New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Expresses Government's Concern over Reports of Human Rights Abuses against Falun Dafa Practitioners

On August the 23rd 2004, New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hon Phil Goff, expressed in a letter to Falun Gong practitioner that the New Zealand Government remains concerned at reports of human rights abuses against Falun Dafa practitioners, and that they continue to urge the Chinese Government to allow Falun Gong practitioners to follow their beliefs and practise their movements without restriction.

The New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hon Phil Goff, pointed out on the shooting incident of Falun Dafa practitioners in South Africa that "the New Zealand Government remains concerned at reports of human rights abuses against Falun Dafa practitioners. In discussions with the Chinese Government at both ministerial and officials' level, we continue to urge the Chinese Government to allow them to follow their beliefs and practice their movements without restriction. In response to Chinese Government claims about it being an 'evil cult', we have pointed out to them that the New Zealand Government has experienced no such problems with Falun Dafa in New Zealand."

Hon Phil Goff said in the letter that "The New Zealand Embassy in Beijing holds regular discussions about human rights with the Chinese officials and our annual Foreign Ministry Consultations with China also allow us to express our concerns on this issue. New Zealand also raises our concerns about China's human rights situation in the United Nations, most recently through our statement to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva in March. In our statement we drew attention to the continuing restriction on freedom of expression and religion, the widespread use and scope of the death penalty, and reports of arbitrary arrest and detention in China."