(Clearwisdom.net) On the morning of February 10, 2004, about 50 Falun Gong practitioners held a press conference in front of the French embassy in Canberra. Practitioners also requested the French embassy to deliver a joint letter from Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria Falun Dafa Associations to the French President. A representative of these associations, Kay Rubacek, and spokesperson of Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners Australian Branch, Dr. Songfa Liu, gave speeches during the press conference.

Falun Gong practitioners hold press conference in front of French Embassy in Australia

Around 10:35 a.m., French deputy ambassador had a meeting with Kay Rubacek and Dr. Songfa Liu. When they brought up the incident in which the Paris police unlawfully detained Falun Gong practitioners, the diplomat said that he had already learned about this incident. He accepted the letter to the French president and other related materials and said that the embassy will send them to France as soon as possible.

The letter from the Falun Dafa associations calls on the French President to pay close attention to the arrest incident in Paris and the history of Falun Gong in France. The letter says that people in France started to practice Falun Gong in March 1995 and the founder of Falun Gong, Mr. Li Hongzhi, was invited by the Chinese Embassy in France to give lectures in Paris. During the Chinese New Year parade of the Sino-France Cultural Year Exchange Program, however, Paris police detained dozens of Falun Gong practitioners and even handcuffed some practitioners simply for wearing yellow scarves with the words "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance." Practitioners didn't commit any wrongdoing nor cause any trouble, and were later released unconditionally. However, the fact that they were arrested for their belief is really of great concern, the letter stated.

The letter also pointed out that though it was the Paris police who arrested practitioners, apparently the order came from above. This incident not only damages the good image of France, but also in fact promotes the persecution of innocent Falun Gong practitioners in China. A handful of people in the Chinese Government are still under the control of Jiang Zemin and the persecution is still being carried out. They could use this incident in their propaganda to justify the persecution and thus more innocent Chinese will be persecuted for their belief.

The Falun Dafa associations request French authorities to investigate this incident and ensure that this kind of incident will not happen again.

After the meeting, Kay Rubacek read a press statement in front of the French embassy and exposed more details of the incident to the public. She said there was one Chinese official who personally guided Paris police to arrest Falun Gong practitioners on Paris' streets. All practitioners were later released unconditionally and the French police refused to provide their name and police ID.

Kay Rubacek restated, "We are not targeting any government, neither China nor France. It is Jiang who brutally persecutes Falun Gong and extends this persecution overseas."

On behalf of the Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners (GMRPFGP) Australian Branch, Dr. Liu introduced the "Investigative Report on China's Ministry of Culture Exporting the Persecution of Falun Gong and the Participating Chinese Officials of the Sino-France Cultural Year Exchange Program" to the public. The report pointed out that the Ministry of Culture has diligently adhered to Jiang's dictates since Jiang sanctioned the nationwide persecution of Falun Gong in 1999. To prevent people from investigating Jiang and his accomplices' lies against Falun Gong, the Ministry of Culture has monopolized and controlled cultural information, news and publications. It has also destroyed Falun Gong publications in large quantity. Because the persecution against Falun Gong is based on lies and maintained by lies, confiscating Falun Gong publications and blockading information, including the Internet, became a crucial measure to keep the persecution going. To achieve this goal, the Ministry of Culture originated a costly "Web Culture Engineering" project in December 2000. The purpose of this project is to further monitor and block the "opposing forces" inside and outside of China as well as Falun Gong emails, mislead international opinion and suppress Falun Gong.

Dr. Liu also pointed out that the Chinese chairman and other Chinese key members of the Sino-France Cultural Year Exchange Program have also been involved in the persecution of Falun Gong to different degrees. From January 24 to 26, 2004, during the Sino-France Cultural Year Exchange Program, dozens of Falun Gong practitioners were arrested by French police without any legal reason. The only reason given was that they were wearing yellow clothes or clothing with the words "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance" or "Falun Dafa." Besides the pressure from Chinese officials on French authorities, it is also related to the fact that Chinese authorities have intentionally misled the international community. Dr. Liu indicated that the Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners would investigate this incident further.