(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners held a peaceful protest during Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang’s visit to Wellington and Auckland from June 13 to 16, 2024. They raised awareness of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 25-year-long persecution. They also called on the New Zealand government to pay attention to the CCP’s trampling of human rights and urged the CCP to end the persecution and organ harvesting from living practitioners. 

Practitioners held a peaceful protest during Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang’s visit to New Zealand June 13 to 16. 

New Zealand is located in the southern hemisphere and it’s the middle of winter. The weather was cold, windy, and rainy during the event. Practitioners protested peacefully in the wind and rain. The Chinese embassy and consulate hired local pro-CCP Chinese people, who arrived in several rental buses and tried to block the practitioners’ banners with Chinese flags. Some of these people shoved practitioners; others beat gongs and drums near practitioners’ ears; some snatched the bamboo poles the banners were attached to, while others slashed the banners with knives. Some of the thugs physically attacked practitioners and were taken away by New Zealand police.

The behavior of these CCP-hired people was condemned by local New Zealanders who witnessed it. Some people said that this group was evil at first glance; others gave practitioners a thumbs up after seeing them protest peacefully and rationally and calmly dealing with those people’s behavior.

Some international students and Chinese people who were hired by the Chinese embassy and consulate to disrupt practitioners’ peaceful protest did not know why they were there. When practitioners patiently explained the truth and kindly advised them not to associate with the troublemakers and to not stand up for the CCP that is harming China and the people, some of them left immediately.

Support from Local People

Arkie de Sozua and his wife support Falun Dafa. 

Arkie de Sozua and his wife Maria are from Spain and work in New Zealand. When they passed by the protest site, they said they knew about the CCP’s persecution.

Arkie said, “Because I often watch the news about this, I am against communism. I know that this kind of thing will happen in these countries. I like history, and when we study history, we will understand what is happening today.”

He also said, “You have the right to protest here. These CCP people are trying to stop you from protesting. This should not happen, especially in New Zealand. And you [practitioners] are peaceful. I hope you will continue to do what you should do. It’s worthwhile. You are fighting for justice and saving and protecting lives.”

June is a high school teacher and encouraged practitioners. 

She said, “I think human rights are important. The CCP is depriving people of human rights, which cannot be allowed. Practitioners have faith and spiritual pursuits, so what harm is there? I hope practitioners will continue to fight hard and awaken people’s conscience so that people will come to understand the truth, just like we are doing today. In fact, many people don’t know it now, and we want them to pay attention.”

Practitioners Call for the Persecution to End

Oksana is a Ukrainian who now lives in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. Three years ago, she began to practice Falun Dafa. She said, “When the Chinese Premier visited New Zealand, I wanted to show them that we practice Falun Dafa in New Zealand, that we have human rights and freedom in New Zealand, which are suppressed in China. In China, practitioners are persecuted and imprisoned.” 

She continued, “I want to express my voice today: Please stop persecuting Falun Dafa and stop harvesting organs from living practitioners. They are not criminals. They are sincere, kind, and loving, and want to be better people. They should not be persecuted just because of their beliefs.”

Media Coverage of the Protest and the CCP’s Infiltration

All major New Zealand media outlets reported on the protests during the visit. On the first day of Li Qiang’s visit, New Zealand mainstream media Stuff released an online investigative English language documentary, “The Long Game,” which exposes how the Chinese Communist Party carried out malicious infiltration and interference in New Zealand, including illegal political donations, cyber-attacks, attempted kidnapping, espionage, etc.

New Zealand mainstream media Stuff released an investigative English language documentary, “The Long Game” online.

Newshub report: On the left is the practitioners’ protest and on the right is New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (Screenshot courtesy Newshub).

According to Newshub, Falun Dafa practitioners gathered outside the hotel where Li Qiang was staying to make their position clear. After his meeting with Li Qiang, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was asked if he'd discussed foreign interference with Li. Luxon said that he had expressed to Li that foreign interference by any country is not condoned.