Canberra: Coinciding with the founding day of the People’s Republic of China, the Tibet Information Office (Office of Tibet), in collaboration with the New Zealand and Australia Alliance for Victims of the Chinese Communist Regime, organised a counter-event on 1 October 2024 at Sydney Town Hall.
Representative Karma Singey, accompanied by Chinese Liaison Officer of Tibet Information Office, attended the event and interacted with members of the participating groups.
The event featured a morning photo exhibition and an afternoon rally, bringing together Chinese democrats, Hongkongers, Tibetans, and Falun Dafa practitioners, aimed to raise public awareness about the pressing issues each community faces under Chinese Communist rule.
The President of the Alliance, Professor Feng, moderated the rally and underscored the illegality of the Chinese Communist Party by referring founding day of the PRC as “National Fall Day”.
Chinese Liaison Officer of Tibet Information Office, Dawa Sangmo, emphasised in her speech the colonial nature of Chinese state-run Tibetan boarding schools and the forced closure of local Tibetan schools, a policy aimed at further eradicating the Tibetan language and culture.
Former Chinese diplomat, Chen Yonglin, who defected from the regime, spoke at the event, drawing attention to the countless lives lost since the Communist government came to power. He called on the Australian government to invoke the Magnitsky Act to sanction Chinese officials involved in human rights abuses.
Other speakers at the rally included John Deller, spokesperson for Falun Dafa, who spoke about the illegal organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners, and Jenni Chen from the Hong Kong community, who discussed the severe human rights abuses under China’s National Security Law.
Likewise, V-TAG Australia actively participated in the event by displaying photos and reports and raised awareness among the Australian public on the Chinese state-run colonial boarding school. Tenzin Chokrab Kindeling, a member of V-TAG Australia, delivered a speech on behalf of the group.
The event concluded with a unified call for the Australian government to take immediate action, specifically urging the use of the Magnitsky Act to sanction Chinese officials involved in human rights abuses.
