China Times: Falun Gong in Hong Kong

(Clearwisdom.net) On March 2, an editorial in the China Times stated that more and more people were starting to practice Falun Gong in Taiwan. Although not everyone believes in the practice, people could hardly dislike it, let alone hate it, since Falun Gong advocates "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance" and does not compete for material things. Falun Gong practitioners usually seem to be kind and treat others warmly.

However, as kind as Falun Gong practitioners are, when crossing the border into Hong Kong, they were brutally driven back by the Hong Kong police. Obviously, Hong Kong and Mainland China have already become "one country, one system." Hong Kong is dancing to Beijing's tune and has demonized Falun Gong.

We really could not find anything "evil" in Falun Gong. Yet the Hong Kong government looks at it like a poisonous snake or a beast of prey, possibly because the government has evil in its heart and therefore sees evil everywhere!

The Hong Kong government probably fears that after the Falun Gong practitioners from Taiwan enter Hong Kong, they will join with the practitioners in Hong Kong to demonstrate and protest... However, is there any law in Hong Kong that prohibits people from demonstrating or protesting? Additionally, from what we know about Falun Gong practitioners from Taiwan, they may just want to share experiences with the practitioners in Hong Kong and don't necessarily want to participate in protesting or demonstrating.

Even the practitioners who attend the meeting will participate in a demonstration. What open society would treat a demonstration or a protest like a rebellion? If the practitioners from Taiwan violate any laws in Hong Kong, couldn't the government punish them according to the law?

Actually, the Hong Kong government knows in its heart whether Falun Gong practitioners will "gather and make trouble." It is not Falun Gong "making trouble" that the Hong Kong government is afraid of, but Zhongnanhai [location of the central Chinese government] "causing trouble." Obstructed by its international position, the Hong Kong government dares not arrest Falun Gong practitioners solely on the basis of their beliefs. However, pressed by Beijing, it could not acknowledge Falun Gong as a righteous belief either. Therefore, the Hong Kong practitioners could demonstrate, yet the Taiwan practitioners were denied entry at the border.

Under British rule, Hong Kong had no democracy but freedom. After being returned to China, even Hong Kong's freedom seems to be in danger.