Thursday March 14, 5:35 PM

Hong Kong police detain Swiss Falun Gong members - Swiss Falun Gong practitioners meditate outside a Chinese liaison office in Hong Kong on March 14. Police detained 16 Falun Gong followers, including four from Switzerland. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong police on Thursday detained 16 [practitioners of] Falun Gong spiritual movement, including four from Switzerland, after they staged a protest against Beijing's [persecution] on the group.

Police dragged the protesters kicking and screaming into waiting vans after they ignored warnings to move their protest away from the front of Beijing's representative office in the territory.

"They were detained for causing obstruction in a public place," a police spokeswoman said. No charges have been laid.

The protest is the first in months in Hong Kong by Western members of the group, though there have been a string of such demonstrations in Beijing, where people have been detained and then promptly expelled after a night in custody.

Dressed in the movement's trademark yellow t-shirts, the four Swiss members said earlier that Beijing appeared to have stepped up its [persecution] on the group after some members [used] state television in the Chinese city of Changchun last week to show a protest film.

"Over 100 practitioners in Changchun have been arrested since March 5, facing grave danger," said Eric Bachmann, who was later taken away by police.

Falun Gong members in New York issued a statement last week saying that Chinese President Jiang Zemin had ordered authorities to execute those responsible for the Changchun incident and other prominent Falun Gong members following the TV protest.

China banned the Falun Gong in 1999 after thousands of followers shocked leaders with a protest at their Beijing leadership compound to demand official recognition of their faith.

[...]

It is still legal in Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in mid-1997 but retained a high degree of autonomy.

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http://sg.news.yahoo.com/reuters/asia-94858.html

Category: Persecution Outside China