SYDNEY, Australia—Over five hundred supporters from across Australia rallied in Sydney to call for attention to ongoing human rights atrocities in China.
Three Australian families who escaped persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spoke at a press conference held by the Falun Dafa Association of Australia, telling the experiences of their family members who are currently being persecuted in China.
Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a meditation practice of the Buddhist tradition with moral teachings centred on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The practice attracted between 70 and 100 million practitioners in the 1990s, according to the Chinese regime’s official estimate.
Taking Falun Gong’s popularity in China as a threat to the communist regime, then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin launched a nationwide persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in July 1999, which is still ongoing.
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Xiong Qi, a Falun Gong practitioner in Melbourne, demanded the unconditional release of his wife, Jiang Yongqin in China.Jiang, a 53-year-old university lecturer and a mother of three, was abducted from her home on June 12 in Jilin City, Jilin Province and subjected to inhumane sexual assault.
Jiang was tortured for almost two hours before breaking down. She was then forced to give up the password to her computer and coerced into signing a statement renouncing her faith in Falun Dafa.
“When an insider told me how my wife was tortured, it felt like someone stabbed me in the chest,” Xiong said. “The Chinese regime has repeatedly harassed, arrested, detained, and tortured this good teacher, good wife, and good mother. Our family has never had one day of peace.”
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After being detained six times in China, the father of a pair of twin sisters in Sydney was again sentenced to four years in prison.The sisters’ father, Huang Zhisong, was reading Falun Dafa books in his home when, at around 9:00 p.m. on June 19, more than 20 local police officers burst into the house and seized eight Falun Gong practitioners in total.
The sisters have written to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Jo Haylen, the New South Wales MP for Summer Hill, calling for help from the Australian government in stopping the serious human rights violations in China.
Dr. Lucy Zhao, president of the Association, said at a press conference that the persecution of Falun Gong by the CCP is “a crime that has never been seen on this planet.”
Australian Foreign Minister Responded to Promote Human Rights
Angelique Burguez, Acting Director, China Legal Issues Section Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has responded on behalf of Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong to a petition calling for attention to Jiang Yongqin.“Thank you for bringing to our attention the case of Ms Jiang Yongqin. The situation you have described is very troubling,” reads a letter on Sept. 19 to Falun Dafa Association of Australia which was viewed by The Epoch Times.
“The Australian Government is deeply concerned that religious and other minorities in China, including Falun Gong practitioners, continue to be targeted on the basis of their beliefs.
“Australia is committed to promoting and protecting human rights, including freedom of religion or belief for all people.
After the press conference, a march consisting of Falun Gong practitioners in different costumes started from the Customs Building and passed through the busy streets of Sydney’s central business district.
The procession was about 2.5 kilometers long and attracted many visitors along the way. Some of them received leaflets and lotus flowers from Falun Gong practitioners, while others took pictures of the procession.
