(Clearwisdom.net)

August 16, 2003

On Thursday, August 14, 2003, Australian Falun Dafa practitioners gathered at Parliament House to call on the Prime Minister to raise the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China during talks with the new Chinese leadership.

On the same day, Australian Dafa practitioners delivered an open letter to the Australian Prime Minister urging him to speak out for Falun Gong and help end Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

14 August 2003
The Right Hon John Howard
Prime Minister of Australia
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Dear Prime Minister

Re: Prime Ministerial visit to China on 17 - 18 August 2003

On behalf of the many people in Australia who practice Falun Dafa, we write to express our thanks for your concern for the treatment of Falun Gong practitioners in China and to respectfully ask you to clearly take up this issue in your current visit.

While our Human Rights Bilateral Dialogues with China may address key human rights issues with mid ranking Chinese officials, they are ineffectual in stopping the crazed campaign against Falun Gong practitioners which was created by the former leader Jiang Zemin in July 1999. Today there are over 760 documented death cases and 13 relatives of Australian citizens are suffering in detention in China. As Australia's highest officer, your voice will make a difference to the tens of thousands of practitioners who are tortured, suffering and dying in Chinese labour camps. We understand your responsibility to balance Australia's trade and business interests in China, yet we also believe you hold orthodox principles of decency close to your heart. In China, practitioners are being tortured to give up three principles of decency that one man found to be antagonistic to his rule. Prime Minister, it is truly hard for us in Australia to imagine the brutality and atrocities that are being inflicted on millions of peaceful Chinese people simply because of they value honesty, kindness and tolerance. It doesn't make sense -- but it is happening now. The tragic reality is that they are being tortured, burnt, electrocuted, beaten, shackled and torn apart in medieval devices. Every atrocity that you have rightfully decried in Iraq is happening to Falun Gong practitioners now in China, our third largest trading partner, and has been for the past 4 years. And the creator of this madness, Jiang Zemin, is still the leader of the Chinese military and continues to hold influence over the new Chinese leadership. Many high ranking Chinese officials know that Jiang's campaign of genocide against Falun Gong is terribly wrong and the repercussions for the Chinese people are dire, but feel powerless to change it. Your voice, as our respected national leader can help them exorcise Jiang's cancerous persecution which is destroying the values of decency, empathy and morality in China.

As the world is learning of Jiang's crimes through the law suits against him for genocide, such as in the US district court of Illinois, the Chinese people are also hoping for justice. Please don't ignore the suffering of practitioners in China. Please listen to the 120,000 Australians who have signed petitions now lodged in our Parliament imploring you to speak up. Recently Mr Shenli Lin, the husband of a Canadian citizen, told a Canadian government official who helped to secure his release after more than two years in a Chinese labor camp, "All the Falun Gong practitioners in China know who you are and what you've done to support us. They are all deeply touched." Prime Minister, our thoughts go with you on this visit to China and we hope your message can touch the hearts and minds of all you meet. Thank you.

Yours sincerely

Falun Dafa Practitioners, Australia