Speaking Across the Firewall: My Journey Making 50,000 Calls into China

This North Carolinian has chosen to take the road less traveled—speaking directly to Chinese citizens about banned topics despite the real consequences that come with her activism.

Editor’s note: Diana is an IT professional and human rights activist based in North Carolina. Last week, she spoke on a webinar about Chinese dissent hosted by the Falun Dafa Information Center. For over a decade, she has exposed the Chinese Communist Party’s human rights abuses by directly reaching out to people in mainland China. Through her calls, more than 5,000 individuals have agreed to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations—part of “Tuidang,” a peaceful grassroots movement encouraging Chinese citizens to renounce their ties to the regime.

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For the past 13 years, I’ve made tens of thousands of calls into China. If I count them, I’ve also helped more than 5,000 Chinese citizens quit the Communist Party. Compared to some other activists, it’s not a huge number—but to me, each person matters. Because each conversation is a small crack in the Great Firewall.

How did I become an activist? In 2005, by complete chance, I walked into a public Falun Dafa class. I was just accompanying a family member, not really expecting anything. But that day changed my life. I learned the five meditation exercises, and a practitioner there handed me a book on Falun Gong. Maybe she saw something in me—maybe she knew I had been searching. For years before this class, I had been looking for a true spiritual path, something that could answer the deepest questions about life and where we really come from.

Practicing Falun Dafa gave me the peace and clarity I had been longing for. Living in America meant I could practice freely—and just as importantly, I could speak out about the brutal persecution happening in China. The freedoms of belief and speech here have given me the chance to do something meaningful.

Breaking down the process

Most of my calls are made through two channels:

First, there are the large coordinated projects. Volunteers from around the world create a wave of non-stop phone calls over a few intense days. These projects target specific groups—government officials, military officers, police, doctors, judges—especially during urgent times like mass arrests of Falun Gong practitioners or when new evidence of organ harvesting emerges. These calls are harder for the CCP to block, and the momentum we build makes a difference.

Second, there’s the daily, steady effort. Almost every morning and night, whenever I have spare time, I pick up the phone to calling ordinary people in mainland China. Sometimes I call phone numbers collected by practitioners inside China, sometimes numbers auto-generated through secure systems, and more recently, I’ve also used platforms like WeChat and TikTok to reach people.

Every call is different. Sometimes I open the conversation with current events—like the economy, COVID, food safety, or the U.S.–China tensions—and then gently connect these issues back to the core truth: the CCP’s lies and brutality are at the root of the suffering.

Whenever possible, I help people break through the firewall so they can access outside information for themselves. It’s slow work, but it works.

Heart-to-heart conversations

Over the years, I've spoken with people from every corner of Chinese society. I’ve learned that when you speak from the heart—when people can feel your sincerity—they listen.

Let me share a few moments that have stayed with me:

One time, I called a local police chief who was directly involved in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. I introduced myself honestly: “I’m a Falun Gong practitioner living overseas.” I told him that international organizations had already documented his actions and that he could face trial in the future. I warned him: if the CCP falls into crisis, they’ll throw people like him under the bus—just like after the Cultural Revolution, when hundreds of police officers were executed as scapegoats.

He listened quietly the whole time. At the end, he admitted he understood the risk he was taking by following the Party’s orders. He said he would help.

Three days later, I heard that the practitioner he had detained was released.

Another experience is from early 2020, just after COVID broke out in Wuhan. I joined a special calling project focused on the people trapped there. Many of the people I reached were Party members within the state apparatus, scared and angry.

One man answered my call and immediately shouted at me, calling me a traitor and an enemy of China. But I stayed calm.

I told him, “The Party is not the same as the country.” I explained how the CCP uses fear to control people, how they punished whistleblowers and covered up the truth about the virus.

He grew quiet. Then he asked, “What can I do? I’m just a regular person.”

I told him, “Start by thinking for yourself. Refuse to help the Party do wrong.”

By the end of the call, he agreed to quit the Communist Party. He thanked me. We hung up in peace.

One more story: about eight years ago, I called a hospital in Xinjiang—one suspected of being involved in organ harvesting. A young intern answered. From his accent, I could tell he was Uyghur.

I spoke to him about the CCP’s crimes against Uyghurs and Falun Gong practitioners, how innocent people’s organs were being taken. He didn’t deny it.

I said to him, “In your work, it’s easy to become part of this crime without even realizing it. But you can choose differently.”

By the end, he quit the Communist Youth League—the first step to severing ties with the CCP. He thanked me sincerely.

Real consequences to activism

I haven’t returned to China in over 15 years. After I started volunteering in activism, the Chinese government confiscated my passport. When I applied for renewal, they demanded I list every activity I had done in the U.S. that "opposed the Chinese government." I refused. I never got my passport back.

My family members in China faced trouble too—harsh interrogations when trying to renew their passports. Now, most of them are too afraid to contact me. I understand. I don't blame them. For their safety, I haven’t reached out in years.

The challenges are real. The CCP pours massive resources into blocking our efforts—firewalls, surveillance, jamming phone signals, even pressuring telecom companies outside China to interfere with our calls.

But honestly, the hardest challenge is internal: keeping compassion alive even when people yell at me, insult me, or hang up in anger. At the beginning, it hurt. But over time, I realized: they are victims too. They've lived under fear and lies their whole lives.

Each day, I try to improve myself, to be more patient, more kind, more effective.

Because this work isn't something you can do for long without deep conviction. It takes truth, compassion, and forbearance. And that strength comes from Falun Dafa. It’s what sustains me.

Looking towards the future

Looking at the bigger picture, I can say with certainty: things are changing.

Fewer and fewer Chinese people truly believe in the CCP anymore. Their personal suffering—their losses—have opened their eyes. Many now realize that what Falun Gong practitioners have been saying for years is true.

Forced organ harvesting, once unthinkable, is now known even among ordinary citizens. COVID shattered many illusions about the Party’s "benevolence."

The environment inside China is still oppressive, but it's slightly easier to speak the truth than it was before. The cracks are growing.

Outside China, too, more and more people are waking up. The American public and government have a role to play—especially by helping break the information blockade. With today's technology, I believe it's completely possible. Giving the Chinese people access to real information would be a game-changer.

Because the CCP's greatest weapon is control over the people's minds. And the moment the people stop believing—that’s when real change begins.

That’s why I keep going. One call at a time. One heart at a time.

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