BEIJING - China has sentenced to life in prison a man who tried to derail passenger trains after officials refused to release detained followers of the Falun Gong meditation sect, a newspaper reported Monday.
Sect follower Dou Zhenyang phoned the mayor of northern Fushun city and the railway bureau to warn that ``something would happen to the trains if his demand wasn't met,'' the Beijing Morning Post said.
Dou and a second Falun Gong follower placed obstructions on railway tracks on the night of Jan. 19, the paper said. It did not identify the obstructions, but said the driver braked in time to prevent major damage.
A second attempt on Jan. 23 was also foiled when the engineer braked in time to avoid a derailment, the paper said.
The incidents caused $9,200 in damage to the two trains and closed the line for more than one hour, the report said.
A fellow plotter, Wang Hongjun, was given a sentence of 13 years, it said.
Dou and his wife, Wang Guoying, also printed illegal pamphlets promoting Falun Gong and distributed hundreds of them with the help of other ``hard-core'' sect followers, the report said. Police found pamphlets and printing equipment in the couple's apartment.
Officials at the Fushun Intermediate Court where the sentences were passed could not be reached for comment.
Led by its founder, former government clerk Li Hongzhi, the group attracted millions of followers during the 1990s with its mix of eastern mysticism and traditional Chinese slow motion exercises.
China banned Falun Gong in June 1999 as an evil cult, accusing it of killing some 1,600 followers by driving them insane or telling them to reject medical help. The ban followed a mass protest by members against alleged government persecution.
In a new pronouncement posted on Falun Gong's Website, Li calls for defiance, saying those who fear persecution are guilty of retaining ``attachments.''
``No matter what the situation, do not cooperate with the evil's demands, orders, or what it instigates,'' Li writes in an essay dated April 24.
"Four Falungong backers told to leave "
("The Strait Times," April 29, 2001)
Four Chinese nationals - all Falungong supporters who held an illegal assembly at MacRitchie Park last December - have been asked to leave Singapore.
Eight other supporters, also Chinese nationals, will be allowed to stay here, provided they behave themselves. Advertisement Another Chinese national has already left the country, after her employer cancelled her work permit.
Singapore Immigration and Registration yesterday released details of the action it was taking against them.
They were part of a large group that tried to hold a New Year's Eve memorial service for Falungong members allegedly persecuted and killed in China.
Fifteen of them, including two Singaporeans, refused to follow police orders to leave the area.
Seven members, who prevented policemen from seizing their placards, were jailed a month each, and the other eight were fined $1,000 for assembling without a permit. China has banned the Falungong movement as an 'evil cult'.
The four Chinese nationals asked to leave Singapore will be given some time to settle their personal matters first. They are:
Li Ying, 39, who will lose her permanent-resident status;
Xiong Changlei, 23, and Xiong Shouyong, 24, whose student passes will be cancelled;
Wu Guorui, 23, whose student pass had expired earlier.
The other eight, who will be allowed to stay subject to good conduct, are:
Gao Hao, 28, Hu Jian, 37, Chen Hongmei, 26, and Dong Yuexing, 40, who will keep their permanent-resident status;
Ma Xiao, 29, here on a social visit pass;
Zhang Zhao Pei, 21, and Zhen Hanfei, 25, who will be allowed to continue studying;
Xu Dong, 28, who will be allowed to continue working here.
Kang Cui Wei, 30, has left Singapore.
"Hong Kong's Freedom Is Facing a Crucial Test "
by Mike Jendrzejczyk ("International Herald Tribune," April 28, 2001)
Nearly four years after its handover to China, Hong Kong's autonomy and commitment to human rights under the "one country, two systems" formula are facing some pivotal tests. The former British colony must decide how to deal with the Falun Gong spiritual meditation group, and how to respond to China's detention of Hong Kong-based academics.
On May 8, President Jiang Zemin of China is due in Hong Kong to speak at a major business conference. Members of Falun Gong are expected to stage protests against Beijing's fierce crackdown on the group. If Mr. Jiang is embarrassed by the protests before an international audience, there is concern that Hong Kong will be subject to intense pressure from Beijing to ban Falun Gong, as China has done.
Hong Kong officials have given mixed signals about Falun Gong's status. In February, Hong Kong's chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, declared that Falun Gong had "characteristics of an evil cult" and needed watching. He later appeared to back off. But Regina Ip, Hong Kong's security chief, branded Falun Gong a "devious organization" responsible for "heretical" views, echoing Beijing's sharp rhetoric.
On April 26, Mr. Tung again attacked Falun Gong, saying its planned protests during Mr. Jiang's visit were unacceptable, against the interests of Hong Kong and "a deliberate move to undermine" Hong Kong's relations with Beijing. Some in Hong Kong fear that Mr. Jiang's visit could be used as a pretext for enactment of an anti-subversion law, provided for by Article 23 of Hong Kong's Basic Law, to ban Falun Gong; alternatively, human rights activists fear the passage of an "anti-cult" law like one on the mainland.
When questioned about this, Bob Alcock, Hong Kong's solicitor general, stated flatly, "there is no pressure to use Article 23 against Falun Gong." He also assured me that the group is "legal in Hong Kong so long as they abide by Hong Kong's laws."
Rather than threatening Falun Gong, Mr. Tung should make a clear public statement guaranteeing the right of Falun Gong members to protest peacefully and to operate in Hong Kong without official interference or restrictions.
Among Hong Kong's academics, legislators and U.S. business executives, the detention of several China scholars on the mainland, including two based in Hong Kong, has set off alarm bells. Li Shaomin, a respected professor of business at City University of Hong Kong and a U.S. citizen, was picked up by the Chinese police when he went into Shenzhen on Feb. 25. The detention of Mr. Li, who also ran an Internet company in south China, remains unexplained.
Equally worrying is the case of Xu Zerong, an associate research professor and former legal resident of Hong Kong, who went to Guangdong Province in August and was detained by Chinese state security officials. There is no information on where he is being held.
If Hong Kong is totally powerless to protect its citizens from arbitrary arrest the minute they cross the border into the mainland, this poses a serious challenge to the idea of "one country, two systems." Cross-border academic exchanges and business ties are vital if Hong Kong is to continue to prosper and to help drive China's development.
Yet Hong Kong officials seemed strangely indifferent to the detentions. At a minimum, they should urgently press Beijing to clarify the legal status of the detained scholars.
With China set to join the World Trade Organization, Hong Kong's role is more crucial than ever as an example of how free markets and civil liberties can thrive together. But Hong Kong risks serious erosion of its international position if its government fails to protect the rights of its citizens.
The writer, Washington director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, contributed this comment to the International Herald Tribune. HONG KONG Nearly four years after its handover to China, Hong Kong's autonomy and commitment to human rights under the "one country, two systems" formula are facing some pivotal tests. The former British colony must decide how to deal with the Falun Gong spiritual meditation group, and how to respond to China's detention of Hong Kong-based academics.
On May 8, President Jiang Zemin of China is due in Hong Kong to speak at a major business conference. Members of Falun Gong are expected to stage protests against Beijing's fierce crackdown on the group. If Mr. Jiang is embarrassed by the protests before an international audience, there is concern that Hong Kong will be subject to intense pressure from Beijing to ban Falun Gong, as China has done.
Hong Kong officials have given mixed signals about Falun Gong's status. In February, Hong Kong's chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, declared that Falun Gong had "characteristics of an evil cult" and needed watching. He later appeared to back off. But Regina Ip, Hong Kong's security chief, branded Falun Gong a "devious organization" responsible for "heretical" views, echoing Beijing's sharp rhetoric.
On April 26, Mr. Tung again attacked Falun Gong, saying its planned protests during Mr. Jiang's visit were unacceptable, against the interests of Hong Kong and "a deliberate move to undermine" Hong Kong's relations with Beijing. Some in Hong Kong fear that Mr. Jiang's visit could be used as a pretext for enactment of an anti-subversion law, provided for by Article 23 of Hong Kong's Basic Law, to ban Falun Gong; alternatively, human rights activists fear the passage of an "anti-cult" law like one on the mainland.
When questioned about this, Bob Alcock, Hong Kong's solicitor general, stated flatly, "there is no pressure to use Article 23 against Falun Gong." He also assured me that the group is "legal in Hong Kong so long as they abide by Hong Kong's laws."
Rather than threatening Falun Gong, Mr. Tung should make a clear public statement guaranteeing the right of Falun Gong members to protest peacefully and to operate in Hong Kong without official interference or restrictions.
Among Hong Kong's academics, legislators and U.S. business executives, the detention of several China scholars on the mainland, including two based in Hong Kong, has set off alarm bells. Li Shaomin, a respected professor of business at City University of Hong Kong and a U.S. citizen, was picked up by the Chinese police when he went into Shenzhen on Feb. 25. The detention of Mr. Li, who also ran an Internet company in south China, remains unexplained.
Equally worrying is the case of Xu Zerong, an associate research professor and former legal resident of Hong Kong, who went to Guangdong Province in August and was detained by Chinese state security officials. There is no information on where he is being held.
If Hong Kong is totally powerless to protect its citizens from arbitrary arrest the minute they cross the border into the mainland, this poses a serious challenge to the idea of "one country, two systems." Cross-border academic exchanges and business ties are vital if Hong Kong is to continue to prosper and to help drive China's development.
Yet Hong Kong officials seemed strangely indifferent to the detentions. At a minimum, they should urgently press Beijing to clarify the legal status of the detained scholars.
With China set to join the World Trade Organization, Hong Kong's role is more crucial than ever as an example of how free markets and civil liberties can thrive together. But Hong Kong risks serious erosion of its international position if its government fails to protect the rights of its citizens.
The writer, Washington director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, contributed this comment to the International Herald Tribune. HONG KONG Nearly four years after its handover to China, Hong Kong's autonomy and commitment to human rights under the "one country, two systems" formula are facing some pivotal tests. The former British colony must decide how to deal with the Falun Gong spiritual meditation group, and how to respond to China's detention of Hong Kong-based academics.
On May 8, President Jiang Zemin of China is due in Hong Kong to speak at a major business conference. Members of Falun Gong are expected to stage protests against Beijing's fierce crackdown on the group. If Mr. Jiang is embarrassed by the protests before an international audience, there is concern that Hong Kong will be subject to intense pressure from Beijing to ban Falun Gong, as China has done.
Hong Kong officials have given mixed signals about Falun Gong's status. In February, Hong Kong's chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, declared that Falun Gong had "characteristics of an evil cult" and needed watching. He later appeared to back off. But Regina Ip, Hong Kong's security chief, branded Falun Gong a "devious organization" responsible for "heretical" views, echoing Beijing's sharp rhetoric.
On April 26, Mr. Tung again attacked Falun Gong, saying its planned protests during Mr. Jiang's visit were unacceptable, against the interests of Hong Kong and "a deliberate move to undermine" Hong Kong's relations with Beijing. Some in Hong Kong fear that Mr. Jiang's visit could be used as a pretext for enactment of an anti-subversion law, provided for by Article 23 of Hong Kong's Basic Law, to ban Falun Gong; alternatively, human rights activists fear the passage of an "anti-cult" law like one on the mainland.
When questioned about this, Bob Alcock, Hong Kong's solicitor general, stated flatly, "there is no pressure to use Article 23 against Falun Gong." He also assured me that the group is "legal in Hong Kong so long as they abide by Hong Kong's laws."
Rather than threatening Falun Gong, Mr. Tung should make a clear public statement guaranteeing the right of Falun Gong members to protest peacefully and to operate in Hong Kong without official interference or restrictions.
Among Hong Kong's academics, legislators and U.S. business executives, the detention of several China scholars on the mainland, including two based in Hong Kong, has set off alarm bells. Li Shaomin, a respected professor of business at City University of Hong Kong and a U.S. citizen, was picked up by the Chinese police when he went into Shenzhen on Feb. 25. The detention of Mr. Li, who also ran an Internet company in south China, remains unexplained.
Equally worrying is the case of Xu Zerong, an associate research professor and former legal resident of Hong Kong, who went to Guangdong Province in August and was detained by Chinese state security officials. There is no information on where he is being held.
If Hong Kong is totally powerless to protect its citizens from arbitrary arrest the minute they cross the border into the mainland, this poses a serious challenge to the idea of "one country, two systems." Cross-border academic exchanges and business ties are vital if Hong Kong is to continue to prosper and to help drive China's development.
Yet Hong Kong officials seemed strangely indifferent to the detentions. At a minimum, they should urgently press Beijing to clarify the legal status of the detained scholars.
With China set to join the World Trade Organization, Hong Kong's role is more crucial than ever as an example of how free markets and civil liberties can thrive together. But Hong Kong risks serious erosion of its international position if its government fails to protect the rights of its citizens.
The writer, Washington director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, contributed this comment to the International Herald Tribune.
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