(Minghui.org) Candlelight illuminates Melbourne's City Square that was immersed in quiet determination on the rainy night of April 25. It speaks to passersby of a 16-year journey in pursuit of justice and dignity.
Candlelight vigil, City Square, Melbourne, on April 25
Ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners peacefully demonstrated outside the State Council building on April 25, 1999, in Beijing for their right to freedom of belief and for the release of practitioners jailed in nearby Tianjin. That belief in goodness and conscience continues despite 16 years of brutal persecution.
Pedestrians took note and stopped by. They learned about the persecution of Falun Gong, in particular the killing of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience for their organs, and signed a petition to call for a thorough investigation and an end to the crimes.
Pedestrians pause to learn the facts and extend their support.
“This [organ harvesting] is another tragedy in the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of its people. We should all say no to the authoritarian regime,” said Chas and Sharon Dale. “We have never doubted that Falun Gong is good. You should hold more events like this and help more to know what's going on in China.”
“We are absolutely against the forced organ harvesting. We hope that international pressure can effect changes in the regime,” said Dr. Wright, a dentist.
Similar support was expressed in Perth in western Australia during the week of April 25. Practitioners set up booths with information about organ harvesting in the central business district, Chinatown, and other busy areas in the city.
Following a prime time documentary on the issue of forced organ harvesting recently broadcast on national television, Australian mainstream media have been reporting on the topic.
Hearing about organ harvesting for the first time, Chloe Davidson wondered whether it was true. But after reading leaflets on the topic and finding out about the documentary, she took more materials and said that she would distribute them to her colleagues.
“I have to tell others about it [organ harvesting]. This is horrific!” she said.
Information booth during the week of April 20–25 in Perth, Australia
Barbara Jackson had seen the documentary and said forced organ harvesting was "against humanity" and “It must stop.”
Morfydd McKenzie said that she knew four years ago that organs were abundant in China, because her son needed a liver transplant. However, she didn't take her son to China after she learned about forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners. Her son later found a matching liver in Australia and is now in good health.
She felt fortunate that she had made an informed choice based on her conscience.
A gentleman lends his support by signing the petition.
Banners speak to passersby in busy areas in Perth, Australia.
Changes are also occurring among Chinese as a result of practitioners' persistent efforts to clarify the truth about the persecution. Some are taking advantage of their overseas travel to find freedom.
For example, during the one-week event in Perth, a former staff member of the 610 Office, a Party-based security organization in charge of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, met practitioner Ms. Zhang.
He asked her to help him renounce his Party membership with his real name. His father also quit the Party organizations. He said that he had read Falun Gong books when he worked at the 610 Office and realized that, unlike what the propaganda said, the books didn't contain anything anti-Party or anti-China. He started phasing himself out of Falun Gong cases. Eventually, he changed jobs.
A Chinese Australian questioned the veracity of 200 million quitting the Party. Practitioners explained that the 200 million also includes those who have quit the Party's affiliated organizations: the Young Pioneers and the Youth League.
He understood and then told about the persecution his family endured before they left China. He adopted an alias and renounced his Party membership.
