Epoch Times Australia Staff

Dec 03, 2005

Member of Parliament Chris Bowen speaks in support of Falun Gong, outside of Federal Parliament. Photo:The Epoch Times

Australian Labor Party Member of Parliament, Mr Chris Bowen, was out on the Parliament lawn in Canberra on Tuesday November 29, in the cold drizzling rain for a purpose: to greet Australian Falun Gong practitioners who are making their presence felt during the next two weeks while parliament is in session for the last round in 2005.

The Falun Gong practitioners were appealing to Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer to lift the restrictions he had placed upon their peaceful vigil outside the Chinese embassy. Since March 2002, Mr Downer has issued certificates that restrict banners and audio, as well as signage on cars parked legally in the vicinity of the Embassy by Falun Gong practitioners.

Mr Bowen, standing in his dark suit, in sharp contrast to the rain-soaked Falun Gong practitioners on the Parliament Lawn, said, "Although you feel lonely, you are not alone." "There are people in that building [Parliament House] who care."

During his address, Mr Bowen repeatedly used the word "shame" to describe Mr Downer's action of repeatedly issuing monthly certificates that impede Australian Falun Gong practitioners to appeal outside the Chinese Embassy. "These actions not only encroach on your rights, but those of all Australians," Mr Bowen said.

The practitioners said that after three years of restraint from Mr Downer, they have reluctantly sought an injunction to help end these restrictions imposed on them. However, Mr Downer has ordered his legal team to fight it to the end in the ACT Supreme Court.

"I do not see this Minister changing his mind, but I look forward to a new Minister," said Mr Bowen. "Freedom and Democracy will return to China."

As Mr Bowen prepared to leave he was visibly moved when Ms Zhang Cui-Ying, second plaintiff in the legal action against Mr Downer, showed genuine concern for him being in the rain when she herself was drenched from shielding Mr Bowen. Ms Zhang, a well-known traditional Chinese artist, had personally suffered eight months in illegal detention, torture and persecution in one of China's jails before being rescued by the Australian government in 2000.

Behind the practitioners on the lawn was a gruesome display and reenactment of the scenes of torture methods used on Falun Gong members in Chinese labour camps, jails and detention centres. See Also: The Dignity of the Mission

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