(Clearwisdom.net) On June 28, AAP Newsfeed reported Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Li Ying's strong response condemning the claim made by Shen Guofang, Assistant Foreign Minister of China, that the Chinese communist regime has a duty to restrict Falun Gong practitioners' activities overseas. Li Ying said that the Chinese government has no right to demand that the Australian government restrict Falun Gong practitioners' activities.
Sydney Falun Gong practitioner Li Ying has criticized Beijing, which banned Falun Gong in 1999, for trying to limit the freedoms of its followers in Australia.
Ms Li said the Chinese government was wrong to interfere with Falun Gong in Australia.
"They have no right to do this," she said.
"This is Australia--this is (a) free country. We can say what we want to say, we can think what we want to think--in China you have no freedom to do that."
The report said that Ms Li, who arrived in Australia in 2003, claims she was detained and tortured by the Chinese government in 1999 due to her involvement in the outlawed group.
She believes Chinese agents have been spying on her ever since, even in Australia.
Ms Li said Falun Gong practitioners often protested outside the Chinese embassy in Canberra, but their actions were peaceful and not disruptive.
"We're just peaceful people trying to stop this persecution (of Falun Gong)," she said.
A former Chinese diplomat in Sydney, Chen Yonglin, defected last month, saying he could no longer support his country's persecution of dissidents.
China had some 1,000 spies and informants in Australia and had carried out kidnappings of Chinese nationals in the country, Mr. Chen said.
