(Clearwisdom.net) I am Helen Liu, one of the witnesses of the shooting in South Africa. During the shooting, I was seated next to the driver of the car, David Liang. When we learned that the vice president of China, Zeng Qinghong, and the minister of commerce, Bo Xilai, were visiting South Africa, nine of us, all Falun Gong practitioners, went to South Africa together. Our purpose was to submit a lawsuit charging them with the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, with the aim of preventing further persecution.
At six o'clock in the evening on June 28, 2004, we arrived at the Johannesburg airport. We rented two cars and headed for Pretoria to immediately carry out a peaceful appeal. We were traveling along the highway at the speed of 120 kilometers per hour (approximately 75 miles per hour). At about 8:30 p.m., a light colored car suddenly caught up with us, speeding in the right hand lane. Some people in that car were shooting at us. The driver kept their car parallel to us. When our car slowed down, it also did, and when we accelerated, that car also accelerated to keep alongside us. There were four or five people in that automobile. I saw an African person sitting next to the driver who was shooting at us. I shouted in alarm, "They are shooting at us, David, speed up!"
David replied, "My legs are feeling very painful: I cannot step on the accelerator anymore."
I yelled out, "Send forth righteous thoughts." At that instant, the other car forced our car off the road onto the grass border on the left side of the road.
When our car was forced to stop, the other car pulled alongside us for a few seconds and then drove off at high speed. The next day, as we examined the spot where our car had been disabled, we discovered that if our vehicle had advanced just 10 meters further, we would have fallen into a very large and deep ditch filled with water. The car would have been destroyed.
Our car had five bullet holes. The front right-hand tire was shot out. Both of David's legs were shot. A bullet went through his right foot, shattering the bones, and a bullet tore some flesh from the bottom of his left foot. That is why he could no longer control the car. A bullet also grazed a practitioner's leg. When our car had stopped in the darkness, David could not move because of the pain in his legs. We carried him out of the car; I took hold of his legs and felt that his legs were all wet and slimy. Because it was dark, I could not see much. I guessed that he was bleeding profusely, so I took a blouse from my bag and wrapped it around David's legs, hoping to lessen the bleeding. At that time, I was not aware that a bullet had passed through David's foot, and he was bleeding from both feet. David was strong and firm and never uttered a sound. After we carried him out of the car, he could no longer move. We put him down on level ground. He was bleeding heavily.
We quickly stopped a passing car and sent David to a hospital. Before doing so, I used my camera and took some photos. With the camera flashlight, I could see the bullet holes in the car, the remains of the shot-out tire and the blood from David's legs. Since we were in a hurry to send David to the hospital, I only took a few photos. As I recall the scene, I shudder and feel terrified, but at the same time feel very fortunate that our venerable Teacher was protecting us. The gangsters meant to kill us and destroy the car. They were trying to make it look like an ordinary accident. They were definitely hired professional killers.
After we rushed David to the hospital, the several hours of surgery he underwent passed by very quickly for a fellow practitioner and me as we waited outside the door. After the surgery, we noticed that David's feet were covered with thick bandages, but blood had soaked through them and was flowing to the floor. I reported that to a nurse who immediately added more bandages, but after a while, blood continued to soak through them as well, dripping on to the floor. David told us that he was very thirsty and wanted a drink of water. He had lost too much blood.
I am certain that Zeng Qinghong hired the killers. This was the first time we had ever set foot in South Africa. There could not be anyone with resentment towards us there. The gangsters were not trying to rob us, but their aim was to kill. Our purpose in this journey was to file a lawsuit against Zeng Qinghong. Moreover, our trip was not a secret. Who would be afraid of our visit to South Africa other than Zeng Qinghong and his cohorts...no one else!
We were not subdued by the shooting. We immediately called for a press conference to expose this crime to all the media and to ask the people of the world to condemn and stop such acts of terrorism. We went to Chinatown to distribute materials and exhibit the methods of torture used in China. Some practitioners contacted members of parliament, some went to government departments and some went to the embassies. Together with practitioners from South Africa, Taiwan and other countries, all of us were clarifying the facts.
On July first, three of us female practitioners went to Chinatown to distribute Falun Dafa materials. The Chinese people accepted the materials happily and even thanked us for them. On the same day, a Chinese newspaper, Huaqiao Xinwen, (Overseas Chinese News) reprinted some news about the incident of our being shot at. At the same time, the media liaison officer of the Chinese Embassy in South Africa published some rumors claiming: "Falun Gong encourages people to commit suicide, and is an evil religion; at every Spring Festival (Chinese New Year), there would be Falun Gong practitioners committing self-immolation; they collude with Western powers to oppose China" and other messages vilifying and slandering Falun Gong. The Chinese Embassy in South Africa also made some declarations in the local newspapers. When the local Chinese residents read the reports, those who had been cordial with us suddenly turned against us with hostility. Some of them surrounded us and said we were traitors. They asked us to leave. Their mood was threatening!
I loudly called out, "Everybody, please listen to me. I will tell you the real reasons why Falun Gong is being persecuted in China!" They calmed down and I continued, "There are people in more than sixty countries in the world practicing Falun Gong because Falun Gong promotes "Zhen, Shan, Ren" (Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance) and truly enables people to elevate to the morality and ethics they had before. It also has excellent results in preventing illnesses and improving health. But in 1999, the Chinese officials reported that there were one hundred million people in China practicing Falun Gong. Because there were so many people practicing Falun Gong, Jiang Zemin became jealous and fearful. It was he who wanted to suppress Falun Gong.
There were many senior Chinese officials who opposed the suppression: they had conducted a survey and found that Falun Gong was indeed beneficial to the nation and was not the slightest bit detrimental to anyone. Beside that, it was saving the nation a huge amount of medical expenses. Indeed, many cancer patients recovered after practicing Falun Gong. But Jiang Zemin unilaterally decided what to do, though he alone did not represent the People's Republic of China. When Wen Jiabao (present Chinese Prime Minister) visited the United States, our practitioners held up banners: "We welcome Wen Jiabao to the United States," "Punish Jiang Zemin severely," "Falun Dafa Hao (Falun Dafa is Good)." We are not against the government, but we oppose the persecution launched by Jiang Zemin. He is arousing hatred by fabricating charges to encourage Chinese people to kill their own kind. We come forward to explain the facts to prevent Chinese people from killing Chinese people."
The listeners inquired, "Are you telling the truth?" I answered that what I said was the truth. They began to accept the materials from us again, saying: "Then, we will read them carefully and understand the facts." I gave each of them a VCD. They thanked me.
We had clarified the facts and resolved the confrontation. The next day we returned to Chinatown to continue the demonstration of the savage tortures. We were preparing for the demonstration when a group of six or seven Chinese youth came and ripped down the banners, assaulted the practitioners and then left the scene. They were clearly thugs hired to commit violence.
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In 2002, I returned to China to visit my relatives. The police arrested me at Tiananmen Square. I am an Australian citizen. I asked to see the officials stationed at the Australian Embassy in China. The Chinese officials refused to comply with my request and even said, "Who do you think you are? You think you can see whoever you wish?" They even threatened me, saying they would make me a "missing person." They said, "It appears that you have not returned to China for a long time, and you do not quite understand about the 'national conditions'. We must give you a good lesson. There are several thousand persons with the same name as you in China. One such person like you that goes missing is nothing. If anyone sees you and asks about you, we will say we do not know anything, and that we have never seen you. Did you clearly hear what we said?" That is the Chinese police. They are more sinister than secret societies and even more terrifying than the former Gestapo!
In May 2004, my mother, who was more than eighty-years-old, was seriously ill. She was carried on a stretcher to the ambulance and sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. I wanted to return to China to see her, but my visa application was rejected. I asked for the reason. The staff at the Chinese Consulate said I was rejected because I was a Falun Gong practitioner.
We appeal to the whole world to stop Jiang Zemin and his cohorts from hiring killers to murder and assault people and to stop their other terrorist activities. Stop them from persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Condemn the Jiang Zemin regime for spreading their terrorism to other countries. We urge all kindhearted people of the world to all stand up together to curb the international terrorism from Jiang Zemin and his followers. Please prevent further savage and inhuman persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.