Vision Times

NEW YORK, New York — On July 19, nearly 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners from the greater New York area and surrounding states gathered in Manhattan’s Chinatown to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong.

The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) has released a lengthy report alleging that 361 unidentified Falun Gong practitioners were secretly killed at Beijing’s Shougang Steel Plant in late 1999, months after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched its nationwide campaign against the spiritual practice.

On July 18, 2026, Toronto Falun Gong practitioners braved the rain to hold a rally and parade in the city center, marking the 27th anniversary of the movement's resistance against the CCP's persecution that began on July 20, 1999.

By Song Guocheng, Political Analysis Since Xi Jinping first called on officials to “tell China’s story well” following the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 18th National Congress, Beijing has increasingly relied on sweeping political slogans to frame both domestic governance and foreign policy. But many of these slogans function as so-called “pseudo-narratives” that do not rely on outright fabrication.

Falun Gong adherents attend a candlelight vigil in front of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto, marking 22 years of persecution by the Chinese communist regime and calling on the regime to end its persecution of the spiritual practice in China, on July 15, 2021. (Image: Evan Ning/The Epoch Times) In the night of July 20, 1999, police officers across China leapt into action. They barged into homes and broke down doors, detaining thousands of people in a coordinated mass operation.

A beam of light shoots up from a thundercloud and darts across the sky as if it were alive. Months later, over a frozen polar winter, a sheet of cloud glows with the soft sheen of mother-of-pearl. Both look like special effects. Both are real, and most people will never see either one. Crown flash is one of the rarest sights in the sky. It appears near the top of a cumulonimbus cloud, the tall, anvil-shaped storm cloud that brings thunder and lightning.

A steep, rocky slope collapsed onto a riverside neighborhood in southwest China on the morning of July 17, burying several occupied apartment buildings and, according to residents, a passing coach. State media reported ten people pulled from the rubble alive, but neighbors who watched the disaster said far more buildings came down than the official account acknowledged.

President Donald Trump told Americans in a primetime address on July 16 that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the one-party regime that rules China, carried out “the largest compromise of election data in history” by illicitly acquiring some 220 million U.S. voter files. He called for a full accounting of what he described as long-buried weaknesses in the American election system, including disputed questions surrounding the 2020 presidential election.

Community leaders, local business owners, residents, and wellness enthusiasts gathered on July 18 to celebrate the grand opening of AspiratInns Wellness Resort & Spa in Slate Hill, NY, a new health and wellness destination at the former Catlin Gardens property. The celebration featured a ribbon-cutting ceremony, live music, holistic vendors, complimentary skin analyses, champagne, giveaways, and special discounts on spa services.

According to Reuters, TSMC announced on Thursday, July 16 that it will increase its investment in the United States by US$100 billion. Raymond Greene, Director of the American Institute in Taiwan, said the investment is the best illustration of the Taiwan-U.S. partnership and fully demonstrates the mutual trust and confidence between the two sides. Analysts say the investment will help strengthen relations between Taiwan and the Trump administration, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.