(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners held a rally at Martin Place in Sydney, Australia, on July 16, 2026. Guests from political, legal, and academic circles attended in support, and condemned the Chinese regime’s persecution and transnational repression of Falun Gong. They also commended practitioners for their steadfast belief in Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.
On July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin, former leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), launched a nationwide persecution of the spiritual practice, which is also known as Falun Dafa. Many practitioners have since died in custody, and in 2006, evidence came to light that the CCP’s persecution includes mass live organ harvesting.
In the morning, practitioners demonstrated the five Falun Gong exercises at Martin Place in Sydney’s central business district. Many passersby paused to watch.
Practitioners demonstrated the exercises at Martin Place on July 16, 2026. (Minghui.org)
The Tian Guo Marching Band played at noon, marking the start of the rally to call for an end to 27 years of persecution.
The rally started at noon with a performance by the Tian Guo Marching Band. (Minghui.org)
Senior Jurist: Falun Gong Persecuted due to Popularity
Professor David Flint spoke at the rally. (Minghui.org)
Professor David Flint, former chair of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Australian Press Council, Member of the Order of Australia, and distinguished jurist, addressed the rally. “Today, we gather here for the rights that Falun Gong practitioners should have,” he said. “They are a group of kind people who often quietly do the slow and gradual exercises in parks. They follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Such values are completely opposite to the CCP’s ideology.”
Prof. Flint talked about the root cause of the Chinese regime’s persecution, saying, “They were to be punished because they were popular with the Chinese people. The Chinese people liked them. They had to be crushed and they had to be punished.
“So they set up in 1999 the 610 Office and they devised the wickedest form of punishment that can be conceived. Young healthy Falun Gong practitioners would be strapped down to hospital beds. They were ripped from their living bodies their kidneys and lungs. Even their eyes would be sold off, thus reducing the amount of time you wait for a transplant.”
“Here in Sydney you wait seven or eight years if you can ever get an organ. You can get a tailor-made organ from the evil communist regime in China which takes these from innocent young people. You have to be young and healthy.
“This is a disgusting thing. The evidence is in. The China Tribunal in London under a distinguished British judge found that 60,000 to 90,000 people are being murdered by the communist regime.”
In 2024, the US House of Representatives passed the bill, the Falun Gong Protection Act. Prof. Flint called on Australian Parliament to pass legislation that bans Australians from traveling to China for transplant tourism.
Former Professor of Beijing University: The CCP Has Caused the 21st Century’s Greatest Catastrophe
Professor Yuan Hongbin addressed the rally. (Minghui.org)
Chinese-Australian legal scholar Professor Yuan Hongbin attended the rally. He said, “The CCP uses state terrorism to conduct this inhumane persecution of Falun Gong practitioners... This persecution is the worst human rights disaster of the 21st century. Its cruelty is similar to the Nazi’s genocide of the Jews. Now the CCP is extending the persecution to other countries and conducting transnational repression. It attempts to silence Falun Gong through dictatorship. But this is just the CCP’s doomsday madness.”
Prof. Yuan continued, “The former CCP head [Jiang Zemin] boasted that he could eliminate Falun Gong in three months. Twenty-seven years have passed. Falun Gong has become one of the world’s greatest faith groups. The principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance they follow are a form of redemption for the Chinese soul. The media set up by Falun Gong practitioners has become the largest Chinese media outlet overseas. Shen Yun Performing Arts, also founded by practitioners, is making an irreplaceable contribution to Chinese people’s resistance against the CCP’s tyranny and cultural genocide.”
Prof. Yuan said that the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance have an extremely rich connotation; that practitioners’ steadfast perseverance in upholding these values has moved people worldwide; and their efforts have revealed the CCP’s true nature. He added, “The Party’s totalitarianism is the root cause of all Chinese people’s suffering and has expanded across the world, causing the great catastrophe of humanity in the 21st century.”
Prof. Yuan concluded, “When China transitions to freedom and democracy, and when the Chinese people truly transform from political slaves of the CCP into free individuals, history will surely remember with reverence the immense sacrifices of Falun Gong practitioners.”
Australian Barrister: “We Must Never Give Up”
A letter from Australian barrister Sophie York was read out at the rally. She stated, “The followers of Falun Gong seek Truth, Compassion and Forbearance – in my humble and respectful opinion, they are on the right path.”
She expressed her respect to the practitioners for their perseverance in belief. She said, “I am a barrister. Barristers are required under the Bar Rules to not only be honest—but to be brave.
“I pay tribute to those present who have never given up the fight for their compatriots’ lives and freedoms. You fellow practitioners may be many miles away geographically, but they are always close in our hearts and minds. Because love transcends geography, time and distance.”
Ms. York pointed out that several communist regimes in Eastern Europe collapsed one after another, exiting the stage of history. “Tyranny can topple overnight. Good things can happen. The common thread? People who never gave up. So we must never give up. The force for good must emanate from internal sources in China, and also external.”
(To be continued)
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Category: July 20 Events
