Australia: Falun Gong Practitioners Appeal in Brisbane During the Visit of Deputy Mayor of Chongqing City

On April 5, 2005, Wu Jialong, the deputy Mayor of Chonqing City and his delegation visited Brisbane, the Capitol of Queensland, Australia. Falun Gong practitioners took this opportunity to conduct a peaceful appeal calling for an end to the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong in China.

The practitioners' peaceful appeal

Initially, worrying about commercial interests with China, certain officials in the Brisbane city government didn't want practitioners to stage any event during the visit of the Chinese delegation. Several practitioners therefore initiated efforts to tell city officials the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution, while other practitioners prepared for the appeal.

After listening to practitioners' explanations, the city officials finally came to understand. One official told the practitioners: "The information you have told me is very important and you have corrected my misunderstanding. Please accept my sincere apology..."

Practitioners submitted a letter to the Chongqing mayor through Brisbane city officials and staged a large-scale event at City Hall Plaza. Western and Chinese practitioners jointly formed a Great Wall of Courage with banners and posters. The banners read in Chinese and English, "Falun Dafa is Great," "Please Help Stop the Genocide of Falun Gong In Chongqing," "131 Falun Gong practitioners Persecuted to Death in Chongqing," "Bring the Policeman Who Raped Practitioner Wei Xingyan to Justice," among other messages.

Many passers-by were attracted by the event, and practitioners talked with them about the persecution and gave them related materials. Many people were shocked by the brutality revealed by the posters and expressed their sympathy to practitioners being persecuted in China. Despite several showers, the practitioners maintained the event for several hours. They were very happy to see that more people had the opportunity to know the truth.