Ireland: Wen Jiabao Visits Ireland, Falun Gong Practitioners Hold a Peaceful Appeal

On May 11th, the Chinese Premiere Wen Jiabao arrived in Ireland, his last stop and the country which holds the Presidency of the EU Council at present. That evening, outside Dublin Castle, where EU Chairman Bertie Ahearn and Wen Jiabao held talks, Falun Gong practitioners peacefully appealed by practicing exercises, and called on the people to “Bring Jiang Zemin and Bo Xilai to Justice”, and requested the Irish Government to raise the cases of Mr Liu Feng and Ms Yang Fang, who cannot return to Ireland to continue their studies because they are under house arrest by the Chinese Government.

Among the welcoming crowd outside Dublin Castle, many students from China began to think over the issue of Falun Gong, after they saw the banner unfurled by practitioners.

The banners hung on the building on the opposite side from Dublin Castle: “Welcome to Wen Jiabao”, “Bring Jiang Zeming to Justice”.

Falun Gong practitioners unfurled banners reading, “Welcome to Wen Jiabao” during his visit. Falun Gong practitioner’s different attitudes towards Wen Jiabao and Jiang Zemin are due to the fact that Wen Jiabao as Premiere has never made any negative remarks about Falun Gong in any public place. It is not the Chinese government that is against Falun Gong, but rather the personal will of Jiang Zemin that led to this persecution, bringing calamity to the country and the people.

At the same time, Falun Gong practitioners dispatched a single page press release, which was specially designed for this occasion, it emphasised the fact that those who persecute Falun Gong do not represent the Chinese government.

In the afternoon, before Wen Jiabao arrived, three members of the Irish Falun Dafa Association were invited to make statements during the special hearing on Falun Gong, which was hosted by the Irish Congress of Human Rights Committee. After the Falun Gong practitioners’statement, the committee members filed an urgent motion that demanded Premiere Bertie Ahearn to bring up the situation of students, Liu Feng and Yang Fang.

For several years, Irish Amnesty International, the Pan-Irish Student Association, and several other Student Associations of major universities in Ireland have been working diligently and advocating for the release of Liu Feng and Yang Fang, which has been brought up by several members of the Irish Parliament to the Irish Premier and the Foreign Minister on several occasions.

In 2001, the former Chinese premier Zhu Ronghi visited Ireland; the Irish Premier Bertie Ahearn requested the release of the illegally detained Zhao Ming who was a student of Trinity College Dublin. In early 2002, Th Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen visited China and talked again about the release of Zhao Ming. In March of that year, Zhao Ming was released and returned to Ireland. Everyone hopes that this present visit of the Chinese Premier will facilitate the release of Liu Feng and Yang Fang and their safe return to their studies in Ireland.