Fri Mar 8,12:30 AM ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - China expelled at least seven Australian members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual group on Friday for staging a demonstration in Tiananmen Square against Beijing's [persecution] on the movement, a Falun Gong spokesman said.

They were put on a plane to Singapore after being detained and held overnight for the protest near Beijing's Great Hall of the People where China's parliament was holding its annual two-week session.

"One of those detained left a message saying all the Australians were put on a plane headed for Singapore," Australia-based Falun Gong practitioner Chris Cominos told Reuters by telephone. They would travel on to Australia, he said.

The seven included Jan Becker, who swam for Australia in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Cominos said.

Three other Australian followers were believed to have taken part in the protest and appeared to be on the same flight, he said.

It was not clear if they had been detained, Cominos said.

The Australian embassy was unable to offer any details as it had not been given access to the detainees, a spokesman said.

Protester Mihai Molnar said he had been punched in the head and kicked during his arrest, Cominos said. Chinese police were not immediately available for comment.

MORE PROTESTS POSSIBLE

The protest was the latest in a string of demonstrations by foreign members of Falun Gong who have taken up the cause as protests by Chinese adherents withered in the face of an intense security and propaganda campaign over the past two years.

China expelled 53 Westerners last month and 35 foreign Falun Gong members, including Cominos, in November for similar protests.

"There are millions of people who are practicing Falun Gong in China and the government has gone to such extreme lengths to lie to the whole population," Cominos said. "The rest of the population is deceived into thinking it is something bad.

"There is no organization or leader. It is very individual. Some people have said it will not stop until the persecution of Falun Gong by the government ends," he said when asked if any more protests by foreigners were planned.

[...]

Falun Gong says more than 1,600 followers have since died as a result of abuse in police custody or detention centers.

[...]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020308/wl_nm/china_religion_falungong_dc_6