TIANJIN Mayor Dai Xianglong’s four-day tour of Melbourne was briefly marred by a small group of protesters last Tuesday night.
Members of the Falun Dafa Association of Victoria gathered outside the Melbourne Town Hall as Mr Xianglong made his way in for the council meeting.
The protesters were waving signs and banners calling for an end to the persecution of falun gong meditation practitioners in Tianjin, China.
The association presented a petition to the council calling it to ask the Tianjin mayor to stop persecuting its members.
In the petition, the association claimed that 33 falun gong practitioners had died of torture in Tianjin since Mr Xianglong became Deputy Mayor in December 2002.
NSW resident Ying Li was among the protesters. She said her 34-year-old brother, Liang Li, was in a labour camp in Tianjin because he practiced falun gong.
Ms Li, 41, and still a falun gong practitioner, said she also spent two years in a forced labour camp when she was living in Tianjin but was released thanks to the efforts of her husband, an Australian citizen.
Posting date: 3/Jun/2005
Original article date: 30/May/2005
Category: Media Report
