– An attempt to hide genocide –
(Australian Falun Dafa Information Centre)Thursday, 23 October 2003 – According to media, major media outlets as well as numerous Members of Parliament have been sent a written request by the Chinese Embassy spokesman Feng Tie to not print “propaganda” from “anti-China forces” among which Falun Gong is mentioned.
This attempt to curtail freedom of speech in a country such as Australia speaks volumes as to what lengths certain members of the Chinese government will go to, to divert world’s attention from the real issues of a severe human rights crisis in China.
Falun Gong and its practitioners have no interest in politics, even less can people of Chinese descent who practice Falun Gong be called “anti “ their own country of birth. Given the facts about the brutal persecution of people who practice Falun Gong, it is not hard to imagine what certain members of the Chinese government are trying to divert the world’s attention from.
Before the persecution started in July,1999, a government survey showed that over 70 million people from all walks of life were practicing Falun Gong in China, many of them were members of the communist party.
Former president Jiang Zemin ordered Falun Gong “eradicated” in 1999, and has been the central figure in directing and overseeing the genocide of people who practice Falun Gong. At the time, he publicly gave the time limit of three months for his plan to succeed.
Luo Gan has been promoting and enforcing the genocide as the vice-director of the “6-10 Office”; an agency established by Jiang and granted extra-constitutional powers to “eradicate” Falun Gong through organized brainwashing sessions, torture and murder.
It is Jiang Zemin, now head of the Chinese armed forces and Luo Gan who used Falun Gong for their own political intentions. They now have no way out except to keep up the charade until the truth surfaces and the scale of their atrocities is fully revealed.
The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners must stop. It is a matter of conscience not politics.
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Contacts: Dr. Michael Pearson-Smith 0409 500 271 and Kati Vereshaka 0408 165 094
Websites: www.falunau.org , Email: news@falunau.org
Reference from Sydney Morning Herald:
On Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy in Australia emailed Fairfax newspapers as follows:
As you may already know, President Hu Jintao of China will soon come to visit Australia. This visit will be a major event in China-Australia relations with profound significance. Now both the Chinese and Australian sides are working to ensue the smoothness and success of the visit. However, we have learnt that some anti-China forces in Australia, such as organizations for independence of Tibet or Falungong, are planning to disrupt the visit by issuing open letter or putting up political advertisements in local papers at the time of the Presidents visit. To make sure that the visit will be free from such disruption, we hope that your paper will not publish their open letter, carry their political advertisements or any of their propaganda. It is our wish that with the success of the visit by President Hu, the friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries will grow further.
Yours sincerely, Feng Tie, Press Counselor, Chinese Embassy in Canberra
The editor-in-chief of the Australian Financial Review, Mr Michael Gill, replied as follows:
I’m afraid that our policy on accepting or refusing advertisements does not provide for such requests. It is, naturally, our wish that relations between Australia and China should continue to improve. However, we do not believe that goal would be served by censoring advertisements or other legitimate expressions of opinion.
Kind regards, Michael Gill
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/25/1066974332090.html
