Mainland Chinese visiting Queensland’s Gold Coast were warmly welcomed by Falun Dafa practitioners on May 17, 2018.
Six thousand business delegates from major direct-marketing herbal company Infinitus China recently converged on the entertainment precinct called Surfers Paradise for one of the tourist city’s largest ever street parties. In light of celebrations, Falun Dafa practitioners set up an information stall with banners and an exercise instruction demonstration.
Several Mainland Chinese enjoyed the rare opportunity to witness the beauty of Falun Dafa’s gentle meditation exercises and understand the true nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Delegates stopped and read the banner promoting the universal values of truth, compassion and tolerance, as well as the other banner urging them to help end the persecution of Falun Dafa in Mainland China by quitting the CCP.
Some delegates took pamphlets and photos of the demonstration with their smartphones to spread the message with family and friends.
One Westerner who had visited China many times said he had great sympathy for Falun Dafa practitioners who have been persecuted by the CCP for the past 18 years. He also had sympathy for the Mainland Chinese people, who do not enjoy the same freedoms as people living in Western countries such as accepting a flyer on the street that has not already been approved by the CCP.
The street party also attracted visitors from the United States, United Kingdom and European Union. Two people from Northern Ireland came to the stall and had neither heard about Falun Dafa nor the CCP’s organ harvesting of practitioners in Mainland China. After learning the facts of the persecution, they were shocked and could not believe such a crime against humanity could be committed. They signed the petition, vowed to look further into the organ harvesting issue and learn the Falun Dafa exercises when they returned to Ireland.
A woman who used to do another qigong practice had not heard about Falun Dafa before, and became interested in learning the exercises because Falun Dafa is a practice of both mind and body that transcends the level of health and fitness.
She was shocked to hear about the organ harvesting especially because she is a human rights activist and agreed to sign the petition. She promised to bring her mother, who recently moved to the Gold Coast, to one of the practice sites in Broadbeach.
A local event organiser asked Falun Dafa practitioners to move even though they had a valid permit to assemble. When police arrived, the officers watched the activity for about 15 minutes before leaving.
When a Gold Coast City Council officer called Steve arrived, practitioners clarified the truth to him and showed the permit. Steve was very pleased to see the permit had been approved and was impressed by the upright conduct of practitioners, who assembled in both a peaceful and lawful manner.
A permit for a public assembly on the Gold Coast usually requires five days’ notice. However, Queensland Police issued the permit within just 24-hours due to the good reputation Queensland Falun Dafa practitioners have established over many years of holding peaceful public assemblies to expose the persecution. Queensland Falun Dafa practitioners would like to thank the Queensland Police Service for their continued support.