Included in the commemoration event were facts on the persecution; practitioners in Auckland re-created several of the torture methods used by the Chinese Communist Party including scenes depicting the illegal organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners.
Guest speakers spoke of the inhumanity and cruel treatment inflicted by the Chinese Communist Party(CCP) on Chinese people whose belief ran contrary to the dogma of the communist regime.
Yu Zhou, a famous singer and Beijing University graduate, and his wife Xu Na, a poet and painter, were both arrested and imprisoned for practising Falun Gong.
It is believed that Yu Zhou was tortured to death (2008) but his family was told that he died from diabetes or from a hunger strike, said Ms Taylor.
Xu Na, has been imprisoned for three years for “using a heretical organization to undermine the implementation of the law.”
“Who will represent Xu Na now that there are even fewer lawyers who are courageous enough to stand up for the rights of the persecuted?” asked Ms Taylor.
Governments who allow their response to the persecution in China to be influenced by the Chinese Communist Party, should “resist this pressure,” believes Mr Locke. He went on to explain how the communist regime gives its support to repressive governments in countries such as Burma and Iran.
Many victims of the persecution came forward to tell their personal stories, a stark reminder of the horrendous suffering that has been inflicted on Falun Gong practitioners and their families.
Mr He worked in the communist party’s propaganda department policy for 22 years. He said it would be impossible to list all of the crimes that had been committed by the communist regime.
When China’s police discovered that Mr He practised Falun Gong, they illegally sent him to a brainwashing centre for a period of nine years.
Two young girls, Lulu and Anna, appealed on behalf of their mothers who have been injustly imprisoned in China. They related the events that had led to their mothers’ arrest and called on New Zealanders to help stop the persecution by signing a petition.
The communist party’s lack of any respect for the sanctity of human life was illustrated by Mr Huang Guohua’s account of the persecution of his wife, Luo Zhixiang, and her unborn child.
Mr Huang, who now lives in New Zealand with his 8 year old daughter, Kaixin, says he only learnt of his wife’s death four months after she had died.
“The murderer was even rewarded by the CCP,” he added.
Christchurch Holds Commemoration Event
Christchurch’s commemoration event was held on the 18 July, and described by Mr Robinson, a Falun Dafa practitioner, as “The best event we’ve ever had. Today we’ve handed out over 700 brochures! The support has been overwhelming.”
The photos and information in the display included personal accounts of families suffering and people’s lives ripped to shreds by the Chinese Communist Party.
Public Support in Wellington
Over the weekend peaceful music, symbolising the Commemoration of ten years of persecution in China, could be heard playing in Cuba Mall, Wellington.
From Saturday July 18 to Monday July 20, Falun Dafa practitioners were raising awareness about the persecution of fellow practitioners in China. Giving out fliers and holding up banners, practitioners were seen in Cuba Mall inviting Wellingtonians to also sign a petition.
It was 10 years ago, that the communist Chinese regime initiated a campaign of imprisonment, defamation, torture and death of adherents of the ancient spiritual practice.
A local, Cindy Brown a chef, said she could not understand why people could be arrested just for practising Falun Gong.
Ms Brown believes that the reason so many Chinese in the west have a negative view of Falun Gong is that the Chinese media “is scaremongering”.
“It’s contradictory that they’re persecuted when they are a peace-loving organization,” she said.
Another local David Fenwick, owner of Plumb Cafe, said that Tibetans and pro democracy students had also been persecuted. Giving his opinion, Mr Fenwick said that Falun Dafa practitioners needed to be heard and they needed to maintain a high profile.
