Sydney resident David Liang, father of two, was among nine Australians Falun
Gong practitioners who arrived in South Africa on 28th June to file a lawsuit
against Chinese officials visiting Johannesburg. Little did he know that his efforts
to seek justice would nearly cost him his life.
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David Liang, who was shot by an attempted murder while he and other 8 Falun Gong practitioners went to raise awareness of the human rights violation by the visiting Chinese vice-president Zeng Qinghong and trade minister Bo Xilai. | |
Chinese
Vice-President Zeng Qinghong and Trade Minister Bo Xilai have both played a pivotal
role in former Chinese head of state Jiang Zemin’s persecution against Falun Gong.
David and the others intended to join South African Falun Gong practitioners in
a press conference to expose the crimes of torture and genocide, and serve legal
papers on Zeng and Bo during their visits.
While driving one of the cars,
David came under a barrage of bullets within a few hours of landing at the airport.
Five shots from an AK47 assault rifle hit the car, disabling it immediately. The
Sydney man was left with bullet wounds and a shattered foot.
The | |
 |  |
David Liang’s feet were shot and seriously injured. | |
Gunmen
fled straight after the shooting. South African Police are investigating the incident
as attempted murder. Observers say this incident marks a new level of violence
against Falun Gong practitioners outside of China.
Recently Falun Gong
practitioners around the globe have filed many lawsuits against Chinese officials
who are actively enforcing the persecution. A number of famous human rights attorneys
are assisting in these legal proceedings.
More Background Information:
Zeng
Qinghong, a major player in Jiang Zemin’s persecution of Falun Gong, is visiting
South Africa from Jun 27-29. On the night of the 28th, gunmen attacked Australian
Falun Gong practitioners who had heard the news and were on their way to the Presidential
Guest House. Out of the practitioners, the only one who wore clothing with the
Falun Dafa insignia, David Liang, was shot, causing crushing injuries to his foot.
This is the most severe case of persecution against overseas Falun Gong practitioners
in the last five years. The victims believe that this was a deliberate assassination
attempt by hired gunmen.
After learning that Zeng Qinghong and company were
visiting South Africa from June 27 to June 29, seeking to put a stop to the persecution
through legal means, nine Australia Falun Gong practitioners arrived at the Johannesburg
International Airport at around 6 pm local time on June 28. Because there are
no Falun Gong practitioners in Johannesburg, a practitioner from another city
in South Africa picked them up. Afterwards, the nine Australian practitioners
left the airport in two cars, heading to the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria.
On
the way, at approximately 8:30 p.m., a person in a white car suddenly opened fire
from the side slightly behind the second vehicle driven by the practitioners,
targeting the tires and the driver. The car was hit at least five times. The Falun
Gong practitioner who was driving, David Liang, is an Australian Falun Gong practitioner.
He was the only person wearing a blue jacket favored by Taiwanese practitioners
that says “Falun Dafa” in English.
David Liang was hit in both
feet. The car he was driving was severely damaged and came to a stop. Seeing this,
the gunmen quickly fled the scene.
David Liang was immediately taken to
the nearby Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital for emergency treatment. X-rays showed
that one foot suffered crushing fractures, and the hospital decided to perform
an operation the following morning.
Since July 1999, former Chinese National
Chairman Jiang Zemin unilaterally enacted the genocidal policies of “destroying
them physically, defaming their reputations, and bankrupting them financially”,
“beating to death is nothing and can be counted as suicide” against
Falun Gong practitioners. This led to at least 996 named and confirmed cases of
Falun Gong practitioners being killed by the persecution in China. The Falun Gong
practitioners have named Zeng Qinghong as one of the main accomplices of this
persecution.
Zeng Qinghong was originally a Communist official in Shanghai
and followed Jiang Zemin into Zhongnanhai (the Chinese central leadership compound)
after the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. He is a trusted associate of Jiang Zemin,
in charge of the Party’s secret service and currently holding the post of Deputy
National Chairman. Zeng Qinghong had helped Jiang Zemin to get rid of all of his
political opponents inside the Party, and was dubbed the “Black-Faced Assassin”
by Party insiders. His methods in attacking others are especially brutal.
Tens
of millions of Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to the brutal persecution
for as long as five years. In order to put a stop to the persecution, in the past
two years Falun Gong practitioners outside of China have been proactively seeking
legal means to resolve the situation peacefully. Jiang Zemin and his accomplices
have been served with lawsuits while visiting places outside of China. After Jiang
Zemin was served with lawsuits charging him with genocide and torture in 2002
in U.S. district court, on the surface he doesn’t dare to acknowledge the lawsuit’s
existence, yet in the background he is applying pressure to the U.S. government.
He has utilized various underhanded tactics, hoping to stop the lawsuit’s progress
by any means necessary.
One of the Australian Falun Gong practitioners
involved stated that this incident in Johannesburg was an act of state terrorism
and an assassination attempt by Jiang Zemin’s Chinese Communist regime.
A
local person who passed by the scene of the attack with his family said after
hearing the Falun Gong practitioners’ account of the persecution in China, “This
is a form of political persecution.”
This case was immediately brought
to the local police bureau. The serial number attached to this case is BOOYSENS
CASE 1553/06/2004.
Ms. Li Ying, wife of Mr. Li Qizhong, one of the victims
in the South Africa incident, said that before her husband’s trip to South Africa,
he received a threatening phone call. Many signs indicated that this shooting
incident was a hired murder attempt. First, these Australian Falun Gong practitioners
had gone to South Africa for the first time and have no enemies in South Africa.
Secondly, after the shooting, there was no robbery; instead, the attackers immediately
fled away. Thirdly, the shooting incident prevented the planned lawsuit against
Zeng Qinghong from being filed.
Officials from the South African Embassy
in Australia has expressed that they received the news release from Falun Dafa
Information Center before their discussion and had already reported it to their
superiors. The South African police are investigating this case and they will
try their best to find out the real criminals. The police categorized this case
as “attempted murder”. When the officials looked at the photos showing
Mr. David Liang’s injured and bleeding feet, they were all shocked and expressed
that there was little doubt that this was an assassination attempt.
South
Africa has close ties with the Chinese government, and it is Zeng Qinghong’s last
stop in his four-country visit in Africa. After concluding the visit to the Benin
Republic on June 26, Zeng Qinghong began his official visit to South Africa. Zeng
Qinghong met with South African President Thabo Mbeki in Johannesburg on the 28th.
According to BBC Worldwide Mornitoring report: [excerpt] “Zeng
thanked the South African government for helping it kill a debate on its human
rights record at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva recently. He said the
BNC meeting had greatly strengthened the strategic partnership between China and
South Africa, including their international cooperation. “Your government
has advocated a one-China policy and supported China at this year’s UNHRC, which
we deeply appreciate,” Zeng told Zuma.
In Geneva, as in the past,
China submitted a “no action motion” to ensure its human rights were
not debated. South Africa had previously opposed this motion on the principle
that China’s human rights record – like anyone else’s – should at least be aired.
But official sources said last year that South Africa had departed from this principle
itself, by proposing a “no action motion” on a proposal to debate Zimbabwe’s
human rights record. China supported this motion.
Having abandoned the
principle of opposing no action motions, South Africa could no longer oppose the
“no action motion” on China this year, the sources said. “
Posting
date: 7/Jul/2004
Original article date: 6/Jul/2004
Category: Australian
News
