11 June 2005

Falun Gong practitioners have gathered in Sydney to rally against what they say is an improper use of international law against them by the Howard Government.

About 50 of the meditation-based group's supporters staged a demonstration in the city's Belmore Park to highlight their lawsuit against Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.

The group, banned in China but legal here, say the rules set out by the Department of Foreign Affairs to restrict their protests outside the Chinese Embassy in Canberra are illegal.

Falun Gong practitioners are free to meditate but they can't play amplified music or attach banners to walls or vehicles.

Australian practitioners Zhang Cui Ying and Zhi Zhen Dai this week filed a suit against Mr Downer in the ACT Supreme Court, alleging that his department has unfairly limited their freedom of expression.

They are seeking an injunction against Mr Downer.

Ms Zhang was allegedly imprisoned for eight months in Beijing for practising Falun Gong, while Ms Zhi claims her husband was tortured to death in China in 2000.

Falun Gong spokesman Geoff Gregory said the Australian Government was trying to save face and preserve relations with the Chinese government.

The protesters accuse Mr Downer of using the Vienna Convention in an unprecedented manner when he signed a number of certificates interpreting their protests outside the Chinese Embassy as breaching the rights of China's diplomatic mission.

"On the 16th of March 2002, one day prior to the arrival of the Chinese foreign minister in Australia, (Mr Downer) filed the first of these certificates, claiming that our holding up a banner was damaging the integrity of the embassy," Mr Gregory told the rally.

"We are very upset that we can't appeal peacefully outside the Chinese Embassy."

Another speaker, John Della, called for the Government to lift the embassy ban and deal with Chinese defectors Chen Yonglin and Hao Feng Jun free from bias.

"(These) visa applications must not be influenced by trade and economic considerations," he said.

The two former Chinese officials are seeking asylum in Australia after claiming Beijing operated a network of 1000 spies and informants.

They allege Chinese officials had kidnapped dissidents, including Falun Gong practitioners living in Australia, and taken them back to China for punishment, including the death penalty.