04/26/2000

The Globe and Mail

National

Page A12

Beijing -- Chinese police have detained more than 100 members of the banned falun gong movement, defiant devotees who went to Tiananmen Square yesterday to commemorate the first anniversary of a huge demonstration that transformed their once obscure spiritual group into the government's most hated enemy.

Many small groups of followers, including some children, straggled onto the square in downtown Beijing over the course of the morning. Most were simply dressed middle-aged Chinese attempting to unfurl yellow banners, chant slogans or strike meditative poses in the brief moments before their arrests.

All were arrested almost instantaneously and hustled into vans by hundreds of uniformed and plainclothes police officers who crisscrossed the vast square in pairs throughout the day, doggedly trying to pick out the small number of falun gong members from the throngs of Chinese tourists.

Most of the protesters went peacefully, although observers said some police officers had kicked and punched several of them.

Such protests have become almost daily events in Tiananmen Square since the government banned the group last summer, branding it an "evil cult" that spreads superstition. But yesterday there were more than the usual number of protesters -- and policemen -- because of the anniversary.

Last April 25, the popular exercise and meditation group stunned police when more than 10,000 members staged a daylong silent sit-in around the compound of China's government leaders in an effort to gain official recognition.

Two months later, the government banned the group and has since harassed, detained and imprisoned thousands of members.

The movement, whose Chinese-born leader Li Hongzhi moved to the United States several years ago, organized activities in New York and Hong Kong yesterday to commemorate the anniversary of the 1999 protest.

Falun gong spokesmen in the United States contend that more that 35,000 members have been detained and that more than 5,000 are being held in labour camps under a system of punishment that does not require a trial. Almost 100 leaders of the group have been sentenced to prison terms, some longer than 10 years.

Yesterday, both a government spokesman and the public-information branch of China's cabinet refused to provide statistics about arrests during the campaign against the movement.

While Beijing has repeatedly touted its "complete success" in the campaign, it has recently also obliquely admitted its failures.

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