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The Chinese and Australian Foreign Ministers Meet; Australian Senator Questions Australian Government's Orders in Restricting Falun Gong Banners (Photos)
By Australian practitioners
(Clearwisdom.net) About one hundred Falun Dafa practitioners from as far as Queensland, New
South Wales and Victoria went to Canberra and peacefully appealed to end the
persecution against Falun Dafa. This coincided with the arrival of the
Chinese Foreign Minister's meeting with the Australian Foreign Minister to
discuss trade. A press conference was held with Senator Bob Brown of the Green Party and
Kerry Tucker (State parliamentary official) with all of the major news networks
covering the event. Senator Bob Brown asked the Australian government
why Falun Gong members had been ordered to take down their banners in front of
the Chinese Embassy that had been present there for the last nine months.
In the interview he urged the Australian Foreign Affairs Minister to join him
and have the banners reinstated in Falun Gong's ongoing peaceful appeal.
Senator Bob Brown also expressed that people have a right to freedom of speech
and that the Australian government had taken away that right. A few days before, the Australian Foreign Affairs Minister in a letter asked
that all Falun Gong banners be removed and all music stopped so as to
"safeguard the dignity of the Chinese Embassy ... while the Chinese Foreign
Affairs Minister was in Australia." This shocked many Australians. Practitioners peacefully gathered outside of the Federal Parliament House and
practiced the exercises while some held banners. We also spoke to
members of parliament about the ongoing persecution against Falun Dafa. With the help of local police, we then held a parade from the parliament
house to the Chinese Embassy with our banners flying high. Once we
arrived at the Chinese Embassy, we peacefully gathered across the street while
still holding our banners. We sent forth righteous thoughts and then
put down our banners and stood in silent tribute to our fellow practitioners
been tortured to death in China. At the end of the day, a few practitioners remained meditating in silence at
the site across from the Chinese Embassy. |