(Minghui.org) Practitioners held a series of activities in the capital city Wellington, on July 23, 2024, which included group exercises, a rally, march, and anti-torture exhibition. In addition to introducing Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) to the public, they also called to end the persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since July 1999.

Group exercises on July 23 in Wellington, Zealand

Practitioners held an anti-torture exhibition

Practitioners did the exercises on Cuba Street in the city center that morning, and the peaceful scene and gentle movements attracted many people. An anti-torture exhibition showed how practitioners are brutally suppressed in China and some became victims of forced organ harvesting.

A grand march followed the group exercises.

Practitioners told passersby how Falun Gong practitioners in China are persecuted.

Led by the Tian Guo Marching Band, practitioners held a grand march. After stopping for a short rally in Midland Park, the march continued along several major streets and arrived at the New Zealand Parliament Buildings.

In front of the Parliament Buildings, practitioners described how they were mistreated in China for their belief, from detention and torture to forced organ harvesting. Margo MacVicar, head of New Zealand’s International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC), and other speakers urged the New Zealand government to take action to stop these tragedies.

Stop Being Accomplices

Margo MacVicar from New Zealand’s International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC)

Consisting of lawyers, researchers, ethicists, medical professionals, and human rights advocates, ETAC aims to stop forced organ harvesting in China, MacVicar said. Thousands of people are killed in China every week and their organs are sold for profit. While the victims are mainly Falun Gong practitioners, they also include Uyghurs, Christians, and Tibetans. As the largest organ provider in the world, China is estimated to perform 100,000 organ transplants per year, with a minimal amount of those happening as a result of voluntary donations. This lucrative industry also made Chinese physicians accomplices to this crime.

Ms. MacVicar said that many countries have now passed laws to stop the CCP’s organ harvesting and prevent their citizens from being accomplices. She hopes that the New Zealand government will take similar measures to curb such unethical behavior. This includes stopping New Zealand citizens from organ transplant tours in China, establishing a system that requires those who went on organ transplant tours to report this information, and barring organ transplant accomplices from entering New Zealand.

Stay Away from the CCP

Finlay Smith addressed the rally

Finlay Smith, a speaker from Auckland, said that people have no freedom under the CCP’s totalitarian rule. That is why it is difficult for people in a free society like New Zealand to imagine such a heinous crime happening in China.

Nonetheless, it is important for us to step forward and stop the atrocities, he continued. We need to say “No” to the CCP instead of ignoring this biggest bully in the world, and to do otherwise would be irresponsible and dangerous.

Smith thanked practitioners for exposing these brutalities in China and telling people how they were mistreated in China. He was happy to join the efforts to counter the CCP.

Importance of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance

Toni Peka

After talking with a practitioner near the entrance to the parliament buildings and hearing what practitioners suffered, Toni Peka was moved to tears. She was sad to hear how practitioners are persecuted by the CCP and hopes the situation changes soon. She said a government should care about its people and bring them happiness, but the CCP is doing the opposite and mistreats people for its own interests.

The principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance will make this world a better place, Peka added. Without these, mankind would not be mankind any more. She also thanked practitioners for telling people what is going on in China since these things are seldom reported by the media. She said that she learned from practitioners the importance of courage and perseverance, and she wished them well.

No Place for Communism

William Wilson

As a human rights advocate against slavery and terrorism, William Wilson is clear on the CCP’s long-time persecution of Falun Gong. He said he knows practitioners have no political agenda and are only focused on their own improvement.

He said that’s why it’s difficult to understand why the CCP would launch such a vicious suppression against Falun Gong, including forced organ harvesting. He plans to tell others about the atrocities in China so that more people will hear the practitioners’ stories and help them.

Wilson was also in tears. He said the entire world is watching and practitioners should not give up. After all, communism has no place to exist in this world because there is “one world, one people, one freedom.”

A Totalitarian Regime Will Not Last Long

Angela Cameron

Former restaurant owner Angela Cameron said that she did not know Falun Gong practitioners experienced so much for their belief. She said the CCP harmed many people and such a totalitarian regime will not last long.

Cameron said she likes the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance very much and they are also important in our lives. She was sorry to hear what happened to practitioners and hopes she can do something to help improve the situation.

Helping Raise Awareness

Billy and Jas are two students majoring in photography, and they filmed the practitioners’ march as they walked along. Billy said the event was great and the scene was phenomenal. She said the event is important because many people hadn’t heard about the persecution.

She added that it’s unfortunate that the persecution has gone on for 25 years. She said New Zealand citizens would support practitioners and she would share the videos she filmed online.

Holly Lousley

Holly Lousley is a student who saw the march during a class break. She was impressed that there were also elderly practitioners in the march, and said they all looked healthy and fit. She agreed with the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and said people should care about each other.

Lousley was happy that she learned about Falun Gong through the event. She encouraged practitioners to continue their efforts so that more people would know about the persecution.

A news reporter also talked with the practitioners. He said that he would write an article to expose the atrocities in China and contact parliament members and ask if they planned to take action.

Background: What Is Falun Dafa and Why Is the CCP Persecuting It?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Its teachings are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings and exercises have experienced improved health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology. On July 20, 1999, he issued an order to eradicate the practice.

Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization that has the power to override the police and judicial systems. Its sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 25 years. However, the actual number is believed to be much higher, due to the difficulty in getting information out of China. Countless practitioners have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply China’s organ transplant industry.