Free China Brisbane organiser Shar Adams said there was only a small window of opportunity to get China to change its ways, to allow freedom of association and halt abuses including forced organ harvesting.
SMH:April 28, 2007 - 5:44PM - The Beijing Olympics should not go ahead unless China agrees to end its disturbing record of human rights abuse, organisers of a Free China rally said in Brisbane.
About 60 protesters gathered in central Brisbane to raise awareness of China's human rights abuses and to show solidarity with the thousands of people resigning from the Chinese Communist Party every day.
The rally was part of a series of global protests being staged in the lead-up to next year's Olympic Games.
Free China Brisbane organiser Shar Adams said there was only a small window of opportunity to get China to change its ways, to allow freedom of association and halt abuses including forced organ harvesting.
"Chinese human rights have not improved," Ms Adams told AAP.
"We are getting this incredible show of economic development but there has been no improvement on human rights, on the democratic process, on the legal system.
"With the games coming up it is important to use that leverage to help these processes come about in China while China is listening.
"I think it would be a travesty if the games were to go ahead and these things are still occurring in China."
Ms Adams said it was important for Australians to speak out, while they still could.
"China is becoming an incredibly powerful country on a global scale, if they are not listening now, they won't," she said.
"I am very concerned for the future, this is our region, the Asian Pacific, I don't want that sort of dominant culture pervasive in the region my children are going to be growing up.
"This is not about cultural differences, these are fundamental human rights."
Ms Adams said the west needed to provide support to the brave Chinese - about 20 million of whom had resigned from the Chinese Communist Party in recent years.
Similar rallies were staged in Sydney and Melbourne in recent weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment