BRISBANE, Australia—It was supposed to be three weeks of sunshine, rugby, and family memories—until a quiet stroll through downtown Brisbane took a surreal, eye-opening turn.
The Gray family from Northern Ireland had come down under to watch the prestigious British and Irish Lions tour, which began in 1888—an auspicious year according to Chinese numerology.
The Lions are comprised of the best players from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and a tour takes place every four years, rotating between South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia—meaning each country hosts it only once every 12 years, drawing thousands of fans from the UK.
It was in the Brisbane CBD that son Harry Gray spotted a large group of people dressed in yellow jackets amid a backdrop sea of red-shirted Lions fans.
“Horrific,” remarked Joan Gray, mother and social worker, upon seeing details of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) transnational repression against Falun Gong practitioners, as well as its systemic forced organ harvesting.
“Horrific that this is going on in this day and age, and nobody’s doing anything to stop it,” she told The Epoch Times.
“I thought that was only something that you seen on TV or read in a book. It wasn’t a real thing. You know, shocking that that’s actually happening and nobody knows about it.”
The G7 recently released a statement (pdf) against the issue of transnational repression, which encompasses an “aggressive form of foreign interference” aimed at communities outside a government or regime’s borders.
Activities include violence and intimidation, the confiscation of passports, forced abductions, hacking and doxing campaigns.
Joan said she'd never heard of the issue back home, said the overall display was not something the Grays were expecting.
“It’s wonderful that [Falun Gong practitioners are] highlighting it. It’s not something that we’ve ever, ever heard of.”
Falun Gong practitioners were in Brisbane Square commemorating the 26th anniversary of the official start of the CCP’s persecution against the peaceful meditation practice.
Falun Gong was publicised in the early 1990s, based on the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The practice quickly gained a following due to its physical and mental health benefits.
However, in 1999, then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin became wary of the size of the practice and ordered a nationwide persecution against the practice, ordering it to be “eradicated in three months.”
That’s how on July 20, 1999, tens of millions of law-abiding citizens in China became targets of the regime overnight.
Other methods used in the persecution include arbitrary arrests and detention, physical and psychological torture, enforced ideological re-education, surveillance and intimidation, among others.
Australian Government Urged to Take Tougher Stance
The Australian government has expressed concerns about Falun Gong practitioners and the persecution in China.
However, there are calls for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor government to take a tougher stance in dealing with the CCP.
“Unlike Australia’s vague foreign interference laws, the U.S. did not shy away from naming the culprit,” says a July 17 post by Queensland Senator Malcolm Roberts of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party.
The post pointed to the H.R. 1503 Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act recently passed in the U.S. House, which aims to “hold accountable persons implicated, including members of the Chinese Communist Party.”
“This is the narrative of a horror film, and yet it is a real-world scenario carried out by the communist regime,” wrote Roberts.
Victoria’s state shadow minister, Brad Rowswell, pointed the Falun Gong Protection Act (H.R. 1540) recently passed unanimously by the U.S. Congress, saying it “reflects a growing recognition among democratic nations that protecting these rights is both a moral imperative and a shared responsibility.”
“As Australians, we place immense value on the freedoms that underpin our liberal democracy. Freedom should never be an abstract ideal but a principle that shapes our way of life,” he wrote in a letter to the Falun Dafa Association of Victoria.
Mrs Gray praised Falun Gong practitioners courage in disclosing the brutal persecution.
“Thankfully that you are highlighting it, and hopefully a lot of people would see it,” she said.
“If people don’t know about it, they can’t do anything to stop it.”
