Friday, 29-Mar-2002 6:10AM

WASHINGTON, March 29 (AFP) - A US man and a Canadian woman who were raising awareness of Falun Gong persecution in China, have been seized by police in Beijing, the spiritual movement said in a statement Friday.

The statement said an eyewitness took photographs of Jason Pomerleau, 25, and his girlfriend Christine Loftus, 22, who were "forcibly removed from a Beijing street by 15 police officers" late on Thursday.

The couple, who had arrived in China three days earlier to raise awareness about alleged ongoing persecution against members of the Falun Gong movement, were "pulled into a basement behind a nearby building," it added.

Jason Pomerleau's brother, Daniel, 22, was also arrested on Monday in Beijing while handing out Falun Gong flyers, and was "reportedly beaten in Chinese police custody," Falun Gong said.

Daniel Pomerleau was later released and on Thursday returned to the United States, the statement said.

The brothers hail from Vassalboro, Maine and Loftus is from Ontario, Canada, where she studies at Brock University.

The couple's arrest came after Falun Gong complained that 5,000 of its members had been rounded up in a new purge against the group in Changchun city in northeastern Jilin province.

The reported sweep on Falun Gong in Changchun came three weeks after Chinese President Jiang Zemin was accused by the group of ordering police to shoot practitioners in the area.

Falun Gong was banned by the Chinese government in 1999 [...], and has since faced the ire of law enforcement authorities, as tens of thousands of followers have been rounded up.

The group bases its teachings on [Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance], while practicing group exercises and traditional Chinese meditation.

The United States frequently criticises China's treatment of Falun Gong and other religious groups.

http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/aj/Qus-china-sect.R2v6_CMT.html