Statement on behalf of the Falun Dafa Associations of NSW, Victoria and
Queensland
Falun Gong practitioners will not be protesting on the Olympic Torch route
in Canberra on 24 April.
Falun Gong practitioners will maintain the ongoing peaceful vigil opposite the
Chinese Embassy, which has, for the past 8 years, appealed for an end to the
persecution of practitioners in China.
Falun Gong (as a spiritual belief or group) doesn’t mind if China hosts an Olympics
or not. That position has remained the same since China was awarded the Games.
However, when such events are held in China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
will use them as an excuse to persecute any Chinese who may hold views disapproved
of by the Party.
The Olympic Games are being used by the CCP to further persecute Falun Gong
practitioners. This was made clear by Zhou Yongkang, Minister of Public Security,
as reported by Amnesty International in their Appeal for Action, 10 December
2007, who said:
“We must make efforts to create a harmonious society and a good social
environment for successfully holding the 17th Communist Party Congress and
the Beijing Olympic Games […]
We must strike hard at hostile forces at home and abroad, such as ethnic separatists,
religious extremists, violent terrorists ….and the Falun Gong.” http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/end-persection-falun-gong-practitioner
The Falun Dafa Information Centre has received reports of 1,878 arrests across
29 provinces, major cities, and autonomous regions since 1 January 2008. Since
January 2007, the Centre has documented the cases of 129 Falun Gong practitioners
who died of abuse either in police custody or after release, as a result of
injuries incurred while in detention. A complete table of the names and available
details of these known cases is available at: http://faluninfo.net/downloads/FDI_Press/deaths-as-of-01-01-07.pdf
Chinese agents may try to misrepresent Falun Gong at the Torch event. An example
of this occurred in London where a man with a Tibetan flag on his head lunged
at the wheelchair-bound Torch carrier. In a later photo, the same man is caught
on camera walking happily with other Chinese supporters waving Communist Party
flags. http://biglizards.net/blog/archives/2008/04/forget_it_its_c.html