(Clearwisdom.net) On June the 28th, a shooting incident involving overseas Falun Gong practitioners took place in Johannesburg, South Africa. Nine Australian Falun Gong practitioners were attacked by gunmen on their way from Johannesburg International Airport to the Presidential Guest House, among whom David Liang, the only one wearing the outfit with the insignia 'Falun Dafa', was shot resulting in the bones of one foot being shattered. This horrific incident took place during the Chinese Vice-President Zeng Qinghong and Commerce Minister Bo Xilai's visit to South Africa. These nine Australian Falun Gong practitioners were on their way to file a lawsuit against Zeng and Bo for their crimes against Falun Gong in South Africa. They never expected that someone would have hired thugs to conduct the shooting attack.

The shooting incident has shocked the world. Former British senior diplomat and Falun Gong practitioner Lord Frances Thurlow expressed his opinion about this incident based on his vast experience. He hit the mark with a single comment: the incident had a lot to do with the two visiting Chinese officials.

Lord Thurlow (right) and Lord Moyn (centre) at the Falun Gong press conference

Lord Thurlow remarked that the shooting incident that happened in South Africa was unquestionably related to these two visiting high-ranking officials. He held, it was hard to imagine these nine Australian Falun Gong practitioners would have displeased any local people leading to the shooting on the first day they arrived in South Africa. However, the visiting Chinese Communist high-ranking officials had the motive to commit the crime of hiring someone to conduct the shooting, as Zeng and Bo had been actively participating in the brutal persecution of Falun Gong in Mainland China. These nine arriving practitioners from Australia were just about to help local practitioners file a lawsuit against these two officials.

Lord Thurlow noted, "If the official investigation certifies that this incident was instigated by officials of the Chinese Communist Party, it will regarded as an act of terror conducted by the Chinese Communist Party abroad. What is puzzling to us is the fact that the Chinese Communist party has been supporting the war against terrorism, so why does it extend terror activity overseas itself? Besides, the Chinese Communist Party has sought to improve its relationship with the western world, to strengthen friendly communications, whereas the shooting incident in South Africa just serves to make people doubt its sincerity."

"We are responsible for making the declaration to the whole world, the Chinese Communist regime does not just persecute its own people on its own land, it also extends the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners overseas, by hiring thugs to conduct this shooting in another country," Lord Thurlow added. He also pointed out that overseas Falun Gong practitioners have been molested by various interferences instigated by the Chinese Communist Party. For example, some practitioners' relatives were put into labor camps or threatened, some of them were refused passport extensions, some practitioners' properties were damaged by malice and so on. In London, the Chinese Embassy has rejected several practitioners' passport extension applications. However, hiring armed thugs is a first. It demonstrates that the Jiang group has escalated its persecution of overseas Falun Gong practitioners in sixty countries.

Lord Thurlow emphasized, "The shooting incident in South Africa will not make Falun Gong practitioners retreat. We will continue to clarify the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong to the whole world, to let people and governments from every country know the truth about Falun Gong and to support us to end this persecution as soon as possible."

Source: http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200407/20499.html

Posting date: 7/3/2004
Original article date: 7/3/2004
Category: Open Forum
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/7/1/78415.html

 Yearly Archive  Printer Version