A September 2 article in the religious freedom magazine Bitter Winter reported that “deprogramming” Falun Gong practitioners—coercive and psychologically manipulative measures to force believers to renounce their faith—is now being subcontracted to government affiliated Buddhist clergy, while remaining under the strict supervision of the police.

The article describes a recent propaganda video published by the China Anti-Xie-Jiao Association in which an abbott and leader of the Buddhist Association of China (BAC) effectively “deprograms” a Falun Gong practitioner. The effort occurs in a Buddhist temple and the supposedly former practitioner is presented as then becoming friendly with the police officer who arrested him.

From the very beginning of the persecution of Falun Gong, a key goal of the regime has been to force detained practitioners to renounce their faith. Such “deprogramming”—also referred to as “transformation”—regularly features heavy psychological indoctrination and torture. For years, there have been reports that Buddhist associations were being used in this process.

In 2018, the BAC was brought directly under the CCP’s United Front Work Department. A May 2024 report from the International Campaign for Tibet details how the organization has also been increasingly involved in the attempted “Sinicization” of Tibetan Buddhism.