| ABC NEWS[Tuesday,
July 25, 2006 15:01] |
The Australian Government has
directly raised concerns with China about reports it is harvesting
organs from executed members of the Falun Gong movement.
Falun Gong is outlawed by the Chinese Government.
The deputy secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
David Ritchie, formally questioned China's Assistant Foreign Minister
about the allegations at a human rights meeting in Canberra.
The Chinese Minister says there is no evidence that vital organs of
deceased Falun Gong members have been sold, as alleged by a Canadian
human rights study.
Mr Ritchie says Australia also has no evidence that the claims are true.
"We think the evidence is not necessarily there, it's still open - which
is one of the reasons why we raised the issue, we don't know one way or
the other," he said.
"But when we receive reports like that which are very serious, we of
course raise them directly with our Chinese counterparts."
|