of Leung Chun-ying, current vice chair of China’s top political advisory body, have spurred concerns from human rights advocates.

Leung Chun-ying, former Hong Kong chief executive, threatens Falun Gong practitioners in Sibelius Park, Helsinki, on Aug. 13, 2025. Courtesy of Helsinki Falun Gong practitioners

Former Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying threatened a group of Falun Gong practitioners in Finland as they collected signatures to oppose ongoing human rights abuses in China, heightening concerns from the persecuted spiritual group that its safety is still at risk even after escaping the country.

“Once we have your names, we can immediately look you up once we are back, one by one,” Leung said in a recording reviewed by The Epoch Times.

The incident took place on Aug. 13 in Helsinki’s Sibelius Park, a popular tourist attraction. A Falun Gong information booth there has drawn thousands of people in the past few months.

Leung, Hong Kong’s chief executive from 2012 to 2017, is now vice chairman of China’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Leung presides over a powerful apparatus tasked with influence and intelligence operations abroad to advance Beijing’s agenda inside and outside of China. This lends political weight to his remarks.

On Aug. 13, the information booth featured two blue banners calling attention to the persecution of Falun Gong in China. In front of the booth, a man and a woman were demonstrating meditative exercises. Next to them was a table covered with a blue cloth. Several other practitioners were talking with passersby and inviting them to sign petition forms to end torture and forced organ harvesting in China.

Leung walked up to the booth with his wife, Regina Leung Tong Ching-yee, and two other men.

One Falun Gong practitioner, who asked for anonymity over safety concerns, said he greeted Leung by saying, “Welcome to Helsinki.”

Leung proceeded to accost them with questions and dismissed the persecution as nonexistent, according to the practitioners and recordings shared with The Epoch Times.

The couple brought out their phones to film people’s faces, an act that the practitioners found intimidating. Some had fled China not long ago or still have relatives in country. With its advanced facial recognition technology and comprehensive police database, the communist regime can use photos and videos to trace dissidents and harass their family members, something common for Chinese dissidents.

Regina Leung Tong Ching-yee, wife of former Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying, in a confrontational exchange with Falun Gong practitioners in Sibelius Park, Helsinki, on Aug. 13. Courtesy of Helsinki Falun Gong practitioners

Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline and meditation practice with moral teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) deems it one of “five poisons” along with Uyghurs, Taiwanese, Tibetan pro-independence activists, and Chinese democracy advocates. Since 1999, the CCP has engaged in a nationwide campaign to eliminate the spiritual practice by any means necessary, including via arbitrary arrest, torture, forced labor, and brainwashing, tactics that have been well documented by human rights groups and in U.S. State Department reports.

Multiple Falun Gong practitioners present during the Aug. 13 encounter had escaped China after enduring years of harassment, surveillance, and other forms of abuse.

The man who welcomed Leung was one of them. For refusing to give up his belief, he lost his job and was forced to go into hiding for eight years. Police officers intimidated his family only months ago following another harassment incident at the park.

Leung’s political position and history of hostility toward Falun Gong worries practitioners and human rights watchers.

Leung Chun-ying, former Hong Kong chief executive and his wife, Regina Leung Tong Ching-yee, in a confrontational exchange with Falun Gong practitioners in Sibelius Park, Helsinki, on Aug. 13. Courtesy of Helsinki Falun Gong practitioners

Levi Browde, executive director of the Falun Dafa Information Center, said the Helsinki park episode marks “part of a larger trend of Chinese Communist Party officials and affiliates attempting to intimidate, surveil, and silence Falun Gong practitioners outside of China.”

“That a senior Chinese official would personally confront peaceful meditators in a European democracy highlights how high a priority suppressing Falun Gong remains for Beijing,” he said in a statement, noting that several of Leung’s comments “also illustrate how deceived by CCP propaganda Chinese officials are themselves.”

The practitioners reported the incident to the police, who arrived shortly after Leung and his wife departed. The officers assured the practitioners that their booth is protected under Finnish law and said they would monitor the area to mitigate any interference.

The practitioner who initially greeted Leung said he did not expect what followed.

“He said he could ‘look us up,’“ the witness told The Epoch Times. ”What’s the purpose of that?”

He said there have been two other instances in the past year in which Beijing supporters intimidated them or tried to sabotage the site.

In September 2024, two men pulled down the Falun Gong banners and warned two practitioners that they must “behave” if they want to be safe in Finland.

Two Chinese men knocked down Falun Gong banners in Sibelius Park, Helsinki, on Sept. 21, 2024. Courtesy of Helsinki Falun Gong practitioners

Two men who verbally abused a Falun Gong practitioner and tried to grab his phone in Sibelius Park, Helsinki, on Jan. 16, 2024. Courtesy of Helsinki Falun Gong practitioners

In January, two different men insulted the witness and his faith and tried to grab his phone.

“We’ve already reported this to the Chinese Embassy,” the man said in a recording shared with The Epoch Times.

The confrontation on Aug. 13 was the latest reminder of Beijing’s relentless suppression, the witness said.

“We are outside of China, but it doesn’t feel all that safe,” he said. “The Chinese Communist Party is still trying to persecute us.”

Browde said he is worried about the depth of Chinese influence over other countries, pointing to instances in which Falun Gong practitioners in Serbia and Russia were detained and prosecuted before visits from Chinese leader Xi Jinping. In July, Russia sentenced one woman detained since 2024 to four years in prison.

“As the Chinese regime intensifies its global campaigns of intimidation and coercion, it’s vital that democracies take action to protect vulnerable communities like Falun Gong and Finnish citizens practicing this faith,” Browde said. He urged Finnish authorities to publicly condemn Leung’s behavior and investigate Chinese surveillance and harassment of the spiritual group in the country.