Push to Raise the Falun Gong Issue

Albanese is also being urged to raise the human rights issue of Falun Gong practitioners in China, many of whom are family members of Australian citizens, during his upcoming visit.

Falun Gong, a peaceful meditation practice rooted in Buddhist traditions, was illegally banned in China in 1999. Millions of practitioners have since faced arbitrary detention, torture, death, and even forced organ harvesting.

Chen Xiao, an Australian citizen living in Sydney, is pleading for the prime minister’s help her mother, Zezhen Tan, who has been detained in China since 2020 and was subjected to forced labour and medical testing while in detention.

“I am deeply worried about my mum’s safety. For years, our family and friends have had no contact with her and don’t know whether she is still alive. The uncertainty is taking a devastating toll on our family,” she said in a media release to The Epoch Times.

Lucy Zhao, president of the Falun Dafa Association of Australia, noted that the U.S. Congress recently passed both the Falun Gong Protection Act (H.R. 1540) and the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act (H.R. 1503), calling on the federal government to take similar steps to defend basic human rights.

“These are Australian families desperately trying to reunite with their loved ones. Falun Gong practitioners are being jailed, tortured, and killed for their beliefs—this should not be ignored in the name of trade,” she said.

Zhao also urged Albanese to follow the lead of G7 countries in addressing the CCP’s transnational repression.

The G7 leaders released a joint statement on June 17, pledging to cooperate in countering transnational repression, which they described as “an aggressive form of foreign interference” that “often impacts dissidents, journalists, human rights defenders, religious minorities, and those identified as part of diaspora communities.”

“The CCP is the world’s biggest perpetrator of transnational repression. Here in Australia, Falun Gong communities are direct targets of that repression,” Zhao said.

The spokesperson for the prime minister’s office did not comment on The Epoch Times’ enquiry about Falun Gong practitioners.

Alfred Bui contributed to this report.

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