Three detained Australian Falungong members escorted out of China

BEIJING, Jan 10 (AFP) - Three Australian members of the banned Falungong group believed to have been detained here after urging an end to the ban, have been escorted out of China, the Australian embassy said Monday.

Embassy spokesman Bob Nash said police informed the mission Monday that the trio had left China, and officials in Australia had confirmed their arrival there.

"They were interviewed, questioned and then driven to the airport (by Chinese officials) ... They arrived in Australia safely Monday," Nash said.

It remained unclear whether the three had been detained as police would not confirm what action had been taken against them and the Australians could not be reached for comment.

Ana Caterina Turcu and twin brothers Simon and Nicholas Vereshaka disappeared Sunday morning after delivering a letter to the Beijing headquarters of the government news agency, Xinhua.

They had alerted foreign journalists they would be making the protest, and photographers and journalists at the scene saw the three enter the building, but did not see them leave.

The Australians were asked to stay inside after they delivered their letter and police were later called in, a photographer at the scene said.

Police later escorted the Australians to the airport to catch a return flight they had booked earlier.

In the past two months China has detained several foreign Falungong members who have travelled to the capital to protest the Communist leadership's crackdown on the group.

Hong Kong academic Joseph Cheng said the increasing number of foreign members willing to go to China to protect against the ban will increase pressure on the Chinese leadership, but will not change its tough stance.

"These Falungong followers holding foreign passports obviously understand they're in a more privileged position. It's much less dangerous for them, so the organization relies on them to pressure China and attract media attention," Cheng said.

"But on issues such as this, when the Chinese leadership feels it is being threatened, it gives little regard to international public opinion. And we certainly don't see any sanctions from other countries towards China on this matter."

Detained overseas practitioners are typically released after detentions lasting between a few hours and a day, and sent home.

The latest case is different in that unlike all the earlier protesters, those detained were not ethnic Chinese.

Turcu's mother on Monday told AFP that her daughter and the Vereshaka brothers had been practicing Falungong for about two years and were alarmed by the treatment of Chinese members.

In the letter addressed to President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji, the three asked Jiang and Zhu to not misunderstand the Falungong, which was outlawed in July.

"Falun Dafa (the teachings of Falungong) is not a political movement. Any individuals who show any interest in politics, fame and gain cannot be considered Falun Dafa practitioners," said a copy sent to AFP.

They said they had benefitted from practicing Falungong and could not stand by as China continued to prohibit followers from practicing the group's meditation exercises.

China has labelled the group an evil cult and has accused exiled founder Li Hongzhi, who lives in New York, of causing the deaths of more than 1,400 people by deceiving them into believing they could cure illness by following his teachings, without seeking medical attention.

Falungong teaches Buddhist-style meditation and promotes health and strong moral values. It claims to have 100 million members worldwide, with 80 million in China.

China considers the group the biggest threat to political and social stability since the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy demonstrations.

It was alarmed when 10,000 members held a protest in Beijing last April against the arrest of fellow members. An estimated 36,000 Chinese members have been detained. While most of them have been released, a few thousand are believed to have been sent to prison and labor camps.