Falun Dafa Minghui.org www.minghui.org PRINT

Vancouver, Canada: Practitioners Hold a Press Conference Regarding the Shooting Incident (Photos)

July 1, 2004

(Clearwisdom.net) After hearing the shocking news that Vice President Zeng Qinghong was suspected of having hired gunman to kill Falun Gong practitioners bringing a lawsuit against him during his visit in South Africa, Vancouver practitioners held a press conference in front of the Chinese Consulate at 11:00a.m. on June 29, 2004. In the press conference Jiang's political group was soundly condemned for extending its state terrorism beyond China's borders and persecuting Falun Gong practitioners overseas. People from all walks of life were called upon to join together to stop the atrocities.

Press conference site

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer is having a friendly conversation with practitioners

At 6:00p.m. on June 28, nine Falun Gong practitioners from Australia arrived at Johannesburg International Airport in South Africa, the purpose of this trip was to assist local practitioners in filing a lawsuit against Vice President Zeng Qinghong and Trade Minister Bo Xilai, followers of Jiang' group

After a practitioner from South Africa met them at the airport, they all headed, in two cars, for the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa..

On the way, at approximately 8:30 p.m., a person 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 white car fled the scene after the shooting.

The car was hit at least five times. The Falun Gong practitioner who was driving, David Liang, is an Australian Falun Gong practitioner. He was the only person wearing clothing with the words, "Falun Dafa" in both Chinese and English.

David Liang was hit in both feet. David Liang was immediately taken to the nearby Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital for emergency treatment. X-rays showed that the bones were shattered in one foot.

Vancouver practitioners strongly condemned Jiang's group's for their act of terrorism. In China, Jiang set out a directive for dealing with Falun Gong practitioners which consisted of "defaming their reputation, bankrupting them financially, destroying them physically," also that "deaths of Falun Gong practitioners from beating is nothing and shall be counted as suicide; the body shall be directly cremated without investigating the person's identification" in a systematic attempt to eradicate Falun Gong. It has been verified that more than a thousand Falun Gong practitioners have died as a result of the persecution against them, more than six thousand practitioners have been illegally sentenced to prison, and more than a hundred thousand practitioners have been sentenced to forced labor. Under Jiang's order to, "kill without pardon," several Falun Gong practitioners were shot on several different occasions in China.

Jiang's group has never lifted its surveillance, threats and defamation of overseas Falun Gong practitioners. Utilizing the Chinese embassies and consulates, Jiang's political group controls and manipulates local Chinese communities, such as Students' unions to isolate Falun Gong practitioners and to incite hatred against them as well as spread Jiang's fabricated lies, which has poisoned the minds of the Chinese people's against Falun Gong. Under directives from Jiang, his followers abuse his authority by refusing to deal with Falun Gong practitioners' passport applications or extensions. They even hired Chinese people living abroad, who do not know the facts about the persecution, to beat Falun Gong practitioners and burn Falun Gong practitioners' vehicles. Jiang's group set up a black list of Falun Gong practitioners so as to prohibit Falun Gong practitioners to enter countries and expose their crimes. These same followers threaten and harrass overseas Falun Gong practitioners' relatives in China...

Today, the persecution has escalated to a new level, they even hired assassins to kill practitioners outside China. This not only further exposes its evil and brutal nature in front of the world, but also exposes that they have been desperate and at a dead end. Jiang's genocidal policy in China has not frightened Falun Gong practitioners; the assassination attempt overseas cannot stop the tidal wave of filing lawsuits against Jiang and bringing Jiang to justice.

During the press conference, the Chinese Consulate called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to "protect" them, providing another opportunity for practitioners to clarify the truth. A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer asked for the details of the shooting incident in South Africa, and expressed his concern. He hoped such an incident would not occur in Canada. The officer felt shocked at the Chinese official's inciting hatred in Canada and poisoning Canadian people's minds and threatening them, especially when he heard that the Deputy Consul General of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto Pan Xinchun was successfully sued for "libel" after attacking Falun Gong practitioners in a Chinese newspaper. Diplomatic immunity does not protect the consulate staff whose actions surpass the range of their duties. Of course, the persecution of Falun Gong outside of China is beyond consulate staff's range of duty. The police officer accepted an investigative report from the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong regarding Chinese officials activities intervening with Falun Gong activities in Canada.

After the press conference, some practitioners made a phone call to South Africa's consulate in Vancouver. The official receiving the call stated he hadn't known about the incident yet. After listening to practitioners' explanation, he immediately said that he was sorry for such a thing taking place in South Africa, and he would convey Vancouver practitioners' concern and requests for an investigation to his country.