From July 30th - August 3rd, 2007, twenty-one Finance Ministers from around the Asia-Pacific region attended the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Meeting held at the Hyatt Regency Resort on the Sunshine Coast, in Queensland, Australia. The visiting Ministers came from countries such as Mexico, USA, Singapore, Russia, Canada and China.
Local Falun Gong practitioners, wanting to send a message to the Chinese Communist delegation, applied for and received the only permit issued to have a presence on the front lawn of the resort.
Upon the Finance Ministers' arrival, our small group of practitioners greeted them with large banners highlighting the message of human rights abuses in China. Over the next five days, our banners exposing the crimes of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including the illegal organ harvesting trade in China, were displayed daily between 9:00am - 5:00pm.
Our banner display provided a unique opportunity to clarify the truth of the persecution to the many police officers, security personnel and traffic wardens on duty. Our presence also attracted the attention of the local television and newspaper media, who interviewed us and filmed the banner display. The television broadcasts presented our display and interviews as an introduction to their news reports on the APEC Meeting and two local newspapers printed stories, including photos of our peaceful protest. Even a media team from Chile showed much interest by interviewing us and taking footage of each of the banners.
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Pedestrians came over to talk to us, and some motorists even stopped their cars by the roadside to get information. Thousands of vehicles drove past during the week with many waving and honking their horns to show their support. We sent forth righteous thoughts throughout the week, with a particular focus mid-week when strong wind gusts attempted to blow down our banner display.
However, we were inspired to stand strong for the duration of the week, holding the banners to maintain our voice for those millions of innocent Falun Gong practitioners still silenced and suffering under a covert and unprecedented persecution in China.
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