In case you were wondering what the people in the bright yellow jackets were doing in Katoomba and Springwood on Friday, it was a group of Falun Gong practitioners, raising awareness about forced organ harvesting in China.
The Sydney-based group were on a two-day “SOS car tour” from Oberon and back to Sydney, raising awareness about the thousands of organ transplants conducted in China each year without permission, and then sold and transplanted for enormous profit.
Group spokesperson Christine Hond said between 60,000 to 100,000 forced organ transplants were conducted each year in China, the majority against Falun Gong followers, a popular practice with its roots in Buddhism.
The practice consists of moral teachings, a meditation, and four gentle exercises for improving health and energy levels.
Two Canadian human rights lawyers conducted an investigation in 2006, concluding that the allegations of organ harvesting were true, and a recent report from American journalist Ethan Gutmann looks in detail at just how many illegal transplants are occurring annually in China.
The group would like the federal government to pass a resolution urging China to stop the organ harvesting and persecution of Falun Gong.
“This is really about human life,” Mrs Hond said.
“It is about human justice and human dignity of the human body.
“If you are thinking of getting an organ donation don’t get it from China. People are being killed for it.”