The Epoch Times
Translated from the Chinese edition

Jul 08, 2004

Damage to the car in the shooting in South Africa. (Epoch Times Photo)

During the South African visit of Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Qinghong, Australian Falun Gong practitioners found themselves the target of gunfire. They made the trip to assist local practitioners in suing Zeng Qinghong. David Liang was the only victim shot in this incident.

According to an interview by Sound of Hope Radio (a U.S. based international radio station), one of the witnesses said that the hit men were native black males who had no intention of robbery. The force of the weapon was enormous, puncturing through Liang's left foot and shattering two major bones in his right heel. The wounds were the size of golf balls.

Considering this was not an ordinary crime, high ranking police officers were assigned to investigate the incident. It is currently classified as attempted murder. The shooting of overseas Falun Gong practitioners draws attention to the possible involvement of the Chinese Communist Party. There have been various reports in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Germany, France and Switzerland, to name a few, about Chinese consulates hiring local gangsters to verbally threaten and physically assault Falun Gong practitioners. They are also hired to steal Falun Gong materials, and to vandalize practitioners' personal property.

Bellow is the phone interview by Sound of Hope. Captions are added by the Epoch Times editor.

Followed by gunmen who had no intention of robbery

On the evening of June 28, during the visit of Chinese Premier Zeng Qinghong to South Africa, Australian practitioners who arrived at Johannesburg en route to Pretoria were attacked by hit men. David Liang was the only one wearing a Falun Dafa jacket in the vehicle and was the only person injured in the shooting. He suffered from shattered bones in his right foot. Sound of Hope reporter interviewed Mr. Wang, who was in the car with Liang at the time of the attack.

Reporter: Were you in the same vehicle as the victim of the South African shooting incident on June 28?

Wang: Yes, Mr. Liang was in the driver's seat while I was sitting in the backseat.

Reporter: Can you briefly tell us what happened?

Wang: We flew from Australia to Johannesburg, and rented two cars at the airport. After driving approximately 50 kilometers, we heard the sound of firecrackers from behind. We did not pay attention to who was setting off firecrackers right then.

Suddenly our car slowed down because bullets had hit our tires and air was leaking out. Then we saw a light colored car driving towards us from behind and eventually running parallel with our car. There were four to five native black males in the vehicle. A gun resembling an AK-47 extended out of the window and began firing at us. As a result, both feet of our driver, Mr. Liang, were shot and we were forced to decelerate.

They slowed down as well in order to be parallel with our car. Then they barged into our lane, forcing us to stop on the grass off of the road. They stopped their car but made no attempt to rob us. They only glanced at us and left.

Police officers of high rank are assigned to the incident

Reporter: We've heard that the police have set out to investigate this incident. Could you update us on this matter?

Wang: Yes, this incident aroused the interest of the police because it is categorized as attempted murder. We have already talked with three groups of police.

If this was an ordinary crime, regular police are sufficient to take charge. Yet the police we talked to were of very high rank, and they told us that our case has alarmed the head of police.

They were concerned that it was not just a regular shooting incident by some malignant group, but attempted murder backed up by very powerful people.

Someone contacted the media in the name of the victim

Reporter: Australian press reported that one victim among the nine called and said that this incident is not related to Falun Gong. What is your view regarding this issue?

Wang: People with common sense will know that this is impossible. None of us made such phone calls or said anything even remotely similar to that.

We were quite intrigued and asked the reporter, "All nine of us are Falun Gong practitioners. How could this issue not be related to Falun Gong?" We expressed to all the media that this shooting was directly targeted at Falun Gong practitioners.

This statement is based on two facts. First, this is our first time in South Africa. We did not stop to do anything during our drive from the airport to Pretoria so we can't possibly have enemies in South Africa. Second, when our car was brought to a halt the hit man did not take our belongings. This proves that their firing at us was not for our possessions.

Wang: What made them do such a thing? We naturally think of the Chinese consulate because there have been many cases of terrorism plotted by Chinese consulates around the world. For instance, Chinese consulates in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Germany, France and Switzerland, to name a few, have hired local gangsters to physically assault Falun Gong practitioners. There were even cases of them fire bombing our cars.

Several of these more extreme cases have happened in Australia. For instance, we have a Falun Gong bumper sticker on our car. One day we parked it in front of the Chinese consulate while we did the exercises in a park which was near the consulate. We returned to find that our car was covered with paint and all four tires were slashed.

Falun Gong practitioners have also received inexplicable phone calls from people identifying themselves as secret agents sent from China. They threatened us, "Your life will be in danger if you continue to practice Falun Gong."

Sometimes practitioners' homes were ransacked. However, none of their money or valuable possessions was stolen. The only things that were missing were Falun Gong materials and books.

This leads us to believe that this incident is associated with the cases of terrorism that have happened throughout the world. This happened during Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Qinghong's visit to South Africa. And the reason we are here is directly linked to him because he is one of the officials who is directly involved in the persecution of Falun Gong. We are here to support the lawsuit against him, and this is what made him angry. Therefore, he did such a thing out of anger.

The bullet went through his foot, and left a hole the size of a golf ball

Reporter: How is Mr. Liang? Is his wound life threatening?

Shooting victim David Liang in a hospital in Pretoria, South Africa

Wang: No, it is not life threatening, though both his feet have been injured. It could be that the bullet was too big and the speed was too fast. It did not stay in his foot but instead went right through it. The connective tissues in his left foot have been shot through, but it did not hit any vital places. However, both bones in his right foot have been fractured. When the doctor was tending to him today, he discovered that the hole is as big as a golf ball.

Reporter: That big! Is it possible that this person is a professional murderer?

Wang: We do not know if he is a professional murderer. However, we can be sure that the gun he used is rather powerful. A common gun could not achieve this kind of destructive power. This kind of gun is enough to handicap anyone. So regardless of whether or not he is a professional murderer or a gangster, his method is extremely cruel.

"Keep a righteous voice, so that the future world can be better"

Reporter: Thank you very much Mr. Wang. In the end, do you have anything that you would like to tell our audience?

Wang: I just want to say that most of the time when people keep silent in the face of evil, the evil will become stronger and stronger. However, if all of us stand up and say "NO" to it, maybe the people that stand up first will be threatened. But we must realize that the goodness of our society depends on our continuous righteous voice.

Mr. Mandela actually used his prison term in exchange for African people's human rights. As Falun Gong practitioners, although we have experienced various types of persecution and threats in the past several years, we have been extensively clarifying the facts to the public and we will continue to do so without fear.

Reporter: Thank you very much for your time. We wish you success.

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