THE plight of an Ultimo man who believes he was shot for defending his Falun Gong
beliefs was highlighted in a petition to Prime Minister John Howard last month.
David Liang’s feet were shattered when a gunman opened fire on a car in which
he was travelling with four other people visiting Johannesburg to file a lawsuit
against Chinese officials in South Africa.
The lawsuit charged China’s
Vice-President Zeng Qinghong and Trade Minister Bo Xilai, who were visiting South
Africa with torture, genocide and crimes against humanity for persecuting people
who practise the meditation which teaches truth, compassion and tolerance.
The
car was travelling at 120km/h when five bullets penetrated the door and struck
Mr Liang’s feet, curbing his mobility for what doctors believe will be two years.
Mr Liang said a South African police report filed the incident as attempted
murder but it was treated as a random shooting.
But the father-of-two believes
the group was a target because they travelled in a car bearing Falun Gong signs.
Falun Gong activists have gathered more than 1700 signatures from Sydney
suburbs.
The petition called upon the Government to work with South African
authorities to investigate Mr Liang’s incident, condemn acts of terrorism by the
Chinese Government and to be vigilant of Australians who face terrorism attacks.
Mr Liang implored the Federal Government to take action on violence.
"I
feel let down by the Australian Government because they condemn other terrorists,"
he said.
The 42-year-old remains defiant and won’t give up Falun Gong despite
his brush with death.
"If we stop because we’ve been threatened, there’s
no hope for the world. If we keep quiet, everyone will be scared.
Posting
date: 10/Sep/2004
Original article date: 9/Sep/2004
Category: Media Reports
