Hong Kong members celebrate 1st World Falun Dafa Day

Kyodo News Service

HONG KONG, May 13 (Kyodo) - About 150 Hong Kong-based followers of Falun Gong, a meditation group outlawed in mainland China, on Saturday marked the eight anniversary of the founding of their group with public exercises and a coach parade.

The members, joined by Falun Gong practitioners from Australia, China and the United States, also petitioned the Hong Kong government and Legislative Council to state that their Buddhist-oriented movement guides people to good and that it is not an ''evil cult,'' as Beijing maintains.

In the late afternoon, the followers staged a march in the crowded Tsim Sha Tsui tourist district.

Beijing banned Falun Gong in July last year, but it remains legal in Hong Kong.

Falun Gong followers worldwide celebrated Saturday as the first ''World Falun Dafa Day,'' to commemorate the founding of the movement by their master, Li Hongzhi, on May 13, 1992. ''Falun Dafa'' is the name of the group's doctrine.

''We would like to ask all kind-hearted people all over the world to give us support,'' said Sophie Xiao, a spokeswoman of the Hong Kong Association of Falun Dafa.

Xiao also called on people worldwide to consider the plight of Chinese Falun Gong members detained in China and to help them seek a dialogue with the Chinese authorities on freedom to practice their beliefs.

In Beijing, more than 70 Falun Gong supporters were arrested following a demonstration Saturday.

China has jailed a number of Falun Gong practitioners since 10,000 Chinese followers surrounded the Zhongnaihai leadership compound in Beijing on April 25 last year to protest maltreatment of their supporters.

Practitioners from Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United States were also expected to organize activities Saturday to mark the World Falun Dafa Day.

''We feel that this will be a good opportunity for more people to learn about and experience Falun Dafa for themselves,'' Falun Gong members from Hong Kong and abroad said in a joint statement last week.

In Hong Kong, about 500 people practice Falun Gong.

Copyright 2000 The Kyodo News Service.