| Rallies in Australia marks people resigning from Chinese Communist Party approaching 15 million |
 |
 |
| Global Support - Australia | ||||
| Tuesday, 17 October 2006 05:52 | ||||
By Shar Adams, Epoch Times Australia Staff, Oct 17, 2006-  While Australia may be minute in population and economic clout, advocates for human rights in China say with its large Chinese community, Australia has an important role to play in supporting those that speak out for a fairer, free China. Two rallies, held in Sydney and Melbourne, last weekend, for example was organised to support those calling for freedom of rspeech and religious belief in China. Both rallies also marked an increase in the number of people resigning from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), from 20,000 to 30,000 people a day. The total number is now approaching 15 million. While these figures are staggering any public acknowledgement of such a trend would be met with immediate arrest in China say representatives of Free China, the group responsible for organising the event. Spokesperson for Free China, Kelly Zhan said Free China was a loose coalition of individuals and groups which included members of the democracy movement, but the organisation was not in the business of promoting an alternative political system. The primary objectives for Free China, she explained was to raise awareness about the type of oppressive regime controlling the world's largest nation and to support those wishing to resign from the CCP. Public rallies, she said, were one way of doing that. "The way we have organised the rally is to make it as easy as possible for people to come and join and find out in a non confronting way what exactly is going on [in China]," she said. Those who resign from the CCP in China risk persecution, Ms Zhan explained, so it is a silent movement requiring innovative methods of registration like sticking up posters on the streets and submitting their resignations online. For safety they are encouraged to use an alias. "The Quit the CCP website is blocked in China so they have to access a separate website in order to break through that blockade, in order to register their withdrawal," she said. For many, resigning from the CCP can be a traumatic experience as obeisance to Party thinking is determined from an early age. The rallies in Australia she said were part of the healing process and many of the speakers at the rally were ordinary Chinese sharing their journey of liberation from a closed and oppressive mindset. Almost all of those speaking at both the Sydney and Melbourne rallies spoke of the Nine Commentaries, a publication produced by The Epoch Times and recognised for clearly illuminating the subversive nature of the Communist Party in China. "They spoke of reading that publication and that process of awakening…almost like a nightmare," she said, adding that "They were no longer in fear of the Communist Party. They were able to step out of that. "It was like they could break through this enclosure. "It is very encouraging if you have been in that situation, to have the network from a big rally and you see other people like yourself," she said. - Source: The Epochtimes
|
||||