Germany: Chinese Consulate General Visits Frankfurt

On the 23rd of June, the Chinese Consulate General to Germany visited Frankfurt. This is the biggest Consulate General in Europe. Opposite the consulate, people from human rights organisations and Falun Gong practitioners held a protest activity to remind the CCP and the German officials who were attending the opening ceremony to pay attention to the many human rights abuses that are happening in China, as well as the over one hundred thousands prisoners of conscience detained in the country’s prisons and forced labour camps.

The president of the International Human Rights Association, which is headquartered in Frankfurt, said, “We think today is a very good opportunity to remind people to pay attention to the Chinese prisoners of conscience. In China, there is a lack of freedom of human rights, freedom of the press, freedom of information and freedom of speech.

A Falun Gong practitioner from Heidelberg also took this opportunity to tell people about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. According to the latest news, Falun Gong practitioner Gao Rongrong was tortured to death after being disfigured. The report from Minghui website said that, at the beginning of May 2004, Gao Rongrong’s face was severely disfigured from seven continuous hours of electric shock torture in Longshan Forced Labour Camp.

After photos of Gao’s disfigured face were publicised, her case shocked people and received a lot of attention in the international community. Her case was also the first case study in the "2004 United Nations Human Rights Report on China's Persecution of Falun Gong." The exposure of Gao’s case made the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) extremely angry. On the 6th of March 2005, Gao Rongrong was re-arrested and imprisoned. On June 16th 2005, Gao died from the atrophying of her internal organs. Before this, all news concerning Gao Rongrong was strictly blocked by the CCP.

Mr. Wu, who was participating in the protest, hoped the Chinese officials could take Mr. Chen Yonglin, the former 1st secretary of the Chinese Consulate in Sydney, Australia, as an example, consider the Chinese nation’s interest as the first priority and step forward to expose the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong. Mr. Wu said to a reporter, "We hope staff members of all Chinese embassies can uphold their conscience like Mr Chen Yonglin and take their own initiative to expose the crimes of the CCP. This is not challenging the Chinese Government but helping the Chinese people to get rid of the CCP’s persecution.”

The mayor of Frankfurt, who was participating in the opening ceremony of the Consulate General, also expressed that, although the economic interactions between China and Germany are very tight, China's human rights conditions should still be improved. She hoped that human rights will be respected more.