(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners held activities on August 12, 2012 in Parramatta Square in the western region of Sydney to raise awareness and call for an end to the Communist regime's 13-year persecution of Falun Gong.

 
Sydney Divine Land Marching Band performs

 
Passersby asked for more information about Falun Gong

 
A passerby signs a petition calling for an end to the persecution

Parramatta is the second largest community in Sydney and the center for commerce, tourism, culture and education.

Practitioners put up banners and display boards, and began doing the Falun Gong exercises at 9:00 a.m. Their peacefulness and tranquility prompted many passersby to watch the movements or to stop to read the display boards. Some took informational materials, and some learned the exercises. Many people signed a petition to express their support for ending the persecution.

The Falun Gong group's Divine Land Marching Band also performed and was warmly received.

Local Community Supports Falun Gong

According to local Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Wang Ying, Parramatta's Falun Gong practice site has been established for more than a dozen years. Practitioners come to this square every evening from Monday to Friday to do the exercises. “We want to display the grace of Falun Dafa and expose the CCP's brutal persecution. Our perseverance has enabled many local residents to learn the facts about Falun Gong,” said Ms. Wang.

Ms. Wang continued, “Several years ago, the CCP officials at the Chinese Consulate in Sydney dispatched people to come to cause trouble, and told officials of the city government to drive away practitioners from the square. City councillors in Parramatta sternly rejected the Consulate's demands, saying 'Here in Australia, Falun Gong practitioners have the right to do the exercises on the square.'”

“Provincial council members, city councilors and persons-in-charge of the Liberal Party in our community viewed the Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance International Art Exhibit and attended Shen Yun Performing Arts shows. They all praised Falun Gong practitioners' uncompromising spirit in the face of persecution.” Ms. Wang said, “The Parramatta city government supports our Falun Gong activities. They provide an auditorium without charge for local practitioners to study the Falun Gong teachings on Friday evenings.”

Compassion and Conscience

Two Australians stopped and asked what they could do to help. They wondered if their signatures would make a difference since the CCP controls national machineries. A practitioner told them, “Your signatures are of great importance. We will deliver the petition to the parliament, and help people around the world learn how evil the CCP is and put an end to the persecution.”

Two young men from Shenyang City, China said that, while in China, they had read reports on the persecution by circumventing the internet blockade. They were sympathetic and supportive towards Falun Gong. However, they were afraid of being persecuted if they quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. A practitioner shared with them more details about the brutality of the persecution, particularly the Communist regime's crime of harvesting the organs of living practitioners for profit. Upon hearing all this, the young men announced their resignation from the CCP and said it is better to break away from the CCP as early as possible.

A businessman from Guangdong Province said that he felt that fewer and fewer Chinese people are still deceived by the CCP's propaganda against Falun Gong. “No matter what the CCP claims, if I were asked to persecute Falun Gong, I'll absolutely refuse.” Practitioners encouraged him to share what he knows with friends and family in China and he agreed.

The activity concluded at 3:00 p.m.