On the political agenda, China was once again put on the spotlight for the banning of public Falun Gong activity in 1999. Silent protesters from the spiritual movement sat outside of Zhongnanhai, asking for dialogue with China's leaders. Jiang saw it as a threat to the political situation and outlawed the group altogether, while using mass media propaganda to denounce it as an "evil cult".Chiung Hwang Chen, "Framing Falun Gong: Xinhua news agency's coverage of the new religious movement in China." Asian Journal of Communication 15.1 (2005): 16-36.
