New York, U.S.A.: Falun Gong Practitioners Hold Press Conference at the Chinese Consulate Condemning The South African Shooting Incident (Photos)

By a New York Falun Gong practitioner

(Clearwisdom.net)

On the day of June 29, 2004, at noon, nearly 150 Falun Gong practitioners from the Greater New York City area rallied at the Chinese Consulate and held a press conference to condemn the shooting incident in South Africa. Practitioners strongly condemned Zeng Qinghong (Chinese Deputy Premier) and Bo Xilai (Chinese Minister of Commerce) for hiring gunmen to shoot Falun Gong practitioners and using state terror methods to prevent practitioners from filing legal papers charging them with crimes against Falun Gong.

A Falun Gong practitioner reads a statement

Representative of Friends of Falun Gong gives a speech during the rally

Representative of Global Coalition to Bring Jiang Zemin to Justice strongly condemned the shooting incident

On the evening of June 28, 2004, around 8:30 pm, nine Australian Falun Gong who just arrived at Johannesburg International Airport were driving on their way to the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria in two cars, when a unknown assailants in a white car suddenly opened fire from the side slightly behind the second car driven by the practitioners, targeting the tires and the driver. The car was hit at least five times. The Falun Gong practitioner who was driving, David Liang who was the only person wearing a jacket inscribed with the words "Falun Dafa", was shot in both feet. The bones in one foot were shattered and required an operation. The car he was driving was severely damaged and came to a stop. Seeing this, the gunmen quickly fled the scene. Practitioners who were at the scene and witnessed the whole incident said: "This was not a typical shooting incident, it was a deliberate assassination attempt by thugs hired by Zeng Qinghong. This kind of act of terror exposes Jiang's policies of extending the persecution against Falun Gong overseas to silence them using all means.

In a statement, Falun Gong practitioners in Greater New York City said, in the past five years, Jiang's regime has routinely harassed, threaten and even attacked Falun Gong practitioners in order to suppress overseas voices of support to Falun Gong.This shooting incident in South Africa represents an escalation in the overseas persecution Jiang has ordered by using hired assailants to shoot practitioners. Falun Gong practitioners in Greater New York City were calling for a full investigation to find the perpetrators of this crime.

Zeng Qinghong is the most important assistant of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin. He has been involved in all the important policymaking including the persecution of Falun Gong during Jiang's reign. From 1999 to the end of 2002, while he was head of the Organizational Department of the CPC Central Committee, he gave many speeches and issued many official documents to order party committees of all levels to carry out an escalating persecution of Falun gong. He ordered the entire ruling party to participate in the persecution campaign, ordered the suppression and brainwashing of Falun Gong practitioners. He initiated and mandated a campaign of genocide to eradicate Falun Gong practitioners both spiritually and physically with a towering list of horrific methods of torture.

The Organization Department under his leadership also awarded individuals and units who had aggressively participated in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Those who have been awarded included:

- The Tiananmen Square Subdivision of Bejing's Public Security Bureau which was notorious for openly beating up Falun Gong practitioners

-The Party Secretary General of Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau of Chinese Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, Wang Xianhan, who conducted brainwashing programs designed to force Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their belief. His crimes have resulted in deaths, disability and psychological trauma of a number of practitioners.

-Su Jing, director of the 2^nd Women's Division of Masanjia Forced Labor Camp, who became notorious for stripping 18 female Falun Gong practitioners naked and throwing them unguarded into male criminals cells to be abused without restraint.

-Ouyang Daixia of the Shayang Labor Camp in Hubei Province who aggressively conducted mental and physical abuse against practitioners, etc. These individuals and many others were paraded around the nation to give speeches and were widely reported by state media.

In Western democratic nations such as Iceland and Germany, Jiang couldn't bear to see any person wearing yellow colored clothing because of his fear of the voice of justice. Jiang's group has perpetrated violent attacks to intimidate Falun Gong practitioners because the regime fears practitioners' peaceful appeals for justice. Jiang's group has bartered national economic and diplomatic interests in order to persuade other nations not to stand up for justice against Jiang because he fears being brought to justice according to international laws.

A representative of Friends of Falun Gong said Zeng Qinghong and Bo Xilai who were visiting South Africa from June 27 to 29 have played an important role in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. This shooting incident is closely related to Jiang's effort to suppress overseas Falun Gong practitioners' peaceful appeals and legal cases. Friends of Falun Gong has requested the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to pay special attention to future Chinese officials who visit the U.S. who are complicit in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

This shooting incident is the extension overseas of Jiang's policy to shoot Flaun Gong practitioners in public if necessary. In Mainland China, Jiang has given the order to shoot Falun Gong practitioners as early as the beginning of 2002. Thereafter, a number of shooting incidents occurred in several regions in China. Friends of Falun Gong called on the government of South Africa to investigate this incident.

Li Dayong, representative of Global Coalition to Bring Jiang Zemin to Justice strongly condemned the shooting incident. He called on related international institutions especially the South Africa government to investigate this incident thoroughly and bring all the perpetrators directly and indirectly involved in this incident to justice.

Falun Gong practitioners believe that the international community will respect Falun Gong practitioners more and more as it deepens its understanding of Falun Gong. While more and more people have come to understand the nature of the persecution, voices of justice will sound continuously from different parts of the world and the day to bring Jiang and his political followers to justice is coming soon.

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