(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners in Canberra, Australia, held a rally in front of the Chinese Embassy on April 24, 2025, to commemorate the April 25 appeal.

During the rally, practitioners condemned the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) and called for an immediate end to the persecution.

Twenty-six years ago, practitioners went to Beijing to appeal peacefully and rationally for the release of illegally arrested practitioners in Tianjin and to be allowed practice their belief unmolested. Their their firm belief and respectful behavior inspired the rest of the world. The then Prime Minister promised to solve the issue. History will remember the truth and restore justice.

Practitioners in Canberra at the Chinese Embassy commemorate the 26th anniversary of the April 25 appeal in Beijing.

Asking for Freedom of Belief

Spokespersons Mary and Mr. Liu addressed the rally in English and Chinese, respectively. They said: “We gather here this evening to commemorate the peaceful appeal of 10,000 practitioners 26 years ago. This was the largest peaceful and rational appeal in modern Chinese history. Without violence or slogans, they simply requested freedom of belief and the legal right to cultivate. The incident caught the attention of both China and the world.

“In the 26 years since then, the CCP has squandered enormous financial resources to carry out a brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Despite terror-filled days and nights enduring this unprecedented suppression, practitioners still stand firm and hold fast to their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. In the face of the cruel persecution, practitioners continue to raise awareness peacefully and rationally, calling for it to end.

“As practitioners all over the world persevere in clarifying the truth, the international community has come to understand more and more the value of Falun Dafa and the brutality of the persecution.”

Clarifying the Truth Peacefully and Rationally

Ms. Chen recounted her unforgettable experience: “Before I began to practice Falun Dafa in May 1998, I suffered from sciatica. I was young but was often bedridden due to the pain. Neither doctors nor medication helped. Forty days after I start practicing Falun Dafa, I felt something coming out of the bottoms of my feet, and my sciatica disappeared. I felt the joy of being free of disease. My character improved and I had a new understanding of how to educate my child. I am the only member of my family of three generations who practices Dafa, but my family all support me in my cultivation. We are all happy and get along well.

“Falun Dafa takes Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance as its fundamental guidance for cultivation, and millions of people have benefited from practicing it. It has benefited society by improving people’s health and morality. An investigation in 1998 concluded that Falun Dafa benefits those who practice it and does no harm.

“In April 1999, an article titled ‘I do not approve of young people practicing qigong’ was published in a Tianjin College of Education magazine. The article made erroneous and negative comments about Falun Gong, so several other practitioners and I went to the editorial office of the magazine to clarify the truth. While the staff intially agreed to make the corrections, they later said that they were given instructions from higher ups and were not allowed to change the article.

“The gate to the college closed around 8 p.m. on April 23, 1999, but the college authorities told us to wait for the staff’s decision. What soon arrived, however, were five trucks filled with fully armed police officers, who kicked the practitioners that were present. The practitioners held Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in their hearts and did not resist, get angry, or shout slogans. The police arrested 45 of us, including one of the eight I was with. Tianjin Municipal Government authorities said that the order to arrest us came from Beijing and that Tianjin could not solve the problem, so they told us to go to Beijing to report the situation.”

“Twenty-six years ago, on April 25, 10,000 practitioners went to Beijing to try to right that wrong. Facing that evil, violent regime, the practitioners were sincere, compassionate, peaceful, and rational. The then Prime Minister met with our representatives, released the detained practitioners, and promised to resolve the issue. That successful appeal set a moral precedent for the entire world.”