On two occasions Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping waved from his motorcade as it passed by Falun Gong practitioners holding protest banners in Auckland, New Zealand.
When local Falun Gong practitioners learned that Xi would visit the Karaka Farm in South Auckland on Nov. 21, a dozen or so decided to go there to protest, calling for an end of the persecution of Falun Gong in China.
In a report on Minghui.org, Jin Long, one of the practitioners, said they contacted the police on site, showed them their banners and pamphlets, and expressed their intention to protest peacefully.
Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese spiritual practice that has been persecuted in China since 1999 on orders of former Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin.
With assistance from the police, the Falun Gong practitioners unfurled their banners along the street where Xi’s motorcade would pass. While waiting, several Chinese students, organized by the Chinese Consulate, came over and attempted to make trouble for them, but the police stopped them and ordered them to line up at a distance from the Falun Gong practitioners.
“When the motorcade came, he [Xi Jinping] waved to us,” Jin Long said. “I waved back, and we shouted loudly: ‘Falun Dafa is good! Bring Jiang Zemin to justice!’”
“Our banners read ‘Falun Dafa is good’ and ‘Bring Jiang Zemin, Zeng Qinghong, Zhou Yongkang, Luo Gan, Liu Jing, those responsible for persecuting Falun Gong, to justice.’ All of them were clearly visible to Xi,” Jin Long said.
“Two officials from the Chinese consulate appeared very agitated but could do nothing about it,” he said.
Government House
Ms. Tong, another Falun Gong practitioner who participated in a similar event on the previous day in front of the Government House in Wellington, said Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan also waved to her and other Falun Gong practitioners.
On Nov. 20, several hundred people, including Falun Gong practitioners, protesting groups, and a “welcoming group” organized by the Chinese Consulate, as well as many media and police who were maintaining order, crowded the entrance of the Government House.
Because of the crowds, and because the “welcoming group” tried to cover up the Falun Gong banners, several Falun Gong practitioners decided to move to an intersection about 300 yards away, where they put up their banners without any interference, Ms. Tong said.
After more than an hour’s delay, Xi’s motorcade appeared, and the practitioners raised their banners on both sides of the street.
“I saw him waving to us,” Tong said. “He was sitting on the left side in the back seat, while Peng Liyuan was sitting on the right side, leaning forward. She also waved to us.”
Read the original Chinese article.
Translated by Quincy Yu.
