Dear Members of Parliament,
As a Falun Gong practitioner and a relative
of a family member who has been persecuted for practising Falun Gong in China,
I am writing this letter to you regarding the certificate signed each month by
the Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer, which forbids Falun Gong practitioners
in Australia to protest peacefully with banners in front of the Chinese Embassy
in Canberra against the brutal crackdown of Falun Gong. I would like to take this
opportunity to express my views to you in order to bring your awareness and hopefully
gain your support.
1. The Peaceful Protest in Front of the Chinese Embassy
Is Upholding The Human Dignity
I remember I had a strong notion when
I first arrived in Australia, i.e. I must guard China’s dignity no matter how
bad the Chinese government simply because I am a Chinese. Thanks to the Australian
people and its democratic system, I have now fully understood what “dignity”
means and how to guard it. To me, dignity only relates to justice, kindness and
tolerance; it does not apply to evil.
The Chinese Communist regime has been
arresting, torturing and murdering innocent Falun Gong practitioner’s everyday
since July 20, 1999. In the face of the sharp escalation of the death toll curve
of Falun Gong practitioners (see attachment 1), in the face of the orphanage photos
who lost their parents as Falun Gong practitioners (see attachment 2) and finally
in the face of the numerous reports of the horrendous torturing cases that continue
to come out of the harsh regime of China through layers of difficulty, how can
anyone with a conscience label such peaceful protests in front of the embassy
as a stodgy retaliation that damages its so called “dignity”?
To
a government that has completely ignored the peaceful appeal from Falun Gong practitioners
to stop the persecution for the past six years and completely ignored the condemnation
from the international society; to a government that controls all its media, police,
army and legal systems and has used all the possible ancient and modern torturing
methods against its own citizens, especially against Falun Gong practitioners,
what kind of “dignity” does it have that needs the cooperation of the
Australian government to protect?
Holding banners is banned. But what kind
of banners is banned? All the banners have the following words on them: Stop the
persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Stop killing innocent people. Return
the freedom and dignity of cultivators, etc. Falun Gong practitioners have not
violated any Geneva Convention; on the contrary, what Falun Gong practitioners
have been doing is upholding the basic human rights, freedom and dignity, which
are openly declared in the Geneva International Treaty.
If our government
talks loudly about upholding basic human rights on one hand, and kowtowing to
the Chinese Communist regime because of trade interest on the other, this kind
of government, to me, has lost completely the dignity of its own people.
Therefore,
honorary parliamentarians, on behalf of ordinary Australian citizens, whom you
represent, and like many other western nations that fully support Falun Gong practitioners’
courageous peaceful protests against the brutal crackdown, please support Australian
Falun Gong practitioners’ right to peaceful protests, which aim is to send a strong
message to the Chinese government: stop immediately persecuting and murdering
your own citizens that take place everyday. (Right now when I am writing to you,
another terrible message just came out of China, Gao Rongrong, a Falun Gong practitioner
who was completely disfigured by policeman’s continuous electric shock for 7 hours,
died several days ago from constant torture both physically and mentally! See
photo 3)
2. It Is the Chinese Government That Has Caused All These Protests
Dear
parliamentarians, maybe it is true that you know little about Falun Gong and its
teachings, and maybe you might have different understandings and even disagree
with it, it does not matter. In today’s world, there are many different beliefs,
Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and Catholicism, etc. Their teachings vary, but
in the human dimension of ours, they all teach people to be virtuous. Falun Gong
also teaches its followers to think and act according to the principles of the
universe: “Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance.” Therefore, it has
played a positive role in today’s society. Before the crackdown of Falun Gong
in China, the Chinese government and its media used to praise highly the positive
impact of Falun Gong and its practitioners in the Chinese society. Back then,
Falun Gong practitioners were able to do their exercises peacefully and live a
normal life. Today, Falun Gong practitioners are telling people the truth and
clarify the facts including many protests worldwide at the expense of their normal
life and many sacrifices; all these are the result of the senseless and brutal
persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China launched by the former leader
of China, Jiang Zemin and the Chinese Communist Party.
Just imagine how
the Australians would respond if the Australian government and its police force
tomorrow decide to arrest, torture and even kill, as they wish, all the innocent
people because they have a different faith in Australia.
Thus, what has
caused Falun Gong practitioners to protest peacefully in front of the Chinese
Embassy in Canberra, in the first place, is nobody but the Communist Regime of
China itself.
Please believe me, there will be no protest in front of the
Chinese Embassy tomorrow if the persecution stops today.
3. The Australian
Government Should Take Its Responsibility to Urge the Chinese Government to Stop
the Persecution
Last year, I wrote to many parliamentarians seeking
help for my older sister in China, Zhang Yaping, who was arrested and tortured
nearly to death as a Falun Gong practitioner, and I have received a lot of responses
from you. Right then, Australia and many Falun Gong practitioners worldwide were
all actively involved in the rescue of my sister. All this kind of international
support played an important part in rescuing my sister.
Nine months have passed
since then. My sister who is on medical bail still has her memory loss. She is
still disabled. She and all her family members including me still live in fear.
We are still deeply worried that she might be taken back to prison for 7-year
jail term to be imposed on her.
Dear honourable parliamentarians, whenever
I think of my sister’s case and the horrendous cases that continue to come out
of China each day, I can deeply and realistically feel the preciousness of any
help we can receive from any individual or government in helping those who are
so helpless and powerless in a country of a dictatorship and where there is no
rule of law.
Some people might find it hard to understand why the Chinese
Communist regime has spent so much energy to crackdown Falun Gong. Well, a dictator
has a dictator’s logic and mentality. Firstly, they are worried that the increasing
popularity of Falun Gong in China might pose a threat to their control of dictatorship;
secondly, by brutally repressing Falun Gong practitioners with all kinds of tortures,
it can also serve as a scare tactic to give others that are unhappy with the dictatorship
a lesson. Thirdly, in the face of their failure in dealing with Falun Gong despite
their brutal repression, they have linked closely Falun Gong with their power
control. The methods applied to maintain their repression is extremely evil. As
a matter of fact, Falun Gong is a cultivation system and cultivation only; Falun
Gong has no desire or intention of any power. Falun Gong practitioners are all
innocent. Therefore, the war between repression and anti-repression is not one
of a power struggle, but a war between justice and evil.
In order to maintain
its crackdown, the Chinese Communist regime has tried to hide its cruel treatment
of Falun Gong on the surface, but continues its brutal torture in a hidden form;
to the western governments, the Chinese Communist regime continues to defame Falun
Gong on the one hand, it uses its economic advantage to tempt and pressure them
to be quiet in terms of its human rights abuses on the other. To me, it is an
embodiment of one’s courage and conscience to be able to uphold justice and human
rights and not bend to any threat in the face of pressure and temptation. It is
also an embodiment of the kind-heartedness of the Australian people. Condemning
the persecution of Falun Gong and urging the end of the persecution is the duty
of every person with a conscience. It is even more so for our government to take
the unavoidable responsibility and obligation to do so because it has a bigger
and stronger impact.
What our government needs is courage, conscience and
action.
YL Zhang
Posting date: 14/Jul/2005
Original article date: 13/Jul/2005
Category: Open Forum
