AP: Hong Kong police toughen stance on Falun Gong

HONG KONG (August 25, 2001 11:43 a.m. EDT) - Ten followers of the Falun Gong meditation group were detained for five hours by police Saturday for allegedly blocking a sidewalk in front of a Chinese government office and refusing to leave.

It was the toughest action Hong Kong has yet taken against local adherents of the group, outlawed in mainland China and branded an "[Jiang Zemin government's slanderous term omitted]" by the government.

The followers were released after about five hours. No charges were filed against them, police spokesman Kevin Chan said.

The freed Falun Gong members later resumed their protest outside the Chinese liaison office but at a distance of more than 30 yards instead of sitting just outside the building as before. Police officers kept a watch over the protesters.

Falun Gong followers said there was no legitimate reason for the arrests, saying they left passers-by plenty of room in the near-empty area, where police outnumbered the followers.

"Our protest ran very peacefully. I don't see why the police have done such a thing to us," Kan Hung-cheung told The Associated Press by telephone.

China's central government is fighting to eradicate Falun Gong in the mainland, but the group remains legal in Hong Kong, which has maintained freedom of speech and religion in the four years since the former British colony returned to Chinese sovereignty.

Falun Gong protests are frequent in Hong Kong, but Hong Kong officials have gradually stepped up their rhetoric against Falun Gong, and they say they are keeping a close eye on the group's activities.

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The Falun Gong adherents had gathered outside the Chinese liaison office Saturday morning, saying they would refuse food in their latest protest against Beijing's crackdown, which allegedly has led to the deaths of 268 people in Chinese custody.

Some shouted but none resisted being taken into police custody.

Kan accused police of controlling demonstrations outside the Chinese office more tightly than they have elsewhere.

"It makes us wonder whether some higher level officials have put extra pressure on the police," Kan said.

Police insisted that Falun Gong had not been singled out, and Security Bureau spokeswoman Patricia Mok said Falun Gong was free to keep practicing and speaking its mind here as long as its members obey the law.

"I want to stress that we treat this group like any other group," Ng said. "We just act according to the rules. We treat everybody the same."

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