(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners demonstrated the exercises and held a rally on July 15, 2023, in the commercial center of Newmarket in Auckland to mark the 24th anniversary of their peacefully protesting the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution. People from all walks of life attended and some gave speeches. Many said they admired the way practitioners have continued to peacefully protest the persecution for 24 years.

Group practice and rally in Newmarket in Auckland on July 15

Admiring Falun Gong Practitioners’ Efforts to Expose the Persecution

Barry Wilson, President of the Auckland Council for Civil Liberties, addressed the rally.

Barry Wilson said, “I admire Falun Gong practitioners. The CCP is now lying about live organ harvesting, but we all know that this evil continues. This is why it is so important for practitioners to insist on exposing the persecution, and they deserve our great appreciation.”

He said that it is time for New Zealand, along with other liberal democracies, to impose sanctions on the CCP. He said, “The CCP may be the biggest bully, but what it hates the most are those who speak out against human rights violations. This is the way you should take it: ‘Together with your allies, confront the bully.’”

The CCP Commits the Worst Crime Against Humanity

Tony Brunt, former City Councilor of Wellington, New Zealand, addressed the rally.

Tony Brunt pointed out, “The CCP has organized organ harvesting and the murder of innocent people. This is an act of incomprehensible evil. The CCP regime is a regime that has committed the worst crime against humanity since the Holocaust in World War II, [it is] a regime that operates outside the boundaries of our planetary civilization.

“The CCP’s human rights violations are widespread and long-standing. The authoritarian system imposed by the CCP is a threat not only to Chinese citizens, but also to established norms of civilization and the human rights of the international community,” Blunt said.

He said that the CCP is an illegal organization and that its human rights violations, torture, and murder condoned by the judiciary, police, and prison system, as well as organ harvesting and transplantation crimes, should be investigated.

Practitioners’ Peaceful Protest

Chen Weijian, Editor-in-Chief of Beijing Spring, speaks in the rally.

Chen Weijian said, “Twenty-four years ago, the CCP carried out a brutal crackdown on Falun Gong practitioners, and the crackdown and persecution have continued until today. It can be said that every CCP leader since Jiang Zemin has the blood of Falun Gong practitioners on their hands.

“Over the past 24 years, the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong has been horrific, and practitioners never ceased resisting such persecution. The CCP’s live organ harvesting truly hit a new low, where a living human being is put on an operating table and his organs are removed for profit and for prolonging the lives of the powerful and the rich. Such atrocities are taking place today in the 21st century.

“Falun Gong practitioners resisted the atrocities persistently, and they have not stopped resisting in the past 24 years. Their resistance to the atrocities of the CCP is peaceful, rational, and non-violent. Such a spirit of resistance was rarely found in any other resistance movement in history.

“Falun Gong’s resistance over the past 24 years has set an example for all resistance groups and movements in communist China. They have set the standard for persistence and rationality!”

Human Rights Lawyer: The CCP Should Be Held Responsible for the Persecution

Human rights lawyer Kerry Gore speaks at the rally.

Human rights lawyer Kerry Gore said, “The Chinese Communist Party has persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in China for 24 years now. This persecution has been comprehensively detailed by respected and independent organizations such as: Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (“UNHCR”), the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Amnesty International, the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (“USCIRF”), and the Congressional Executive Commission on China (“CECC”), to name only a few.

“Yet, in spite of this persecution, Falun Gong practitioners in China do their best to help other Chinese people [understand the truth] of the persecution and [come to recognize] the [brutal] nature of the Chinese Communist Party, often at a risk to their own lives. This must surely command our respect and admiration. Some may wonder what can be done. I hope those listening can raise their concerns with their Member of Parliament. We should advocate for the introduction of Magnitsky Act legislation so that those who are implicated in this persecution are held responsible. Extra-territorial legislation that criminalizes organ-transplant tourism and those involved in it is a logical extension of this initiative.”

Public Support of Falun Gong

William McGurgau and his wife Sandra

William McGurgau and his wife Sandra are accountants. Sandra said she often reads history books and likes Asian culture. She said that the CCP does not appreciate Chinese culture and communism is definitely bad.

She also said, “Now the CCP performs transplant operations on rich people, and the source of human organs is Falun Gong practitioners. It is a pity that many countries in the West do not act and do not have the courage to say no to the CCP. The world is becoming more and more selfish, and many people do not care about these things.

“I hope practitioners will keep fighting and never give up.”

Finlay Smith (left) from Auckland encourages more New Zealanders to learn about the persecution.

Auckland resident Finlay Smith paused for a long time to listen to the rally. Talking about the persecution of Falun Gong, he pointed out, “The CCP only wants followers, not people who can think independently. We are all given brains by God, and it is a powerful tool. Everyone should think about it—is it acceptable for Falun Gong to be persecuted under the CCP’s system?

“Every one of us must say no to the bully of the CCP. I will continue to learn more about the persecution, and I also encourage more New Zealanders to learn about the truth.”

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

Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) 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. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and have learned the five 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, and 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 with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose 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 24 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. 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.