"Coalition to Investigate the Persecution" Investigators Apply for Visas, Sydney Residents Rally to Support (Photos)

Clearwisdom reporter Xin Yu from Sydney

(Clearwisdom.net) Five representatives of the first team of investigators for the "Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong" (CIPFG) from North America, Canada, Europe and Australia started their visa applications to China on April 19, 2006. They requested to enter the Mainland China to perform an investigation into the charges of illegal detention, torture and live organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners happening in concentration camps, forced labor camps, prisons and other facilities. On the morning of April 19, 2006 (Australian local time), Sound of Hope radio station reporter Linda Xu, as a member of the CIPFG investigation team, went to the Chinese Consulate General in Sydney to apply for a visa to China.

According to reports, followers of Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan's regime are hastily eliminating eyewitnesses and victims of underground concentration camps prior to May 1, 2006. Therefore, the investigation is very urgent.

"CIPFG" holds a press conference in front of the Chinese Consulate in Sydney

While Linda Xu went to apply for a visa, the CIPFG held a press conference in front of the Chinese Consulate General in Sydney, announcing the purpose of the CIPFG and that the first team of investigators has begun applying for visas to prepare to enter China. Representatives from Sydney Falun Gong practitioners, the Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners, Free China and some Sydney citizens attended the rally outside the Chinese Consulate, expressing their support to Linda Xu and protesting against the CCP's atrocities. Meanwhile, more than a dozen Australians held a 24-hour group hunger strike outside the Prime Minister's Office on Philip Street in downtown Sydney. They supported Linda Xu's brave act and called upon the Australian Prime Minister and government to pay attention to and help to stop the CCP's inhuman atrocities.

The event drew attention from several Chinese and English media in Australia. The ABC Radio station, the SBS TV station, NTD TV, The Epoch Times, 2SER TV and other media outlets interviewed the spokesperson for Falun Gong in Sydney, as well as the spokesperson for CIPFG.

Linda Xu applies for a visa at the "invitation" of the CCP's Ministry of Foreign Affairs but rejected by the Chinese Consulate

Linda Xu walks out of the Chinese Consulate and accepts interviews after visa application was rejected

The host of the press conference introduced that Linda Xu is a reporter at the Sound of Hope Radio Station focusing on human rights news in Mainland China. She had previously reported on the bird flu epidemic in Anhui Province and Northeast China, and the miserable situation of appealers whose houses have been dismantled in Shanghai. Her reports on Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhesheng have won high appraisal inside and outside of China. On March 28, at a press conference, Qin Gang, spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, denied the existence of concentration camps and invited members of the media to come to inspect places that are suspected of having built concentration camps. Even though the CCP didn't respond until three weeks after the Sujiatun incident was exposed, the Sound of Hope radio still responded to its challenge by dispatching reporter Linda Xu, as a member of the first team of investigators, to go to Mainland China to investigate and collect evidence in forced labor camps, prisons, hospitals and other facilities.

Ms. Xu said at the press conference, "We have found a lot of clues pointing to the harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners in the Mainland China. I'd like to fulfill my duty as a reporter to go to China and investigate and gain a clear understanding of the facts. So today, I formally submitted my application for a work visa to go to China for the investigation."

The CCP's "invitation" deceives the international community, other investigators will continue their visa applications

After her visa application was rejected, Linda Xu said, "The Chinese Consulate asked me to present the invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In fact, the "CIPFG" had sent a formal letter to notify the CCP's Foreign Ministry one day prior to my application. The letter stated that several reporters will simultaneously apply for visas in different countries. The invitation was simply for show. Qin Gang's words were only to deceive the international community."

Linda Xu expressed that she would not be discouraged and would continue making efforts in the investigation. At the same time, investigators from different countries would continue to apply for visas to go to China to investigate and collect evidence. She said that the Minghui websites gets over a hundred cases daily regarding the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners inside China, and it is a powerful investigative channel. She called upon the media, human rights organizations, the Red Cross and other organizations to join the CIPFG in the investigation, truly exposing the truth to the public. After the press conference, Mr. Yang Jun, former leader of the civil democratic movement, Ms. Su, Ambassador of Peace from the World Peace League and other attendees told reporters that they intended to join the CIPFG and hoped to get visas to go to China to investigate the atrocities in concentration camps.

Yang Jun: Seventeen years later, the CCP's killing is still going on

Former leader of the student movement supports the investigation

Ms. Kay Rebecca expressed that the CCP did not respond to reports of the Sujiatun atrocities until three weeks later, when it had enough time to remove the evidence. The CCP then invited the international media to come to investigate after removing evidence, a tactic reminiscent of the Nazis' ploy at the Theresienstadt concentration camp. As for the rejection of Linda Xu's visa application, Ms. Rebecca was not surprised. The CCP's Foreign Ministry was not making a sincere offer to have people conduct an independent investigation and was afraid of the truth being exposed further.

Representative of Free China Kelly Zhan expressed in her speech that at 8:00 a.m. this morning, over a dozen Sydney citizens started a 24-hour hunger strike at the entrance to the Prime Minister's Office. They hoped to convey a powerful message to the Prime Minister: We must immediately take action, and every minute of delay may be at the cost of lives of more innocent Falun Gong practitioners. The hunger strikers called upon Prime Minister Howard to immediately demand an open investigation into the CCP's atrocities and to convey the urgent appeal and concerns of the Australian citizens regarding this incident to American President George Bush, who is about to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/4/20/125682.html

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