During Zeng Qinghong's Visit to South Africa, Australian Falun Gong Practitioners Shot by Hired Thugs While on the Way to Initiate a Lawsuit

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 favoured 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."

The Falun Gong practitioners involved will hold a press conference at 9 a.m. local time on June 29 in South Africa. They will strongly condemn the persecution by China's scoundrel regime against Falun Gong practitioners outside of China, and call for governments, media outlets, and all people who value justice and conscience around the world to condemn Jiang and his followers' illegal persecution of Falun Gong and their terrorist acts. The press conference is to be held at Presidential Guest House, Church Street Gate 10.

This case was immediately brought to the local police bureau. The serial number attached to this case is BOOYSENS CASE 1553/06/2004.

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.