Over 4 million have renounced their membership of the CCP

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Monday September 19, 2005 19:13

by Pól MacGiolla Bán

Chinese dissidents protested in Dublin on Saturday

Last Saturday September 17th, in addition to the ‘Street Seen’ demonstration in solidarity with people without homes (http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=71896), there was a demonstration in Dublin city centre by Chinese dissidents.

This seemed to take place in conjunction with the Epoch Times, which “started publishing in response to the growing need for uncensored coverage of events in China”, according to its website. As of today, 4,428,135 have withdrawn their membership of the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese state is guilty of continuing human rights violations against members of its population.

The protesters were handing out flyers referring to the ‘Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party’ (http://english.epochtimes.com/jiuping.asp). These include the commentary “On the Collusion of Jiang Zemin with the CCP to Persecute Falun Gong”. There are many Falun Gong practitioners in Ireland, and some hold regular vigils outside the Chinese embassy.

The most high profile case is probably that of Zhao Ming, the Chinese Trinity College student who was detained in China for 22 months as a result of practising Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa. He was eventually released by the Chinese state, after appeals by high profile people in Ireland including Bertie Ahern. Nonetheless, though persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China continues, according to Amnesty International and the UK Home Office Country Reports (see links below), the government was content to send a trade delegation to China in January this year, focussing on economic issues.

For more details on Zhao Ming:
http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2002/03/26/story25419.asp

On human rights abuses in China:
http://web.amnesty.org/report2005/chn-summary-eng

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/en/home/0/country_information/country_reports.html

Irish trade delegation to China:
http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2005/01/23/story1779.asp