"There are grey clouds over China and they are only getting worse – let's stand up and be counted," said Mr Stephen Sim, radio announcer and human rights campaigner.
Mr Sim was one of a number of speakers at a Sydney press conference held on Thursday July 20, the seventh anniversary of the day that the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners began in China.
"The persecution, the torturing, the murdering, started seven years ago today and while we walk around in freedom in this country we should always be very vigilant and mindful of what's happening and speak up," said Mr Sim.
"For not speaking up, as a free Australian, we are virtually party to it."
Most of the speakers at the press conference referred to the reports of the killing of Falun Gong practitioners for their bodily organs in China and the July 6 release of a much-publicized report conducted by former Canadian Secretary of State (Asia Pacific) Mr David Kilgour and international human rights lawyer Mr David Matas.
Mr John Deller from the NSW Falun Dafa Association said that Falun Gong practitioners in China have been killed "to order so people can have organ transplants in China and pay $6000 for a kidney, over $10,000 for a liver"
"It's an obscene business", said Mr Deller, "that is part of the Communist Party's attack to eliminate Falun Gong in China."
It is believed that the killing of the Falun Gong practitioners to supply the billion dollar organ trade in China has been occurring since 1999.
The Canadian report describes Falun Gong as being similar to a Chinese yoga which "In essence, it teaches methods of meditation through exercises intended to improve physical and spiritual health and fitness. The movement is not political and it followers seek to promote truth, tolerance and compassion across racial, national and cultural boundaries. Violence is anathema to Falun Gong adherents."
The practice was released to the public by Mr Li Hongzhi in 1992 and quickly spread by word of mouth to be practised by millions of people across China and overseas. As stated in the Canadian report the Chinese Government's sports administration estimated that there were 70 million Falun Gong practitioners in 1999. Subsequently those millions of people became targeted that same year in an ongoing campaign in a scale not seen since China's Cultural Revolution (1966 – 1976).
One of the speakers at the press conference, Ms Tania Ostin, said that across the Asia Pacific region, many Falun Gong had chosen to forgo food for 24 hours, "as a gesture of our hearts concern for this important day."
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