Consulate criticisms reach MP inboxes

A group of Falun Gong practitioners have complained to the Chinese Consulate about a press release they regard as defamatory that was emailed to New South Wales members of parliament.

Dr Lucy Zhao, President of the Falun Dafa Association, said they were informed by a member whose office had received the press release from the consulate on February 25, along with 90 other MPs.

City Hub obtained a copy of the press release which criticises Shen Yun Performing Arts along with the Falun Gong movement.

“Clearly, the so-called ‘Performing Arts’ is not a cultural performance but a political tool of Falun Gong to preach cult messages and spread anti-China propaganda,” the document states.

Ms Zhao said the show, which will be performed at the Sydney Theatre in April, is at odds with the ideology of the Chinese government. She accused the consulate of exceeding its mandate by interfering.

“What they’re doing is outside their consulate function and also what they do is actually defaming the reputation of…an organisation which is legally registered in Australia,” she said.

A similar incident was reported in March 2008, which involved emails sent to Victorian MPs urging them not to visit a Falun Gong show.

Falun Gong, which is also referred to as Falun Dafa, is a Buddhist meditation practice and philosophy. There are two main reasons why the Chinese government began cracking down on its members, Ms Zhao explains: the popularity of the movement and its spiritual ideology.

“[In] 1999, a government survey showed that there were a 100 million [Falun Gong practitioners] in China, which actually outnumbered the Communist Party members, which were 60 million,” she said.

Ms Zhao said the Chinese government has carried out a campaign to demonise the movement and its practitioners have been tortured and detained in jails, labour camps and “brainwashing centres”.

A spokesperson for the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Sydney said the press release was sent to “Australian friends” to help them understand Falun Gong.

“The Falun Gong cult, originated from China and with the nature of “anti-human and anti-society”, caused grievous loss of life and property in China,” the spokesperson said.

“The so-called Shen Yun Performing Arts is directly controlled by the Falun Gong cult. It is manipulated by Falun Gong cult as a political tool to preach cult messages.”

More than 100 Falun Gong practitioners gathered outside the Chinese Consulate in Camperdown on March 11 to present a letter to the Consul General Li Huaxin. However, security refused them entry.