A demonstration to highlight the persecution of practitioners of Falun Gong in China was held outside Leinster House yesterday.
Organised by the Irish Falun Dafa Association, the aim of the event was to call on the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, to raise humanitarian concerns on his upcoming visit to China. Mr Kenny is due to travel to China on a trade mission on Sunday.
Speaking outside Leinster House, association spokeswoman Dongxue Dai said she hoped the Taoiseach would raise several issues with the Chinese government, including the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. She also said the group hoped he would lobby for the return of a student who had been studying in Ireland. Fang Yang, who was studying at Senior College Dún Laoghaire, returned to China for a visit in 1999 and had her passport confiscated and she was still under surveillance, Ms Dai said.
At a separate event outside the office of the Taoiseach, members of the Tibetan community presented a petition calling on Mr Kenny to raise human rights abuses in Tibet with the Chinese government.