(Clearwisdom.net) The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is being held on September 3 to 9, 2007, in Sydney, Australia. Falun Gong practitioners from different states of Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, New Zealand and other places gathered in Sydney. They held a series of activities every day in Darling Harbor Park and Hyde Park in downtown Sydney. The activities included group practice, an anti-torture exhibit, a Great Wall of Truth, photo exhibit, candlelight vigil and other activities. The purpose of the activities is to expose the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners over the past eight years in China and call on the international community to help end the persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
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Falun Gong practitioners in yellow clothing could be seen in downtown Sydney in small groups of three to five people holding display boards, distributing handouts and collecting signatures in the main streets. Yellow T-shirts become a notable scene on the streets during the APEC summit, catching the attention of international media organizations such as Reuters, AFP, VOA, AP, Central News Agency, Channel Ten, Channel Seven, Australia Broadcasting Corporation television (ABC), the Sydney Morning Herald, the News Agency of Japan, Taiwan Macro TV station, Philippines media, NTDTV, and the Epoch Times. Many media organizations conducted interviews and covered the practitioners' events.
On September 4, Australian Falun Gong practitioners went to consulates of the APEC member countries in Sydney to deliver an open letter and an independent investigation report on the CCP's organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners. They called on these nations to be concerned about the brutal persecution of Falun Gong group in China, and to help stop the catastrophe that has persisted for eight years in China.
Ms. Zhao from the New South Wales Falun Dafa Association said that Falun Gong does not participate in politics, nor does it oppose any government. Our activities held during the APEC summit and our letters delivered to leaders of different countries are aimed at calling on governments of different countries and the media during the APEC summit to pay attention to the persecution that has persisted for eight years and the CCP's atrocity of harvesting organs from living people. We hope that when governments of different countries meet Chinese leader Hu Jintao and other Chinese officials, they can express their concerns over the Falun Gong human rights issues in China, in order to help stop the persecution of Falun Gong immediately. Falun Gong practitioners who delivered letters were well received by staff working at consulates of different countries. Consulate staff expressed their willingness to relay the information to the relevant departments, and transfer the open letter and investigation reports to leaders of their countries. Practitioners who handed out materials on the streets often encountered members of delegations from various countries and the media. The yellow T-shirts everywhere together raise great concern about the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong. The media came every day to Falun Gong practitioners to take photos and conduct interviews.