Here are the latest updates on Chinese Communist Party (CCP) representative Wang Yi’s visit:
Thursday, March 21
NSW Premier Thanks the Foreign Minister for His Visit
“Delighted to host Minister Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Minister, at NSW Parliament today,” New South Wales (NSW) Premier Chris Minns said on X.“China is NSW’s top two-way goods trading partner, bringing immense value to our state. NSW is dedicated to nurturing a positive and stable bond with China.”
Australia’s most populous state is home to the largest Chinese-speaking community in the country.
Human Rights ‘Shouldn’t Be Compromised With Trade’: Australia’s Falun Dafa Association President
Lucy Zhao, president of the Falun Dafa Association of Australia, explained why Falun Gong practitioners are protesting during CCP Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Australia.
“We are here to express concerns about the persecution of Falun Gong in China which has continued for 25 years,” she told The Epoch Times.
There are still thousands of Falun Gong adherents being detained in China, including at least seven family members of Australian residents and citizens, Ms. Zhao noted.
She added that human rights “shouldn’t be compromised with trade, ”as only when there’s mutual respect for freedom and human rights will the trade brings long-term benefits for Australia and China.
“Minister Wang Yi’s visit is a good opportunity for him to learn more about Falun Gong and how Falun Gong is welcomed in Australia and other countries in the world.”
“China is the only country where Falun Gong is banned and persecuted. This should be stopped immediately.”
Falun Gong Adherents Protest Wang Yi’s Visit
A group of Falun Gong practitioners are holding banners to protest the CCP regime’s persecution of the meditation practice as they wait for Beijing’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi to arrive. They were heard chanting “Stop persecuting Falun Gong,” “Quit the CCP” and “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a Chinese spiritual practice whose adherents strive to live by the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Since being spread publicly in China in 1992, it has gained significant popularity among the Chinese public due to its mental and physical benefits, with the regime estimating over 70 million were practicing by the mid-1990s.
However, then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin unilaterally deemed it an ideological threat to the regime and began a brutal persecution in 1999.
Police Gather Ahead Of Wang Yi’s Arrival
Police and media presence are building up outside of the NSW Parliament House in Sydney.
Paul Keating Issues Statement
Former PM Paul Keating has described his one-hour meeting with Foreign Minister Wang as a “big picture discussion about the geostrategic balances and influences in the world.”Mr. Keating hailed the Labor government’s long-term relationship with the CCP.
This includes “Bert Evatt’s support for recognising Mao’s government in 1950, Gough Whitlam establishing diplomatic relations in 1973, Bob Hawke’s relationship with Hu Yaobang in the eighties, my relationship with Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji in putting together APEC, the Leaders’ meeting and Kevin Rudd’s role in the expansion of the East Asia Summit.”
According to the former PM, Mr. Wang wanted to “put bilateral difficulties behind” as he was “encouraged by the government’s efforts in restoring appropriate equilibrium between our two countries.”
“He said the world will still benefit from China’s ability to supply high quality relatively low priced goods which will help underwrite higher living standards in the West and other regions of the world,” Mr. Keating said.
“He both encouraged and welcomed Australia’s continuing integration with East Asia where he believed Australia’s future lies.”
“The Foreign Minister displayed a keen understanding of Australia’s strengths. Its complementarity with China’s own economy and the prospect of ever rising living standards for both countries.”
Paul Keating Leaves Chinese Consulate After 1-Hour Meeting
It is March 21, Paul Keating, the Australian former prime minister, has finished his one-hour meeting with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.Mr. Keating was seen leaving the Chinese consulate in Sydney in a grey Skoda sedan just before 12pm. Meanwhile, Mr. Wang was seen in a motorcade with Chinese envoy Xiao Qian.
It was reported that journalists for the Beijing-backed CGTN were given permission to enter the consulate, while journalists for Australian media outlets waited outside the compound.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has previously assured that Mr. Keating—who adopted a Beijing-friendly stance—didn’t have a say on the Labor government’s policy with the communist regime.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said the fact that the Chinese embassy sought a meeting with Mr. Keating was “quite pointed and somewhat insulting towards Senator Wong.”
“I think, frankly, Paul Keating should reconsider his undertaking of this meeting,” Senator Birmingham told ABC Radio.
Wang Yi to Head to Sydney For Meeting With Keating
Mr. Wang will be heading to Sydney for a publicised meeting with former Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating, a staunch critic of the AUKUS alliance between Australia, the United States, and the UK.AUKUS was formed in response to the ongoing military build-up of Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army Navy in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.
Wednesday, March 20
Federal Opposition Meet With Wang Yi
Wang Yi has also met with the federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Shadow Foreign Affairs spokesperson Simon Birmingham, earlier today, Mr. Birmingham called on Beijing to drop the wine tariffs on Australian exports.“It was an honour to have met with Foreign Minister, Wang Yi in Canberra today,” Mr. Dutton wrote on X.
“We have an amazing Chinese diaspora community in Australia which has contributed greatly to our country. It was a pleasure to discuss this, and various other matters in our meeting today.”
“I would hope that Foreign Minister Wang Yi will leave Australia following the range of meeting he’s having, with an understanding of the depth of emotion that Australians felt about the sentencing of Yang Hengjun, the strong desire across Australia to see him treated with compassion, and that we would wish to ultimately see him provided with a pathway to return to Australia,” said Senator Simon Birmingham, in comments to ABC.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Meets With Wang Yi
The Australian leader held a closed-door meeting with Beijing’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi.He wrote on X that it was “good to welcome” the CCP representative to Parliament House for discussions with Australia’s foreign minister.
“My government is committed to a constructive and stable relationship with China,” the prime minister said.
Foreign Minister Should ‘Take Steps’ to Deal With Organ Harvesting: ETAC
Susie Hughes, executive director of the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC), said Mr. Wang’s visit was a “prime opportunity” for the Australian government to raise the issue of organ harvesting.“The visit of the Chinese foreign minister is a prime opportunity for Senator Wong to take steps according to Australia’s legal obligations under the Genocide Convention—the Responsibility to Protect,” she said in a statement to The Epoch Times.
“Alongside necessary diplomatic trade negotiations, Australia needs to uphold human rights by sending a clear message to the Chinese communist regime that Australia will not turn a blind eye to the ongoing incarceration of millions of people, including Falun Gong practitioners and Uyghurs, who are arbitrarily detained, tortured, and killed for their organs.”
Police Block Protesters Charging Chinese Embassy Waving Tibetan Flags
A group of around six people waving Tibetan flags charged at the gates of the Chinese embassy in Canberra on Wednesday afternoon but were obstructed by federal police.Zoe Bedford, a spokesperson from the Australia Tibet Council, a group that was demonstrating outside Parliament House, told The Epoch Times that she knew nothing about the actions of protesters at the Chinese embassy.
ACT Policing confirmed with The Epoch Times that a man was arrested this afternoon (Wednesday, March 20, 2024) after he refused to move on from “an embassy in Yarralumla.”
“He was subsequently re-arrested and charged with failing to comply with an exclusion order after he re-attended the embassy later in the afternoon.”
‘I Feel Very Sad,’ Says Chinese Who Fled Persecution
Among the Falun Gong practitioners protesting peacefully in Canberra on Wednesday was Harry, who fled the CCP’s persecution for the safety of Australia two decades ago.“There are many millions of practitioners in China now still under the cruel persecution of CCP. And for close to 25 years, a quarter century, and the situation hasn’t been improved at all,” Harry told The Epoch Times.
Harry, whose surname is being withheld for his safety, said Chinese police illegally arrested his family 20 years ago and sentenced them to forced labor “only because we practice Falun Gong and we also meet other fellow practitioners, and they caught us.”
“My story is just one of the million practitioners,” he said.
Under the CCP, he said Falun Gong adherents are arrested, threatened, and deprived of jobs in both the private and government sectors. This pressure even extends to those who don’t practice Falun Gong but who give an adherent a job, he said.
“It’s a thorough persecution into every cell of the society,” Harry said, and it’s helped by Beijing’s state-run media and social media.
Harry also asserted that what’s happening to Falun Gong in China is “obvious to any government” around the world.
“I reckon the Western agencies in Western countries, they know about the persecution,” Harry said.
“Australian foreign minister is still keeping a blind eye toward the fact of persecution of Falun Gong in China,” he added. “And she didn’t use this great opportunity to raise Australian concern as a country, representing their people with Chinese foreign minister. I feel very sad.”
‘Disappointing’ Wong Didn’t Mention Falun Gong Among Human Rights Issues: Spokesperson
John Deller, a spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Australia, expressed both disappointment and understanding after Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong did not mention Falun Gong’s plight as being among the human rights issues she raised with her Beijing counterpart on Wednesday.“It’s really disappointing as the foreign minister did not refer to Falun Gong, but we understand there is immense pressure from the Chinese communist regime to be here from Wang Yi, no doubt, and from the Chinese embassy,” Mr. Deller told The Epoch Times.
Following her meeting with Beijing Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Ms. Wong told reporters that she raised human rights issues in “Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong.”
However, Falun Gong, which is arguably the largest persecuted faith group in China by number of adherents—70 to 100 million by official estimates in the mid-1990s—was notably absent from this list.
“[The Chinese regime] are really afraid of more people expressing concern for Falun Gong practitioners,” Mr. Deller added. “That’s exactly what the foreign minister for Australia should do. She should be mentioning Falun Gong.”
The Epoch Times contacted Ms. Wong’s office for comment.
Labor Government Afraid of Upsetting Beijing: Liberal MP
Federal Liberal Party MP Andrew Wallace accused the Albanese government of “utter appeasement” of Beijing after speaking at a rally in front of Parliament in Canberra on Wednesday.He said that while dialogue was good, the world needed to remember what the CCP was doing via its foreign interference activities in Australia, Canada, the United States, and the UK.
“There is no doubt that the Chinese Communist Party is undertaking the most significant forms of foreign interference in the democratic processes in Western countries than we have ever seen,” he told The Epoch Times.
“So I think that is very, very important to understand. I think it’s also important to understand that the Chinese Communist Party tried to bring Australia to its economic knees when a decision was made by former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull not to allow Huawei to undertake or provide services into our 5G network.
“[Prime Minister] Scott Morrison continued that very strong leadership, and what we saw was the CCP, trying to effectively make Australia into an example of what happens if you go against the CCP—you will pay a price.”
“What we are now seeing under this federal Labor government is absolute utter appeasement.”
He pointed to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s delay in bringing up the sonar incident, which saw Australian Navy divers injured, with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping during the recent APEC Summit.
“One minute, Richard Marles, the Australian defence minister, is talking about how we are living in the most geo-strategically unstable period since 1945, and yet here we’re cosying up to China.”
Wong Raises Human Rights, Regional ‘Peace and Stability’
“I told the foreign minister Australians were shocked at the sentence imposed and I made clear to him the Australian government will continue to advocate on Dr Yang’s behalf,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters following her meeting with her Beijing counterpart.“I also raised our concerns about other Australian death penalty cases, as you know, Australia opposes the death penalty in all circumstances for all peoples.”
Ms. Wong also discussed human rights in “Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong.”
“I expressed our concern, our serious concern about unsafe conduct at sea, our desire for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and in our region. I reflected on the review of our region as outlined again and underscored again at the recent ASEAN summit about the importance of the South China Sea being governed by law interview, particularly UNCLOS.”
She said the Albanese government also welcomed progress on removing trade barriers on Australian beef and lobster exports and also discussed the volatility in nickel markets caused by Indo-Chinese mining projects.
Australian Government ‘Looks Forward’ to Visit from CCP Premier
Ms. Wong told reporters that a stable relationship between Australia and China “doesn’t just happen.”“It needs ongoing work. And this was the latest meeting in that process,” she said. “As Minister Wang reflected in that meeting, it’s in both our interests [that] we have a mature and productive relationship.”
Both sides agreed to a sixth foreign and strategic dialogue and the recommencement of the bilateral annual leaders meeting.
“The Prime Minister [Anthony Albanese] looks forward to welcoming [Beijing’s Premier Li Qiang] to Australia. I’m pleased this is on track, and we agreed on work to prepare for that meeting,” she said.
“The meeting was an opportunity for both the minister and I to exchange frank views on issues that matter to us.”
ACT Attorney General Speaks Out
The Australian Capital Territory’s Shane Rattenbury, attorney-general and a Greens Party member, said the government needed to raise difficult issues and be clear that “human rights should be respected.”“Culture should be respected. Freedom of religion should be respected. These should be universal values,” he said.
“The great thing about Australia is that members of Falun Gong can raise their voices here freely without fear of persecution, which is very important.”
Protests in Front of Beijing Foreign Minister’s Canberra Hotel
Representatives of the Falun Gong community have gathered in front of the Hyatt Hotel Canberra where the Chinese regime’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, is staying.Falun Gong practitioners hope to raise awareness of the severe persecution occurring in China under the communist regime.
Falun Gong is a peaceful meditation practice whose adherents follow the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The CCP began to brutally suppress Falun Gong in 1999.
Protestors Gather in Front of Parliament House
Representatives of the Falun Gong, Tibetan, and Uyghur communities have gathered in front of the nation’s Parliament to protest Mr. Wang’s visit.“We hope that our government’s focus on repairing Australia’s trade relationship with China will not overshadow the importance of raising China’s human rights atrocities,” said Lucy Zhao, president of the Falun Dafa Association of Australia.
Adherents of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice from the Buddhist tradition that the Chinese regime has persecuted since 1999, came from all around Australia to send a message to the CCP official.
“Immediately end the persecution of Falun Gong, release all family members of Australian residents and stop the forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience,” according to a press release by the Falun Dafa Association of Australia.
Allegations of forced organ harvesting in China were found to have been committed by the CCP against Falun Gong practitioners and other faith groups by an independent tribunal led by distinguished human rights barrister Sir Geoffrey Nice KC in 2020.
The following year, nine United Nations Special Rapporteurs issued a joint correspondence noting that “credible information” showed that Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Muslims, and Christians detained in China “may be forcibly subjected to blood tests and organ examinations” without informed consent.
The Falun Dafa Association of Australia highlighted Australia’s commitment to a number of United Nations multilateral treaties upholding human rights and freedom of religion in their call for detained practitioners in China to be set free.
“There are many egregious human rights violations occurring in China today. Basic freedoms for Hong Kong have now joined the CCP’s long-standing taboo subjects such as Tiananmen Square, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and many other groups. Among these, Falun Gong practitioners represent the largest persecuted group in China,” Ms. Zhao said.
Wang Meets With Foreign Minister Wong
Australian Foreign Minister Senator Penny Wong delivered opening remarks before the closed-door meeting with her Beijing counterpart.“I also welcome progress on trade between our countries, including exports, and look forward to the resolution of outstanding issues,” Ms. Wong told the media.
“Predictability in business and trade is in all of our interests. You and I also agreed on the importance of dialogue between our two countries, not just to take forward our shared interest but also to exchange views on the issues that matter to us and navigate wisely any issues we have.”
Beijing Shamed into Dropping Tariffs: Opposition
Australian Shadow Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Senator Simon Birmingham, in a press conference on Wednesday morning, said Beijing was effectively pressured into dropping its trade sanctions against Australia.“We need to be very clear here that China has been acting in breach of its obligations under the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement and to the World Trade Organisation through the imposition of the trade sanctions against Australia,” he told reporters.
“And China’s decisions to lift those tariffs on barley and seemingly now on wine have come following Australia, prosecuting that case through the independent umpire of the WTO and China being handed the draft findings and intended findings of that independent umpire.
“So, it’s no surprise that under threat of being called out for breaching its commitments to the world, China is removing those tariffs. But it is very welcome that they do so, and they should do so forthwith,” he added, in reference to the wine tariffs that are said to be worth $1 billion to Australia’s economy.
Wang Yi Arrives Tuesday Night
Beijing’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Canberra on Tuesday night after a brief stopover in New Zealand on Sunday, and a visit to a winery._____
