Wellington's weather was pleasantly warm for Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his delegation's visit to Parliament. However, the greeting from groups of protesters was not as inviting.
Followers of Falun Dafa (aka Falun Gong), Friends of Tibet, and Amnesty International left the visitors in no doubt about what they thought of the Chinese communist regime's apalling human rights abuses, as protesters lined up in front of Parliament with banners, placards, and flags.
With the arrival of Wen's motorcade, the peaceful gathering turned into noisy chants as supporters and protesters vied for the visitors' attention.
The 100 strong Chinese delegation quickly made their way inside to chants of "bring Bo Xilai (China's Minister of Commerce) to Justice", "bring Jiang (Zemin) to Justice" and "Falun Dafa is good". Wellington resident Gina Shakespeare, who practices Falun Dafa, said "We are here to speak the truth. The Chinese communist regime has been murdering it's people for 56 years. They have been murdering Falun Dafa Practitioners for 7 years now. This is a gross Human Rights violation. I am really concerned about it."
"Bo Xilai should not be allowed to set foot in New Zealand. I am 100% on that. I really wish Helen Clark would stand up to this instead of looking at the money side," said Miss Shakespeare.
The Falun Dafa Association of New Zealand released details of a lawsuit filed against Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai, a member of the Chinese delegation, here in New Zealand. Two Falun Gong followers who now live in NZ are the complainants. They allege Bo was responsible for a campaign of terror, genocide and persecution against Falun Gong followers while he was governor of Liaoning province from 2001 to 2004.
Bo has been sued for torture, crimes against humanity and genocide by surviving Falun Gong practitioners in several countries, including USA, UK, Poland, Peru, Chile and Germany and recently Australia.
The Green Party showed their support for the Friends of Tibet with three ministers Jeanette Fitzsimoms, Keith Locke and Sue Kedglely holding the Tibet flag. Since China invaded Tibet in 1950, 1.2 million Tibetans have died as a direct result of the occupation, six thousand monasteries, temples and historical structures have been looted and destroyed, and 7.5 million Chinese colonialists have shifted to Tibet. Claire Clarke, secretary of the Wellington branch of Friends of Tibet, said "I'm very pleased to see this. Keith Locke got permission (to hold the protest) from the speaker, I'm very pleased".
"We want to positively reinforce the Tibet situation towards self government and autonomy. Any activity from our group is looking to the future," said Mrs Clarke.
Amnesty International (AI) NZ also made their concerns clear to the delegation. AI spokesperson, Daniel Williams, said "We want to draw attention to the hundreds of thousands of Chinese denied their basic rights".
"We hope to encourage the Chinese Government to take positive steps forward." he said.
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