Hong Kong iMail: Editorial: Unfounded hysteria (Excerpt)

23 May 2001

THE level of anti-Falun Gong hysteria coming from the government is reaching unreasonable proportions. Remarks made by Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa and others, without substance, serve only to inflame the situation and arouse fears that Hong Kong's freedoms are once again being tampered with.

Mr Tung compared Falun Gong [...]. Yet neither has produced evidence to support those comparisons. The only evidence they draw on is the self-immolation [...] in Tiananmen Square this year. Yet that evidence is seriously flawed.

First, it is not absolutely certain that those people were Falun Gong members - we only have Beijing's word on that. Second, even if they were Falun Gong, there is no evidence they are directly connected to the Falun Gong in Hong Kong, or that such extreme behaviour is typical of the organisation generally. [...]

Convenor Leung Chun-ying told the Executive Council yesterday that Falun Gong is not a religious organisation, and therefore arguments for religious freedom are not relevant. Mr Tung, similarly, has said ''it's a social issue, not a religious one''. Yet once again, Mr Tung and Mr Leung failed to explain how they come to this judgment. Unless they are forthcoming with an explanation, one can only conclude that the government is maneuvering to silence the religious-freedom argument, so that they can ban the group more easily. But if it is not a religious organisation, what is it, Mr Tung?

''Whatever we do, it will not be because of what China does or thinks,'' said Mr Tung. And he expects us to believe that. It is clear that the Hong Kong government's thinking is directly influenced by China's thinking on Falun Gong.