Chinese Foreign Minister Faced by Protesters on Visit to Israel

Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi’s visit to Israel on Saturday was accompanied by protests raising...
Chinese Foreign Minister Faced by Protesters on Visit to Israel
Falun Gong practitioners and activists from the Friends of Tibet organization in a protest in front of the Israeli Foreign Ministry building during Chinese foreign minister's visit. Dalia Harpaz/The Epoch Times
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<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/pr2_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/pr2_medium.jpg" alt="Falun Gong practitioners and activists from the Friends of Tibet organization in a protest in front of the Israeli Foreign Ministry building during Chinese foreign minister's visit. (Dalia Harpaz/The Epoch Times)" title="Falun Gong practitioners and activists from the Friends of Tibet organization in a protest in front of the Israeli Foreign Ministry building during Chinese foreign minister's visit. (Dalia Harpaz/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-85074"/></a>
Falun Gong practitioners and activists from the Friends of Tibet organization in a protest in front of the Israeli Foreign Ministry building during Chinese foreign minister's visit. (Dalia Harpaz/The Epoch Times)
JERUSALEM, Israel—Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi’s visit to Israel on Saturday was accompanied by protests raising the issue of crimes against humanity committed by the Chinese communist regime.

On his visit to Israel, Yang met with top Israeli officials including President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman late last week.

Among the protesters were dozens of Falun Gong practitioners and supporters of free Tibet. There were also 10 Chinese asylum seekers wearing dark sunglasses to disguise their identity. The asylum seekers called on the Chinese regime to stop the persecution against them and their family members in China.

“Two days after President Peres said in Yad Vashem ‘never again’, he is meeting with people who are responsible for inciting genocide,” said the protest organizers, referring to Peres’s speech regarding….

Exporting Dictatorship to the U.S.

Some of the human rights violations for which Yang is directly responsible have occurred on U.S. soil. During his tenure as Chinese ambassador to the U.S., Congress published a unanimous decision condemning the attempts by the Chinese regime to act against Falun Gong on U.S. soil.

“Whereas over the past 5 years China’s diplomatic corps has been actively involved in harassing and persecuting Falun Gong practitioners in the United States,” said U.S. Congress concurrent resolution 304, which was unanimously passed.

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/pr1_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/pr1_medium.jpg" alt="An activist from the Friends of Tibet organization and a Chinese asylum seeker in a peaceful protest during the Chinese foreign minister's visit. (Dalia Harpaz/The Epoch Times)" title="An activist from the Friends of Tibet organization and a Chinese asylum seeker in a peaceful protest during the Chinese foreign minister's visit. (Dalia Harpaz/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-85075"/></a>
An activist from the Friends of Tibet organization and a Chinese asylum seeker in a peaceful protest during the Chinese foreign minister's visit. (Dalia Harpaz/The Epoch Times)
It was also written in the resolution that Chinese consular officials exerted pressure on local elected officials to renounce their support of Falun Gong. It was also noted that according to journalists, some local officials in the U.S. said that following pressure from Chinese consulates they withdrew their support of Falun Gong for fear of hurting economic ties.

According to the Falun Dafa Information Center in Israel, Yang has personally spread false hate propaganda against Falun Gong, a peaceful meditation practice based on the principles of Truth, Benevolence and Forbearance. This propaganda has created an environment conducive to the Chinese regime’s persecution.

“Chinese foreign minister’s visit to Israel occurs on the same week Israelis mark the Day of the Holocaust, and a few days before we mark ten years of the peaceful appeal of Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing that was used as an excuse by the communist party to initiate the persecution,” said Mr. Roy Bar-Ilan, spokesperson of the Israeli Falun Dafa Information Center.

“It is ironic that at the same time we are saying ‘never again’, we treat with respect and glamour a person who has a share of the responsibility for an ongoing genocide,” he added.

The Protests Touch Passersby

Many people passing by the protest site shared their sympathy with the protesters.  

“There is a saying: ‘wise men’s talk is heard with grace’. Even when they were talking in Chinese that I don’t understand, you can feel it is a good thing,” a police said.

During a protest in front of the Presidents’ office, a woman living in an apartment building facing the President’s office came down to the people protesting to show her support, and asked to take a banner and hang it from her porch.

Israeli MP: Peres Should Express the Protest of the Jewish People

Knesset member Michael Ben-Ari sent a letter on Wednesday, April 22nd, to the Israeli President indicating, “I expect the president to express the protest of the Jewish people in this meeting about the cruel acts that characterize the Chinese regime.”

Ben-Ari mentioned in his letter the harvesting of organs from political prisoners and prisoners of conscience for organ trade, as well as torture and murder of dissidents and others.

“Such actions, that have been committed for many years under the regime’s directions, or at least its consent, constitute a grave infringement of fundamental human rights and match the definition of genocide, that has been condemned by all enlightened nations,” he wrote.

Press Freedom Limited

A veteran radio correspondent told The Epoch Times that the decision of the office of the President to limit journalistic coverage of his meeting with the Chinese foreign minister to a small pool of reporters is questionable, and that such actions are usually used only in covering higher ranking officials. He said that he believes these actions were meant to prevent entry to correspondents of media that support human rights in China.

Additionally, an Epoch Times reporter was denied entry to the press conference in the Foreign Ministry during the meeting of the Israeli and Chinese foreign ministers.

Ben Kaminsky
Ben Kaminsky
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