Ms Dongxue Dai:

I thank the Chairman, Deputy Brendan Smith, the Vice Chairman, Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan, and the members for having us today. On behalf of the Falun Dafa Association of Ireland and all Falun Gong practitioners in Ireland, I acknowledge the help, kindness and compassion of the Irish people and Government over the past 18 years during the inexplicable and barbaric persecution of almost 100 million people in China. We have outside this room today over 50,000 petition signatures, collected mainly last year but also in previous years on the streets of Dublin and of various other cities and towns throughout Ireland. They are collected by my fellow practitioners, some of whom are sitting here and others of whom sit outside the gate in all weather, including heavy rain, cold, storms and baking sun. This petition came from selfless people who made a stand during this very dark hour for humanity. We dearly request - I was told this is not possible - that the signatures be handed to the Government. We presented the Government with many other signatures in previous years.

The petition demonstrates the peaceful appeal made by Falun Gong practitioners in Ireland and elsewhere.

One of two most commonly asked questions when we meet people is what is Falun Gong. Falun Gong is an ancient Chinese spiritual discipline that teaches people to follow the principles of truth, compassion and forbearance. We do five gentle exercises to make people fit and healthy. However, under the dictatorship of the communist party, large groups are not allowed to adhere to any ideology other than communism. For this reason, Falun Gong was banned in China on 20 July 1999 and nobody is allowed to practise it. The government estimated that between 70 million and 100 million people were practising Falun Gong by 1999. Many practitioners have been locked up in labour camps, prisons and brainwashing classes. These provide a possible source of organs, an issue about which the other respected guests spoke.

Besides organ harvesting, other forms of persecution and torture are also practised. Some members may be familiar with the case of Mr. Zhao Ming, a gentleman in the Gallery, on whose behalf we had a major campaign seeking his freedom. Mr. Ming was locked up in a labour camp for almost two years when he visited China on holiday and during that time, he was subject to various means of torture, which included sleep deprivation and the use of electric batons. He is only one of more than 1 million people who have been persecuted and he is lucky to be sitting in the Gallery today. We were able to secure his return because he was studying in Trinity College and had a connection to Ireland. Many other vulnerable, innocent Chinese people who are engaged in harmless practice have no way to have their voices heard. I refer in particular to those whose organs have been harvested.

I thank the committee and hope it will be able to do something. Ireland has helped a great deal already by securing the return of Mr. Ming and another student who is not present today. The joint committee has also held a number of hearings at which Falun Gong representatives have made presentations. We are very thankful for all the help we have received.