By Maria Hawthorne
CANBERRA, July 23 AAP – Sydney taxi driver
David Liang was
driving a hire car from Johannesburg Airport to Pretoria when
another car drew alongside and an assault rifle was pointed out the
window.
“They
opened up the window and pulled out an AK-47, a Chinese
military gun, and
shot the lower part of the car,” Mr Liang, 42,
said.
“Then
they shot about five bullet holes in the car and two
bullets hit my feet.”
The
shots shattered his right ankle, tore into his left foot and
blew out his
car’s front tyres.
As his four friends inside the car screamed in terror,
Mr Liang
struggled to control the car.
Unable to brake, he managed to
steer the car to the safety of
the side of the road.
His attackers did
not stop.
The shooting happened on June 28, and shortly afterwards the
Australian
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) issued a
statement saying an
unnamed passenger in the car had told them they
believed the shooting was
random, not politically motivated.
Mr Liang doesn’t think so.
He and
his friends were in South Africa to file a lawsuit
against Chinese officials
accused of persecuting practitioners of
Falun Gong, a meditation and exercise
regime which is legal in 60
countries but has been banned in China since 1999.
They
had been in South Africa only a few hours when the shooting
happened.
Mr
Liang said local police confirmed that they were treating the
shooting as
attempted murder.
“I felt very upset and let down by the Australian
government
because they didn’t take anything seriously,” Mr Liang said.
“They didn’t take any notice of my story. This was a terror
attack and
the government should protect Australians.
“None of us told DFAT that
this was not involving Falun Gong, so
I don’t know why they did it. I understand
that there’s trade
between China and Australia, but that’s not an excuse to
sacrifice
citizens’ rights.”
He called on the government to undertake
a full investigation
with South African authorities.
A DFAT spokeswoman
stood by the statement issued in June.
“We’re pleased Mr Liang has recovered
sufficiently to allow his
return to Australia,” she said.
“The
South African authorities are investigating the shooting
and it would be inappropriate
at this time to comment on motives.
“But shortly after the incident,
an occupant of the vehicle
informed us that they believed it to be a random
act.”
If any of the passengers had any information to the contrary,
they should go to the police, she said.
Posting date: 26/Jul/2004
Original article date: 23/Jul/2004
Category: Media Report
