Time: approx 8.30am. Day and date: Friday, 3rd February 2012.
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| The flame was lit and the flag ignited. The rain fell but neither our spirits or the flag were dampened. |
Again the International Petitioners and Mr. Zhang, Human Rights Activist, descended on Dunblane Street. Our last attempt was thwarted by the "invasion" of the Consulate by an armed trespasser on 30th December 2011. Dunblane Street was considered to be a crime scene by Police and we were unable to protest outside the Consulate on that day.
Since then quite a lot has been done to promote the cause of all the International Petitioners and the additional worldwide call to Ban the Import of All Chinese Products intended for Human Consumption. Chinese authorities may be idle but we are not. The Chinese Authorities are toothless but we are not.
Chinese Authorities do not support Human and Legal Rights but we do.
I gave very serious thought to burning the China flag. I am not in favour of burning the flag of any country as it represents the people who own the flag. I am a great defender of our flag because, to me, it represents our historical past and honours the many military personnel and citizens who have fought so valiantly to ensure we Australians have the freedom we enjoy today. With those feelings I had to consider very seriously whether I should burn the China flag.
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| Even the pigeons in Central Station Sydney seem to give their support. We have two trollies now to carry our banners. As usual we leave our whiteboard for passersby to read. |
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| The Chinese flag, saturated with Australian eucalyptus oil, burned very quickly regardless of the rain. It was only a small flag - A4 size but still it was the flag of China. No-one from the Consulate said or did anything to stop the flag burning ceremony. No complaint made to attending Australian Federal Police. The woman with the bag was completely mesmerized by the boring sign on the wall of the consulate and turned her back on the "illegal cremation".. |
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| Too late, my wife sprang into action to save the China flag. Unfortunately at the same speed as Chinese Authorities have taken, to settle her Court Case and the claims made by other International Petitioners. The flag did not survive. |
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| Mr. Zhang and Ms. He Yan look at our protest banners from outside the Chinese Consulate. Graphic photographs on this side are for adults only. The whiteboard,in front,calls for the release of Mr. Chen, the blind lawyer who was acting to stop forced abortions (including abortions of long term foetus). He and his family have been physically assaulted, "isolated" and held incommunicado by thugs hired by China authorities. This is China 2012. |
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| The woman with the large bag spent many minutes reading the sign on the wall. Possibly brushing up on her English Language reading skills. There were not many people wanting to enter the Consulate on 3rd February 2012. Closed circuit TV security camera stared back at us staring at it. It won the contest because we have to blink. Consulate staff are nervous after the armed invasion on 30th December 2011. |
On 21st January 2012 I emailed the Chinese Ambassador, Canberra:
Dear Ambassador Chen Yuming,
Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China, Canberra Australia
We note that the Sydney Consulate is closed for Chinese New Year.
To help celebrate Chinese New Year, Australian Petitioners have scheduled another demonstration outside the Sydney Consulate on Friday 3rd February.
The Sydney Consulate has no email system and, according to one irate Chinese lady who had business with them on 30th December last, they do not answer the telephone. We have no means of direct communication. We see our Demonstration as a means for Chinese Authorities to easily contact us.
For your information we have changed our demonstration style. You may see details of these demonstrations, from time to time.
Our new banner, is to be unveiled at the Consulate Demonstration on 3rd February, and I think you will agree it will serve to advise English readers very effectively.
Australia, an island continent, has magnificent beaches. Your colleagues may benefit from a swim and have an unforgettable experience. Sun screen should be applied to protect their skin. Unfortunately, it affords no protection from sharks. Perhaps it is best not to invite too many of your friends as this might cause some environmental problems should they have close encounters with sharks.
The lack of response by Chinese Authorities to my wife’s illegal Civil Court case prompts retaliatory and continuing action.
Yours sincerely,
Chris Jones
Australia
I received no response, as usual. No comment made about our new "Australians be aware..now" banner, either.(On 1st February 2016 there has been NO response to any of the many emails sent to China Diplomats (members of China Communist Party) in Australia)
So we had our demonstration on 3rd February 2012 as scheduled. The Australian Federal Police and NSW Police were also present. There was no real contact made by the China Sydney Consulate staff. We believe that one man smoking a cigarette from a long cigarette holder had connections with the consulate. When he came out of the Consulate and crossed to our banner he ignored our red and green banners and was more interested in the banner asking for the release of Lawyers and that the material on the back of our banners was for adults only (photos of graphic injuries etc) . That banner had not been shown anyone until the day and at the demonstration.
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| Australian and Chinese standoff. I had Police backing and he had passing traffic to worry about. |
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| If the man had lifted the corner of the banner he could have stood to read it. He did not need to squat at or bow to read our Banner |
Our small band of International Petitioners were very happy with our demonstration. The weather, while not completely favourable, was limited to the odd nuisance sprinkle Taking photographs was difficult because of the rain and our lack of umbrellas. But we did Ok. The NTDTV (New Tang Dynasty TV) footage was Twittered and uploaded to Youtube very smartly. Our amateur video footage was uploaded to YouTube on Sunday 5th February. An account has been written and is on Boxun.com.
I also sent this email to the Chinese Ambassador 5.2.2012 12:53pm:
Dear Ambassador,
The rain made photography difficult but not as difficult as our time in China attempting to meet with Chinese authorities.
For the benefit of the man (see photograph) who commented that part of our banner was too low we would say that he only had to lift one corner and he could stand straight to read it. There is no need to bow to our banner as we had to bow to Chinese Officials to talk to them through small slots in their glass windows in China. That is disrespectful and is not the Western way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WEOPBwVjHo&feature=youtu.be This is the link to the NTDTV video of the demonstration. The description I have written about the video clearly explains why it was done. I have linked the video to Facebook for the benefit of worldwide subscribers. It has been Twittered, of course. And, of course, I have many copies of the video to ensure future distribution etc.
We are watching how things develop for our Taiwan Petitioner friends and whether Chinese Court proceedings will resolve anything. Our other International Petitioner friends are also watching and waiting for reaction from China in regard to that and if they (China) intends to defend its lack of the Petitioners’ Legal Rights or remain silent and continue to be found guilty by default.
Chinese Officials have not taken up my invitations to respond to my criticisms of them and the promise I made to put them, unedited, on my Blog. It seems they have no defence of their position.
The multiple campaigns continue unabated (Worldwide Ban of Imported Chinese Products Intended for Human Consumption and for International Petitioners Legal Rights and settlement their claims). The fire grows and grows.
The Chinese authorities need to reflect on the power of numbers. China 20.0% of the world population (not all supporting the Chinese Authorities), 80.0% of world population (not suppressed by Governments) supporting freedom. Chinese Authorities seem to have no understanding of Democracy and how people drive their Governments. When China feels the damage they will react. That is the Chinese way, apparently. I will speed that process along as quickly as I can to assist early settlements.
The flag burned very fast. It was small (A4 size) and Australian eucalyptus oil made sure it would burn in the rain. I do not intend to burn more flags but if you wish I can burn many more of a larger size. How many would you want? Give me a number and I will see what I can do. They would not be burned outside the Chinese Consulate (too few people in that area) but in more high traffic public places. Outside Television and Radio Station studios are good places to attract attention.
I have attached some of our photos to complement the photographic record taken by the Sydney Consulate. I am still compiling our amateur video and hope to have it available for distribution very soon.
Regards
Chris Jones |
This sign on the wall of the Chinese Sydney Consulate is far up on the wall. Safe from vandals and Tibetans, I think.
Too far up to get a foothold to launch yourself over the razor wire into China.
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A mass burning of 33 large China flags, representing the number of China's Provincial levels, is under consideration. The China Ambassador may want me to burn more, or less number of flags. We will wait a little for any China response before escalating flag burning. They have been given a photograph of the site that has been selected and the excellent vantage points available to spectators and the media.
A large Newcastle site, close to Public Transport, has been chosen for its size and accessibility and to ensure public safety. Should this mass burning and Demonstration come to fruition it is expected that Tibetan Demonstrators, Human Rights Demonstrators. Falun Gong Demonstrators and other Anti-China Demonstrators will attend together with our small contingent of International Demonstrators.
Several China Government Newspapers have been advised of the 3rd February 2012 Flag burning and have been asked if they would like a written account of the future mass demonstration with video and photographs. None have responded as at 21.3.2012. Perhaps they will rely on the International media releases of that occasion? (I have no expertise in mounting such a very large demonstration.An approach was made to an Organisation that often held large demonstrations but no response was received. I still have the large box full of China flags waiting to light up the sky - February 2016)
So ends the account of the small flag burning ceremony. Burning desire continues.
