For a decade in China hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens, undaunted by the possibility of arrest and torture, have turned their homes into bases for what Chinese authorities regard as “reactionary propaganda,” and what everyone else regards as simple truths about the right to faith and freedom from persecution.

These bases, termed “materials sites” by their operators, produce fliers, booklets, and informational DVDs. The wares are then slipped surreptitiously under doorsteps or nestled in mailboxes by practitioners of Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa), who travel at night, alone or in pairs, to cities, towns, and villages across China.

Despite the breadth, penetration, and longevity of the campaign, many in the West have never heard of it.

HONG KONG—Qiu Mingwei, a former journalist for the Chinese communist regime's propaganda news paper, The People’s Daily, who fled to Hong Kong last month, announced in a press conference on August 23 that he quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations, making him the first working employee of an organization affiliated with the regime’s Central Propaganda Department to quit the CCP using his real name.

Mr. Qiu worked as the Deputy Chief of the “People’s Forum” of People’s Daily, the main mouthpiece of the CCP. He traveled to Hong Kong in late June to attend the International Federation of Journalists’ conference, and during his stay he was photographed participating in Hong Kong's July 1 march, an annual rally supporting democracy and human rights. He fled the mainland to Hong Kong on July 30.