(Minghui.org) Over the past weekend, many residents in Sydney were glad to see Falun Gong practitioners at the annual Moon Festival celebration at Cabramatta. Similarly, the rally at Aotea Square in Auckland, New Zealand, was also praised by spectators.

Sydney, Australia

With support from city officials, the Cabramatta Moon Festival has become the largest celebration of its kind in the Sydney metro area.

Nearly 90,000 people attended the Moon Festival celebration this year, many of them Vietnamese and Vietnamese Chinese. Practitioners demonstrated the exercises and distributed flyers in English, Chinese, and Vietnamese on September 24. Their handmade paper lotus flowers were very popular, and hundreds of them were given away in a few hours.

Falun Gong practitioners demonstrate the exercises at the Moon Festival in Cabramatta near Sydney on September 24, 2017.

Andrew and Kirsty said they like the idea of becoming better people by following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Andrew and Kirsty had never heard of Falun Gong. They read a pamphlet and talked with practitioners about the practice. “I agree with the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” said Andrew. Both of them signed petitions calling for an end to stop the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

Matt said forced organ harvesting is “unacceptable.”

Matt lives in northern Sydney and had heard about Falun Gong before, but he was not aware that it is being persecuted in China. He was especially disturbed by the organ harvesting from living practitioners in China. “This meditation looks good and I will definitely look into it,” he remarked as he signed a petition.

One woman had started to practice Falun Gong back in Vietnam but did not continue. Seeing the practitioners doing the exercises at the festival, she felt touched and wanted to take it up again. After a practitioner told her there was a group exercise site nearby, the woman thanked the practitioners several times.

Helen, a Vietnamese Chinese, wanted to read the Falun Gong books, but she does not speak Chinese. When a practitioner told her where to purchase the books in Vietnamese, Helen said she would follow up on it.

Auckland, New Zealand

Falun Gong practitioners brought their waist drums to their rally in Aotea Square in Auckland on September 23. This event was held to raise awareness of the suppression in China and to celebrate the over 280 million people who have quit the Chinese communist organizations.

Practitioners do the exercises together on Aotea Square in Auckland on September 23, 2017.

Kerry Gore, a human rights lawyer, hopes the Chinese can regain their freedom.

“By violating basic human rights, including the freedom of belief and the freedom of speech, China has ignored the Universal Declaration of Human Rights agreed on in 1948; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1966,” said human rights lawyer Kerry Gore.

He said he admired and thanked the Falun Gong practitioners who safeguard their belief despite the threat of illegal detention, torture, brainwashing, and even forced organ harvesting. He believes the Chinese communists will be phased out and the Chinese will regain their freedom.

Peter Hooton wished he could help practitioners more.

Peter Hooton was shocked to hear about the forced organ harvesting in China. “If someone told me it happened 100 years ago, I would probably believe it. But we are living in the 21st century—how can anything like that be allowed?” He suggested that international laws banning organ tourism in China be implemented. “We have to stop killing innocent people. And I wish I could help more on this,” he added.

One woman stopped to observe practitioners doing the exercises. “It looks peaceful and beautiful. I could feel a strong energy.” She said she liked their golden outfits and was very interested in Chinese culture.

Practitioners tell passersby about the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

Having seen practitioners peacefully protest in front of the Chinese Embassy in Wellington, the woman said she was impressed by their efforts, “They [practitioners] are messengers of peace. I really mean it.”

Related article in Chinese:http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2017/9/26/新西兰庆祝两亿八千万中国人退出中共党团队（图）-354222.html