A who’s who of campaigners against human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) gathered on the lawn of Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, in response to CCP Premier Li Qiang’s official visit on June 16.
The communist regime’s No. 2 leader has embarked on a high-level tour of Australia and New Zealand from June 13 to 17, amid an ongoing “normalisation” of trade ties between Australia and China.
Vicky Xiuzhong Xu, a Chinese-born Australian journalist who has conducted extensive investigative work into Beijing’s human rights abuses, said she hoped the CCP would stop pressuring overseas dissidents.
“For example, at my former Australian home, I was followed, and sometimes there were strange people outside my home conducting surveillance. In 2023, the Australian Federal Police confirmed to me they had apprehended Chinese spy personnel connected with those activities,” she told The Epoch Times.
Ms. Xu has worked to uncover human rights abuses against Uyghurs, Falun Gong practitioners, and house Christians. However, it was her work on the report “Uyghurs for Sale” for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute that garnered attention from lawmakers in the West.
Yet Ms. Xu said the CCP’s years-long surveillance has forced her to adopt a mobile lifestyle.
Edwin Yin, another rally attendee, is a YouTuber who shot to fame for his critical work aimed at CCP leader Xi Jinping. He lives in a camper van over fears of surveillance.
In fact, a former spy instructed to hunt down the social media personality could also be found on Parliament’s front lawn.
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A recent defector and former CCP intelligence operative known by the pseudonym “Eric” said Premier Li’s tour was aimed at winning over Australian leaders.“Of course, we understand the Australian government’s desire to stabilize bilateral trade, but I think we shouldn’t support this, because the so-called close exchanges between Western countries and China are essentially providing the Chinese communist regime with support, which actually exacerbates human rights disasters,” he told The Epoch Times.
The Albanese government is hosting Mr. Li as part of a “thawing” of diplomatic ties between Australia and China, as well as an unwinding of trade impediments imposed on exports.
The Chinese regime placed arbitrary trade embargoes on Australian exports in response to calls from the former Morrison government to investigate the origins of COVID-19.
Concerns About Pro-CCP Crowd Behaviour
Eric also said he had spoken to several individuals involved in pro-CCP rallies, which are typically held to counter any human rights protests during visits by CCP leaders.On Mr. Li’s recent visit, thousands of expatriate Chinese were mobilised to greet the premier at every destination across Australia and New Zealand, and to shield the official from human rights campaigners and banners.
“I talked to some of them yesterday. They said the CCP Embassy originally promised to give them money, but when they arrived, they didn’t get the money, so some people are quite dissatisfied,” he said.
Many of the supporters have been dropped off at locations where practitioners of Falun Gong—a faith group that’s brutally persecuted in China by the CCP—were holding banners to raise awareness of human rights abuses.
Ted Hui, a former politician in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council—the city’s main lawmaking body before Beijing’s takeover—wasn’t in Canberra, but protested outside the Adelaide Zoo during the premier’s visit.
He also was concerned with the behaviour of pro-Beijing activists.
“The other group was very aggressive to the Hongkongers, who were very peaceful,” he told The Epoch Times.
“They were slashing our signs, they were trying to stand in front of us, and they were pushing us. Some volunteers almost fell to the ground.
“This is so uncivilised, but I’m not afraid because I’m in a free country. If we don’t speak up, one day these free countries will lose their freedoms.”
Never Forget What the CCP Is: Professor
Chen Yonglin, a former CCP consul of Sydney turned defector, said Premier Li was involved in implementing the “zero COVID” policy in Shanghai that spurred the 2022 White Paper Movement.“Li Qiang is seriously involved in human rights abuses,” Mr. Chen told The Epoch Times. “Australia should leverage its Magnitsky [human rights sanction] laws against the premier, and not just welcome him.”
Associate professor Feng Chongyi also called on the Australian government not to forget the nature of the CCP.
“This regime is stained with the blood of hundreds of millions of people, and has killed at least 80 million innocents. So they are still continuing to persecute Tibetans, Uyghurs, Chinese, Hong Kong people, and everyone under their rule,” he told The Epoch Times.
Mr. Feng is the organizer behind the group Victims of the Chinese Communist Party Australia-New Zealand Alliance, which helped to organize the rally.
“If for short-term economic benefits, selling a few more barrels of red wine, selling a few more lobsters—while disregarding human rights, democracy, and freedom—is a very weak choice,” he said.
He called on the Australian government to “show determination to fight against CCP tyranny, to achieve China’s democracy and freedom so that everyone can be free.”
