"Some Detentions Made On Falun Gong Crackdown Anniversary"

(AP, July 20, 2001)

BEIJING -Police detained at least six people on Tiananmen Square in central Beijing Friday, the second anniversary of the start of China's crackdown on the Falun Gong spiritual group. It wasn't immediately clear whether those detained were Falun Gong members, but the square has been the site of repeated protests by the group, especially on key anniversaries.
Reporters saw one man chased, tackled and dragged into a police van. A man who was with him was wrestled to the ground and taken away.
In a different part of the square, police took away more people in a van. Bystanders there said they saw four people detained.
Officers were stationed throughout the square, which was packed mostly with tour groups and schoolchildren on field trips. Blue and white police vans wove their way through the crowds, honking loudly. Busloads of officers stood by.
Last year, police broke up scattered protests and rounded up more than 90 people on the square. Most had demonstrated in small groups, using small banners, by sitting in the lotus position or by raising their arms to form an O-shape over their heads - a popular meditation pose for the sect.
Friday was the second anniversary of the arrests of 70 leaders of the group, which prompted protests by tens of thousands of followers in Beijing. It was followed two days later by a ban on the group, which the government labeled an "evil cult."
In a commentary published Friday the People's Daily, the main Communist Party newspaper, said the group "lacked humanity."
The newspaper and the official Xinhua News Agency said the death of a Falun Gong member in Sichuan province in the southwest showed the group's practices were harmful.
Liu Renfang, a 52-year-old farmer, had been suffering a long illness but refused to go to the hospital. When she died, fellow practitioners threw her body in a river to destroy evidence and protect the sect, the media said.
China's crackdown has drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups. They say detainees are denied sleep, sexually abused, beaten, shocked with electric batons and exposed to extreme cold by guards under pressure to make them renounce the group.
"During the past two years, the suppression hasn't stopped but has escalated and gotten worse," said Kan Hung-cheung, a Falun Gong spokesman in Hong Kong, where followers issued a plea Friday for an end to China's efforts to eradicate the group.

"China Closes Internet Cafes "

("Sky News," July 20, 2001)

Almost 2,000 internet cafes have been closed down by the Chinese government in the latest move to bring the world wide web under control.
More than 6,000 other cyber cafes have been ordered to suspend their operations or change the way they give access to the net.
Monitoring
The cafes are popular in China where the internet is closely monitored by the communist authorities. People who post anti-government messages or who look at 'forbidden' sites have been tracked down and arrested.
Words like Taiwan, Tibet and the banned spiritual group Falun Gong trigger a reaction.
The number of internet bars and cafes has grown steeply since 1997. The government says there are 26.5 million internet users - an increase of four million in the past six months.
Porn
More than 56,000 internet cafes or bars have been inspected since April when the authorities began their investigation into cyber cafes.
Chinese law bans "socially destabilising content" breaches of public security, "divulging state secrets" and internet pornography.

"China tries Falun Gong suicide planners for homicide"

(Reuters, July 20, 2001)

BEIJING - China has put on trial five followers of the Falun Gong spiritual movement for their alleged role in a fiery group suicide attempt at Tiananmen Square in January, the Beijing Daily reported on Friday.
Those who went on trial on Thursday for "using an evil cult to organise a homicide" included a survivor of the Chinese New Year's Eve self-immolations that resulted in two deaths.
The Beijing First Intermediate People's Court heard the case of survivor Wang Jindong, as well as four others who were accused of plotting the fiery January 23 suicide attempt by five alleged Falun Gong adherents, the newspaper said.
One woman died shortly after the self-immolations and her 12-year old daughter died seven weeks later. The badly burned girl was the centrepiece of a government campaign to discredit Falun Gong and its U.S.-based leader Li Hongzhi.
Falun Gong, which is based on elements of Taoism, Buddhism and traditional Chinese meditation and exercises, has denied that the five self-immolators belonged to the movement.
The group says it does not condone suicide.
On Sunday, China marks the second anniversary of its ban on Falun Gong, which it says is an "evil cult" that cheats its members and is responsible for the deaths of 1,800 people by suicide or refusing medical treatment.
China's two-year battle with the spiritual group it banned in 1999 has sparked international concern about abuse of religious freedom and civil liberties.
Since Falun Gong was banned, tens of thousands of followers have been detained for protesting in Tiananmen Square.
Human rights groups say thousands of members are in labour camps and at least 200 have died of abuse in police custody.

"Falun Gong followers march to Australian capital"

(Reuters, July 20, 2001)

CANBERRA - About 40 followers of the Falun Gong spiritual movement hobbled into the Australian capital on Friday after a 10-day walk from Sydney to draw attention to repression of the group in China.
"I walked slowly and it was extremely painful but I knew every footstep of mine could help to save a Falun Gong practitioner's life in China, including my daughter's," Li Fu Ying, 73, told reporters outside Australia's parliament.
Li said she had collapsed on the seventh day of the 250 km (155 mile) walk from Sydney. After a day's rest she resumed the walk for her daughter, who she said is jailed in China.
Li, who was unable to stand unassisted, and other members of the group which included children on Sunday will mark the second anniversary of Beijing's ban on Falun Gong.
Falun Gong belief is based on elements of Buddhism, Taoism and traditional Chinese meditation and exercises.
China accuses it of being an evil cult which wants to topple China's communist government. Beijing says the movement cheats its members and is responsible for the deaths of 1,800 people by suicide or refusing medical treatment.
Followers outside China say more than 200 practitioners of the belief, also known as Falun Dafa, have died in police custody in China.
Pan Yu, a Falun Gong follower from New Zealand, said he was arrested in a hotel in Beijing in December 1999 and held in a labour camp for five months without being charged.
"I was held with prisoners with psychiatric problems and nearly suffered a mental breakdown from the torture," he told Reuters through an interpreter.
Tony Dai, a spokesman for Australian Falun Gong followers, said the group had written to Prime Minister John Howard to ask the government to put pressure on the Chinese government to end human rights abuses against the movement's followers.
The Australian government had consistently refused to make any judgment on the practices of Falun Gong but says it has raised its concerns with Beijing over human rights abuses.

"Anniversary of China Sect Crackdown"

by Audra Ang (Associated Press, July 20, 2001)

BEIJING - Police detained at least six people on Tiananmen Square in central Beijing on Friday, the second anniversary of the start of China's crackdown on the Falun Gong spiritual group.
It wasn't immediately clear whether those detained were Falun Gong members, but the square has been the site of repeated protests by the group, especially on key anniversaries.
Reporters saw one man chased, tackled and dragged into a police van. A man who was with him was wrestled to the ground and taken away.
In a different part of the square, police took away more people in a van. Bystanders there said they saw four people detained.
Officers were stationed throughout the square, which was packed mostly with tour groups and schoolchildren on field trips. Blue and white police vans moved through the crowd, honking loudly. Busloads of officers stood by.
Last year, police broke up scattered protests and rounded up more than 90 people on the square. Most had demonstrated in small groups, using small banners, by sitting in the lotus position or by raising their arms to form an O-shape over their heads - a popular meditation pose for the sect.
Friday was the second anniversary of the arrests of 70 leaders of the group, which prompted protests by tens of thousands of followers in Beijing. It was followed two days later by a ban on the group, which the government labeled an ``evil cult.''
China's leaders worried that the group's size and organizational strength could challenge communist rule.
Falun Gong attracted millions of followers in the 1990s with its mix of slow-motion exercises, Eastern philosophies and the ideas of founder Li Hongzhi, a former government clerk. By some estimates, its followers at one point outnumbered the 64.5 million members of the Chinese Communist Party.
The group has since taken root in the United States, Australia, Singapore and South Korea. Taiwan is believed to have the biggest following outside China, with 100,000 adherents. Li lives in the United States.
Since the crackdown began, thousands of followers have been sent to labor camps, where officials say they are given counseling to persuade them to leave the group.
The government has accused the sect of cheating followers and causing thousands of deaths, mostly of practitioners who it maintains refused medical treatment in accordance with what it claims are the group's teachings. Officials claim followers have killed themselves in the belief they will go to heaven.
In a commentary published Friday the People's Daily, the main Communist Party newspaper, said the group ``lacked humanity.''
The newspaper and the official Xinhua News Agency said the death of a Falun Gong member in Sichuan province in the southwest showed the group's practices were harmful.
Liu Renfang, a 52-year-old farmer, had been suffering a long illness but refused to go to the hospital. When she died, fellow practitioners threw her body in a river to destroy evidence and protect the sect, the media said.
China's crackdown has drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups. They say detainees are denied sleep, sexually abused, beaten, shocked with electric batons and exposed to extreme cold by guards under pressure to make them renounce the group.
``During the past two years, the suppression hasn't stopped but has escalated and gotten worse,'' said Kan Hung-cheung, a Falun Gong spokesman in Hong Kong, where the group remains legal.
Followers in Hong Kong issued a plea Friday for an end to China's efforts to eradicate Falun Gong. About 160 adherents practiced their slow-motion exercises outside Hong Kong government offices, some wearing yellow T-shirts bearing the phrase, ``Help stop the killing in China.''
Falun Gong says at least 250 followers have died from police brutality since July 1999, more than half of them in the past six months. The Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy says it has confirmed 153 deaths in the crackdown.

"Thousands Converge in Nation's Capital to Call for Urgent Support for Falun Gong, as Resolution Is Introduced Into Congress"

(PRNewswire, July 19, 2001)

Members of Congress, Human Rights Groups, Victims, Family Members and Congressional Resolution Call for Help in Rescuing Imperiled Falun Gong
Practitioners in China
WASHINGTON - Marching from all corners of the United States, and traveling from around the world, thousands converged in Washington, D.C. today to call for urgent support to rescue the persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in China. The marchers received a strong show of solidarity today by members of Congress, who introduced a resolution into the House of Representatives calling for action to end the persecution and to rescue the practitioners in China.
The day's events fall on the eve of the 2nd anniversary of the July 20, 1999 crackdown on Falun Gong by Jiang Zemin's totalitarian regime. The regime has engaged in the brutal suppression of millions of people who practice Falun Gong, a traditional Chinese qigong practice similar in form to Tai-chi. Falun Gong is practiced peacefully worldwide, yet China's current leadership violently suppresses this freedom of expression. To date, at least 255 Falun Gong people have been killed in police custody, with over 50 new deaths reported in the last month alone.
"Just this past week, Chinese Vice-Premier Li Lanqing made an implicit link between Beijing's winning Olympic Games bid and the Western world's endorsement of its tough tactics to maintain social stability. Emboldened by his own delusion and misunderstanding, he called upon authorities in China to 'redouble their efforts' in combating Falun Gong," stated Ambassador Mark Palmer, a board member of the not-for-profit organization, Friends of Falun Gong. "The Chinese Communist leadership must receive the message loud and clear that its human rights abuses are intolerable and an international outrage -- that through the Games, the whole world will be watching how they effectively change that horrible reality.
"And, through this march today, we are asking that the world do more than watch. We are calling on all those who value civil rights, as well as human life, to demand an end to the horrific persecution now being perpetrated by the Communists. President John F. Kennedy once said 'Ich bin ein Berliner.' Today all of us including non-practitioners like myself, must say 'I too am Falun Gong.' If the Falun Gong is an 'evil sect' or 'cult' then so are Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Buddhists for all are persecuted and jailed by the Chinese Communists. We all must support this common cause. Two years is too long. We urge a universal appeal to the Chinese leadership in Beijing and throughout China to stop the abuse. Stop the arrests. Stop the killings. Stop the torture. Stop the imprisonment. Stop the intimidation.
"This, the largest non-violent movement since Gandhi in India, must say in words once spoken in this city, 'We shall overcome.' And like Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. King, and Solidarity in Poland and the ANC in South Africa, this just cause will triumph," stated Ambassador Palmer.
The Congressional resolution, introduced by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), expresses its concern that "Jiang Zemin's regime has created notorious government '610' offices throughout China with the special task of overseeing the persecution of Falun Gong members through organized brainwashing, torture, and murder," and that "official measures have been taken to conceal all atrocities."
Due to these concerns, the resolution calls on China to "stop persecuting Falun Gong practitioners," and calls on the Government of the United States to "use every appropriate public and private forum to urge" the Chinese government to do so. The resolution further calls for China's regime to "release from detention all Falun Gong practitioners and put an immediate end to the practices of torture and other cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment against them and other prisoners of conscience."
Event organizers indicated that the march is just the beginning of a renewed effort to raise awareness about the crisis in China, and to rescue those Falun Gong practitioners who are currently in danger. In his opening address, made during the rally at the Capitol building today, Ambassador Palmer noted that Friends of Falun Gong will continue to generate support from throughout the United States -- a particularly important goal, given this nation's influence and standing within the international community. He also underscored that similar marches and calls for support are being conducted in other nations throughout the world as part of the international campaign called "SOS! Urgent call to rescue the Falun Gong practitioners persecuted in China."
List of organizations and speakers who participated in the march and/or the rally is attached.
About Friends of Falun Gong
Friends of Falun Gong (FoFG) is a U.S.-based non-profit organization of individuals who firmly support and advocate for freedom of belief and other human rights. Friends of Falun Gong seeks in particular to free the Falun Gong prisoners of conscience in the People's Republic of China and to help end the persecution there. It is comprised of ordinary citizens who are independent of Falun Gong and is also free of political and religious affiliation. Friends of Falun Gong is actively involved in documenting the torture and abuse in China of those who practice Falun Gong, launching public campaigns to raise international awareness, and rescuing Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned or physically harmed in the persecution.
About Falun Gong
Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) is an ancient form of qigong, the practice of refining the body and mind through special exercises and meditation. In just eight years since its public introduction, Falun Dafa has grown to become the most popular form of qigong ever in Chinese history. The practice has attracted tens of millions of people in more than 40 countries.
ORGANIZATIONS AND SPEAKERS INVOLVED IN TODAY'S RALLY:
Speakers:
Senator Brownback, Sam (R-KS)
Senator Durbin, Richard (D-IL)
Senator Wellstone, Paul (D-MN)
Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana (R-FL)
Congressman Cummings, Elijah E. (D-MD)
Congressman Engel, Eliot L. (D-NY)
Congressman Gilman, Benjamin A. (R-NY)
Congressman Hoeffel, Joseph (D-NY)
Congresswoman Pelosi, Nancy (D-CA)
Congressman Wynn, Albert (D-MD)
Ambassador Mark Palmer -- Vice Chairman of Freedom House; Board Member,
Friends of Falun Gong
Mr. Alan Adler -- Executive Director, Friends of Falun Gong
Mr. Kenneth P. Brown -- President, Alexis de Tocqueville Institution
Dr. Abraham L. Halpern, M.D. -- Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, New
York Medical College; Former President,
American Academy of Psychiatry and the
Law; Board Member, Friends of Falun
Gong
Ms. Patricia Ireland -- President, National Organization for Women (NOW)
Mr. T. Kumar -- Director, Asia Pacific Division of Amnesty International
Mrs. Annette Lantos -- Executive Director, Congressional Human Rights
Caucus; Board Member, Friends of Falun Gong
Mr. Robert Maginnis -- Vice President, Family Research Council
Co-sponsors:
Freedom House
Friends of Falun Gong
National Organization for Women (NOW)
Washington Peace Center
Family Research Council
Alexis de Tocqueville Institution
Church Women United
The Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC)
World Organization Against Torture USA (WOAT)

"Falun Gong supporters rally in U.S. capital"

by Letitia Stein (Reuters, July 19, 2001)

WASHINGTON - Adherents of the Falun Gong spiritual movement marched through Washington Thursday to demand international help to stop repression of the group in China, an issue which has soured U.S.-China relations.
Some 2,000 members and supporters, carrying signs extolling the Falun Gong virtues of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance" and pictures of followers they say have endured repression, rallied near Congress two years after Beijing banned the movement.
"We came here to try to send out an urgent call to rescue Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted in China," said organizer Lisa Nappi, a Falun Gong follower in Washington.
Secretary of State Colin Powell will visit Beijing next week. He and other U.S. leaders have condemned the repression of Falun Gong practitioners but stress the need to balance concern over human rights in China with cooperation on economic and strategic matters.
President Bush will go to China to meet President Jiang Zemin in October.
The Falun Gong faith, also known as Falun Dafa, combines meditation and exercise with Buddhist and Taoist teachings. China banned the group in July 1999, accusing it of being an evil cult trying to topple the Communist government.
Followers outside China say more than 200 practitioners of the faith have died in police custody since the movement was banned by Beijing two years ago.
About a dozen members of the U.S. Congress, where voices have been raised in protest against China's human rights record, expressed their concerns at the rally.
Among them was Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, who introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives Wednesday condemning China's treatment of Falun Gong followers.
'ON BEHALF OF THOSE WHO CANNOT SPEAK'
"It is our homework on behalf of those who cannot speak," she said, urging protesters to campaign for its passage.
At the rally, human rights groups at both ends of the political spectrum -- including the feminist National Organization for Women and the conservative Family Research Council -- called for an end to Chinese persecution.
Amnesty International's T. Kumar, director of advocacy in Asia and the Pacific, urged Bush to demand the release of imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners.
"President Bush, you have a responsibility and obligation to take the case of Falun Gong immediately before President Jiang Zemin before you visit China in October," he said.
Chinese Embassy spokesman Zhang Yuanyuan held a news conference to condemn the Falun Gong, which he called a "doomsday cult".
Asked about reports that Chinese authorities had tortured Falun Gong members in prison, Zhang said, "Many of these stories are completely fabricated. ... There was no torture. Prison wardens are forbidden to physically abuse inmates."
Zhang described the followers of Falun Gong as "willing cannon fodder for their leader's political ambition."
Mengyang Jian, a high school senior and follower of Falun Gong who walked from Boston to Washington for the rally, said she believed raising awareness for the movement was the most important activity she could participate in this summer.
Jian's journey took her and three others more than three weeks and she was joined by dozens of supporters along the way. "It's important to everyone, really," she said. "It's liberty. It's freedom. I think everyone deserves that."

"Senior-Ranking Chinese Official Charged With Crimes Against Humanity"

(P.R.Newswire, July 18, 2001)

NEW YORK - The following was issued by the Falun Dafa
Information Center:
Late last night in New York City, Mr. Zhao Zhifei, head of Public Security for Hubei Province in China, was served with a complaint for violation of the Torture Victim Protection Act and the Alien Tort Claims Act. The case was filed last night in the U.S. District Court for the southern district of New York. Among the charges listed in the complaint are:
* Murder
* Torture
* Other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
* Crimes against humanity
* False imprisonment.
Mr. Zhao also serves as the second-in-command for the controversial "610" office for Hubei Province -- a special office setup by the central government in China to carry out the crackdown against Falun Gong and other spiritual practices.
Human Rights lawyer, Carey R. D'Avino and representatives of Falun Gong will hold a press conference outside Zhao Zhifei's hotel in Manhattan this afternoon to discuss the details of the case being brought against Mr. Zhao.
Further information regarding the alleged crimes will also be made available:
WHERE: Manhattan Plaza Hotel (9th Ave. Between 16th & 17th Street)
WHEN: 5:00 pm, Wednesday, July 18th
CONTACT: Gail Rachlin, 917-501-4441

"Falun Gong adherent sues Chinese official in U.S."

by Chris Michaud (Reuters, July 18, 2001)

NEW YORK - A follower of the Chinese-banned spiritual group FalunGong has sued a Chinese government official for $50 million in U.S. court, accusing him of murder, torture, assault, crimes against humanity and other human rights violations.
Peng Liang, a Falun Gong practitioner who attorney Carey D'Avino said was "in hiding" somewhere in China, is named as the plaintiff in the civil lawsuit against Zhao Zhifei, the head of the Public Security Office in Hubei Province who presides over Hubei's public security system and police force.
Zhao, who was visiting the United States and staying at a Manhattan hotel, was served with legal papers late Tuesday night in his hotel lobby, D'Avino said.
"Today we remind Chinese officials that the United States courts can and will hold them responsible for violations of international human rights law," D'Avino told a reporters Wednesday outside Zhao's hotel, where practitioners of Falun Gong gathered and held aloft signs reading "SOS."
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, combines meditation and exercise with Buddhist and Taoist teachings. China banned the group in July 1999, accusing it of being an evil cult trying to topple the communist government.
The civil suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, accuses Zhao of "murder, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary detention, crimes against humanity and violation of the right to life," in addition to other charges.
Followers outside China say more than 200 adherents of Falun Gong have died in Chinese police custody since the ban.
According to court papers, Zhao, as the second-in-command of the Office 610 Hubei Province, which the suit said was organized to crack down on Falun Gong and other religious movements, violated international, U.S., New York state and Chinese law in oppressing members of Falun Gong.
Efforts to contact Zhao and other Chinese officials were unsuccessful Wednesday. D'Avino said he was not certain why Zhao was in New York, but that he did not appear to be on official business.
The U.S. Torture Victim Prevention Act and the Alien Tort Claims Act provide federal jurisdiction for acts of torture and summary execution, no matter where committed, the suit said.
"We have laws in the United States that protect people even outside our borders," D'Avino said.
The suit said that during Zhao's tenure "police officers under his direction and control continued to employ murder, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and arbitrary arrest and detention to eliminate and intimidate practitioners of Falun Gong in Hubei Province."
The suit asks for $50 million in punitive and compensatory damages. Zhao, who D'Avino said was expected to remain in the United States until Thursday, has 20 days to respond, or he will be in default, he said.
The action was brought on behalf of Peng as well as that of his mother and brother, both dead and whom Falun Gong officials say were killed by the government. Few details were disclosed about Peng, whose family operated a bicycle shop, or how the idea for the suit was born or executed.
Chinese officials said early this month that June 20 three Falun Gong practitioners committed suicide, but Falun Gong said they were burned or dragged to death by the government.
Falun Gong followers and supporters will hold a march in Washington Thursday.

"HK book fair ejects Falun Gong over vacant booth"

by Tan Ee Lyn (Reuters, July 18, 2001)

HONG KONG - Organisers kicked the Falun Gong spiritual group out of a Hong Kong book fair on Wednesday, saying it had failed to show up and left a large booth empty.
A faction of the Falun Gong in Hong Kong rented the costly area for the six-day fair, but left it vacant and unattended, saying it was providing a quiet spot for visitors to contemplate.
The group had kept the media on tenterhooks for days with promises its exhibit would be a wonderful surprise.
But the organising Trade Development Council was not amused when it found the prominent area empty at the fair's opening on Wednesday.
"People pay to see exhibits but if they see an empty space, what would they think?," said TDC spokesman William Cheung.
"According to regulations, exhibitors have to put up an exhibition, failing which it would be a breach of contract."
The Falun Gong faction, which split from the main movement in Hong Kong last year, was not immediately available for comment.
Earlier, it told Reuters by telephone it was providing an oasis in a noisy place.
"It's to tell people that there is a need for silence, for space," said member Peng Shi.
"Without distractions, people can ponder about Falun Gong," he said, adding believers would be able to see wondrous things in the empty space if they "opened their hearts."
Falun Gong was banned in China as an "evil cult" two years ago but remains legal in Hong Kong, which retains a large degree of autonomy since returing to China in 1997.
The Hong Kong government this year echoed Beijing in calling the group an "evil cult" but said it has no plans to legislate against the meditation movement at this time.
Cheung said the booth, leased to the splinter faction for HK$180,000 (US$23,100), would be converted to a rest area. The organisers said they reserved the right to keep the money.
The main group has distanced itself from the faction, led by Hong Kong resident Belinda Pang. Pang's group carried out what were perceived as publicity stunts last year, including apparent suicide attempts from window ledges and a hunger strike.
Fair visitors had mixed reactions to the latest stunt.
"An open society must accept this, maybe this is how they choose to express themselves," said an elderly man who identified himself only as Mr Chow.
A teenage student disagreed.
"This is a book fair and people come here to look for books," she said.
Insurance agent Keith Ho was unmoved by any spiritual vibes when reporters lured him into the empty space, but he chose to give the group the benefit of the doubt.
"I feel nothing and I don't know what this means," he said. "It may be because they could not print their books in time."

"Falun Gong surprise baffles Hong Kong book fair"

(Reuters, July 18, 2001)

HONG KONG - A surprise promised by a faction of the Falun Gong spiritual group at the start of Hong Kong's book fair on Wednesday left visitors scratching their heads.
Instead of a stall and smiling Falun Gong adherents at an event which typically draws huge crowds, there was a large, empty space marked out with grey masking tape.
The group, which had teased the media for days about what they would do at the six-day fair, said that true believers would understand.
The surprise was planned by a faction that split from the main Falun Gong movement in Hong Kong last year. It told Reuters when contacted by telephone that it was providing a quiet place for contemplation.
"It's to tell people that there is a need for silence, for space," said member Peng Shi.
Fair organisers, nervous for weeks about what the Falun Gong exhibitors had in mind, were not amused.
"This event is to promote books and exhibitors must conform with the objective of the book fair," William Cheung, a spokesman for the Trade Development Council, said.
The Falun Gong has been banned in China as an "evil cult," but is legal in Hong Kong.
Although the splinter faction paid the HK$180,000 (US$23,100) rental fee, Cheung said the TDC reserved the right to end the contract.
The main Falun Gong group distanced itself from the faction, led by Hong Kong resident Belinda Pang, last year after it carried out what were perceived as publicity stunts, including apparent suicide attempts from window ledges and a hunger strike by a pregnant follower.
Fair visitors had mixed reactions to the latest stunt.
"An open society must accept this, maybe this is how they choose to express themselves," said an elderly man who identified himself only as Mr Chow.
A teenage student disagreed.
"This is a book fair and people come here to look for books," she said.
Insurance agent Keith Ho was unmoved by any spiritual vibes when reporters lured him into the empty space, but he chose to give the group the benefit of the doubt.