Saturday, June 16, 2001

Falun Gong representatives have asked for a face-to-face meeting with Tung Chee-hwa after 150 members yesterday staged a march in protest at his claim the [group] was an "[slanderous term omitted]." Members gathered at Chater Garden in Central at 2pm, before marching to Central Government Offices to petition Mr Tung.

After handing out leaflets to bystanders, the group staged a sit-down protest outside the government headquarters and practised meditation. The group left at 4.45pm after a police representative accepted their letter to the Chief Executive.

The [group]'s local spokeswoman, Hui Cheung Yee-han, said it wanted talks with Mr Tung. "We are turning out in response to Mr Tung's groundless and unlawful defamation of Falun Gong," she said. "We want a direct dialogue with him."

Mrs Hui said the [group]'s freedom of speech was increasingly under threat. "Many people hinder us when we distribute leaflets and in our personal lives we are misunderstood by relatives," she said. "Many of our followers cannot do business on the mainland or visit, because more than 30 of them have had their home-return permits confiscated."

[...]

Human Rights Monitor said it regretted Mr Tung's remarks. "We are gravely concerned that this type of arbitrary attack . . . on a lawful society is unwarranted and undermines 'one country, two systems'," the group said.

http://hongkong.scmp.com/ZZZZVFVIWNC.html

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