Canada: MP Rob Anders Urges the Department of Foreign Affairs to Press the South African Government to Make a Full Inquiry into the Shooting of Falun Gong Practitioner

Rob Anders
MP for Calgary West
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A5

Wednesday, August 4, 2004

The Hon. Pierre Pettigrew
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Room 507 Confederation Building
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister,

I am writing to you in regards to the recent shooting incident in South Africa involving Falun Gong practitioner, Mr. David Liang. As he and his associates were traveling from Johannesburg to Pretoria, their vehicle was overtaken by another car. The other vehicle pulled alongside and one of the three occupants opened fire with an automatic assault rifle. Mr. Liang was shot and wounded and his car disabled.

Mr. Liang and his fellow Falun Gong practitioners were in South Africa to peacefully protest a visit by Chinese Vice-President Zeng Qinghong and Commerce Minister Bo Xilai. Previous to their trip, Mr. Liang and other Falun Gong supporters had experienced harassment and threatening phone calls in Australia, where they are resident. The practitioners wished to raise awareness about the human rights situation in the People's Republic of China and the current persecution of Falun Gong there.

What was unusual about this incident was that after the shooting there was no attempt to rob those attacked. The crime seemed to accomplish nothing other than to send a message to the victims. As Falun Gong practitioners have also been the victims of harassment here in Canada in recent years, I urge the Department of Foreign Affairs to press the South African government to make a full inquiry into the incident to determine the motivation behind the attack.

Sincerely,

Rob Anders, MP

Calgary West