PRESS RELEASE – FALUN DAFA ASSOCIATION OF NEW ZEALAND INC.

For Immediate Release
15 August 2008

China's Olympic Betrayal: Regime Ramps Up Abuse Against Falun Gong

Falun Gong practitioners are being shipped out of Beijing's prisons and labour camps as the Chinese regime fears foreign media will uncover the true story of their brutal persecution.

The Falun Dafa Information Center recently provided the 20,000 international journalists a report detailing locations in and around Beijing where Falun Gong practitioners have been detained, tortured and killed.

"They’re moving victims of torture and other abuses out of Beijing, and replacing them with individuals who parrot the CCP’s [Chinese Communist Party's] stance on Falun Gong," says center spokesperson Mr. Erping Zhang. "Think about it…they are preparing ‘show tours’ to pull the wool over the eyes of the international community. We trust journalists in Beijing won’t be taken in by these tactics."

The Chinese regime continues to block all news, websites and information related to Falun Gong.

New Zealand Falun Dafa practitioners are holding a series of events around the country on Saturday 16 August to highlight the intensified persecution campaign the Chinese regime has inflicted during the Olympic Games.

NEW ZEALAND EVENTS:

Auckland event: Saturday, August 16
11am to 3pm
Queen Street, City Centre

Hamilton event: Saturday, August 16
9.30am to 12.30pm
Frankton Market, Hamilton

Wellington event: Saturday, August 16
10am to 3pm
Cuba Street Mall to Parliament

Christchurch event: Saturday, August 16
11am to 1pm
Cathedral Square, City Centre

BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND LINKS TO MORE INFORMATION:

What is Falun Gong?

Falun Gong is an ancient Chinese spiritual practice based on the teachings of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. Practitioners strive to cultivate these universal principles in everything they do. The practice consists of studying the teachings of founder Li Hongzhi and five gentle exercises and mediation.

Before July 20, 1999, Falun Gong was practised freely all over China. Parks filled with practitioners every morning to exercise, and the number practising was between 70-100 million. Today, more than 100 million people around the world benefit from practising Falun Dafa.

Why is Falun Gong persecuted?

Communist ideology does not believe in higher entities and communist China has attempted to eradicate religion and spiritual belief for decades. Former leader Jiang Zemin was afraid Falun Dafa would overshadow his own legacy as the numbers practicing soon outnumbered the amount of people belonging to the communist party. Basically he freaked out, set up a gestapo-like police force and launched a genocide campaign on July 20, 1999.

Behind the Olympic Spectacle: A Journalist's Walking Guide to the Persecution of Falun Gong in Beijing

Report details locations in and around Beijing where Falun Gong adherents were detained, tortured or killed.

3 August

http://www.faluninfo.net/article/771/?cid=84

CCP Pre-Olympic Propaganda Blitz: Foreshadowing a Frame-up? Falun Dafa Information Center Issues Warning Over CCP's Labels, Intentions

8 August

http://www.faluninfo.net/article/783/?cid=84

Chinese Authorities Secretly Moving Falun Gong Prisoners Out of Beijing: Beijing-area detention facilities being stocked with “transformed” individuals ready to denounce Falun Gong in front of foreign media.

11 August

http://www.faluninfo.net/article/794/?cid=84

Amnesty International Report: Chinese authorities’ broken promises threaten Olympic legacy

28 July 2008

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/chinese-authorities-broken-promises-threaten-olympic-legacy-20080728

"False Fire: China's Tragic New Standard in State Deception" analyses the 2001 Tiananmen Square "self-immolation". This award winning documentary highlights how China uses its state-run media to mislead the public and incite hatred against Falun Gong.

http://www.falsefire.com/

Bloody Harvest: Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkf2u1Umzi4

PHOTO CAPTION:

Wu Lingxia, 37, passed away on July 27, 2002. Her body had festered scars and severe edema in her abdomen. In May 2001, local police arrested Ms. Wu. She was sent to Shuangyashan detention center where she was illegally detained for a month. On July 2nd, she was transferred to the Xigemu labor center in Jiamusi city, where she endured severe torture for long periods of time. She did not receive any medical attention and her condition deteriorated, which resulted in hepatocirrhosis, severe ascites (abnormal fluid buildup in her abdomen), liver damage, inflammatory swelling and septic ulceration in her lower legs . She was sent home after a yearlong detention from which she never recovered.

http://www.faluninfo.net/gallery/13/?page=9

ENDS

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