BEIJING, Nov 14 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in China on Sunday for talks expected to focus on human rights and U.N. intervention in internal conflicts, as members of the banned Falun Gong movement pledged to petition the U.N. chief.
In discussions with Chinese leaders during his four-day visit, Annan would appeal for greater support for U.N. peacekeeping operations in East Timor, which Beijing has pledged to back, analysts said.
He was also expected to hold wide-ranging discussions on the U.N.'s evolving role as global policeman of internal conflicts -- a role being pushed aggressively by Annan, but which compromises Beijing's policy of non-interference, a cornerstone of its foreign policy.
If China fails to soften its position, it risks being marginalised as one of the five veto-bearing permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, diplomats said.
The United States bypassed opposition from Russia and China in the Security Council to lead a NATO bombing campaign against Serbia during the Kosovo crisis this year.
``Chinese leaders have got to put their money where their mouth is and put their troops in the field,'' said one Asian diplomat.
``They're struggling between these two extremes -- being completely isolationist and indicating that they have a presence as a permanent member.''

ANNAN TO WADE INTO FALUN GONG ISSUE

In discussions on human rights, Annan has said he would wade into the sensitive subject of a government crackdown on the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.
In Tokyo last week, he said he was ``a bit puzzled'' by the Chinese government's reaction to Falun Gong and would raise the issue in Beijing.
China has arrested scores of adherents of Falun Gong -- which mixes Buddhism, Taoism and callisthenics -- since banning the movement in July and declaring it an ``evil cult.''
Some Falun Gong members said they would try to breach tight security to deliver letters and petitions to Annan.
``I want to tell Mr. Annan the true story about Falun Gong,'' one man, who identified himself as a Falun Gong practitioner, told Reuters. ``We are under a lot of pressure.''
Falun Gong members said they wanted Annan to urge China to cancel an arrest warrant for the movement's U.S.-based leader Li Hongzhi, to release all practitioners in custody, and to allow them to practise Falun Gong freely.

SOVEREIGNTY NO DEFENCE

Annan warned in September that countries could not assume that national sovereignty would protect them from international intervention to stop flagrant human rights abuses.
The U.N.'s new creed has jarred with Beijing, which faces secessionist movements in the remote Western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang, and widespread criticism of its human rights record, analysts said.
Beijing is keen to set ground rules for future U.N. action to avoid precedents for international intervention in what it regards as its own internal affairs in Tibet and Xinjiang, and most critically in Taiwan.
``In general, China would hope that the U.N. return to its roots and do what it should be doing, and not let the U.S. carry on as it did in Kosovo,'' said one Western diplomat.
``The one reason why the Chinese are so worried about Kosovo is because of the possibility that someone might say NATO sorted out Kosovo and one day it could sort out Xinjiang or Tibet.''

CHINA SEES TIMOR AS EXCEPTION

China has backed the U.N. operation in East Timor, which was torn by violence after the region voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia, but only on the grounds that the U.N. was invited in by Indonesia -- the sovereign power.
``China likes to say this thing is okay because it is different, and they'd probably prefer that every other operation that happens takes the same form,'' said a Western diplomat.
``They are not really conscious that there is a new U.N. orthodoxy being set in train.''
China has offered five civilian police for East Timor. Beijing sent engineers to Cambodia during U.N.-run elections in 1993. It also sent observers to Kuwait during the Gulf War.

BEIJING (AP) - Prosecutors have indicted seven hunger-striking members of the banned Falun Gong sect as part of a Chinese government plan to put an estimated 300 group leaders on trial by the end of the month, a human rights group reported Saturday.
China opened a wave of show trials on Friday, using a seven-hour hearing in southern Hainan province to convict and sentence four ``backbone'' members to prison terms ranging from two to 12 years.
Scores of rank-and-file believers who have refused to recant have also been sent without trial to labor camps. In the past ten days, 35 followers in northern Hebei province were given ``labor re-education'' terms of up to three years, the Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said.
Like the four in Hainan, the seven hunger-strikers detained in Hebei's provincial capital of Shijiazhuang were indicted Thursday for ``using an evil cult to obstruct the law,'' the Hong Kong-based center said.
The center did not explain what specific acts the seven are accused of committing nor did it elaborate on their hunger strike, a tactic that has been used by group members to protest what they see as government injustices.
Fearful of the group's fervor, organization and ability to mobilize large numbers of supporters, the ruling Communist Party banned Falun Gong in July. But followers have defied the ban, staging quiet protests and performing their slow meditation exercises in public.
In response, the government has moved to strengthen its crackdown in recent weeks by ordering more arrests and redrafting a law on ``evil cults.''
A spokesman for the State Council, China's Cabinet, said this past week that 111 Falun Gong members had been formally arrested as of Nov. 4 and that 1,000 others who streamed into Beijing to protest had been detained.
The Hong Kong-based center said police and prosecutors have filed more charges against group members since Nov. 4 and that 300 are facing trials this month.
Labor camps in two northern cities, Tangshan and Changchun, are holding more than 150 followers alone, the center said. It estimated that police have used their legal powers to send - without trial - more than 1,000 members to China's 300 labor camps.
Founded by an ex-government clerk who lives in New York, Falun Gong combines slow-motion exercises with concepts from Buddhism, Taoism and the unorthodox theories of founder Li Hongzhi. Practitioners believe that channeling unseen forces to an orb spinning in their abdomens promotes health and morality.

NEW YORK - Una sentenza esemplare. Il primo processo intentato dalla Cina comunista contro Falun Gong - la setta, messa al bando in luglio da Pechino, che fonde esercizi ginnici e principi religiosi d'ispirazione buddista e taoista - si è concluso con la reclusione fino a 12 anni per 4 seguaci. Il tribunale del popolo di Haikou, nell'isola di Hainan, ha condannato tre uomini - Song Yuesheng, Jiang Shilong e Chen Yuan - e una donna - Liang Yulin - rei di «aver usato un culto malefico per violare la legge».
La batosta era stata anticipata dall'entourage del 48enne Li Hongzhi, il mitico fondatore di Falun Gong esule a New York dal '97 ma costretto al silenzio, ultimamente, dalle continue minacce e intimidazioni. «Era dai tempi dei sanguinari scontri a Tienanmen Square, nell'89, che il governo non lanciava una campagna di repressione tanto massiccia - spiega al Corriere Erping Zhang, interprete ufficiale, braccio destro di Hongzhi -, dalla madrepatria ci arrivano notizie terribili».
Può, dall'esilio Usa, attribuire un volto alla tragedia?
«Sul nostro sito Internet www.falunwisdom.net abbiamo raccolto testimonianze e foto dei seguaci vittime. Conosco donne costrette a denudarsi e poi colpite ai genitali con manganelli elettrici. Altre incatenate per ore alle sbarre. I numeri, incompleti per la censura, parlano di oltre 5mila persone incarcerate, 500 spedite in campi di lavoro senza processo, almeno 6 uccise in carcere. Centinaia sono gli scomparsi, migliaia quelli che hanno perso casa e lavoro».
Ha parenti in Cina e teme per la loro incolumità?
«Molti dei miei familiari vivono ancora lì ma non posso contattarli, per il loro bene. Dai media internazionali ho appreso che la maggior parte dei miei amici sono stati arrestati e condannati senza processo».
Non crede che Falun Gong possa essere stato usato da alcuni per celarsi dietro attività illegali?
«E' impossibile: Falun Gong insegna i principi universali di "Verità, compassione e tolleranza". Il nostro motto è "non picchiare chi ti ha picchiato e non urlare a chi ti urla". Quando sorge un conflitto il seguace guarda dentro se stesso, non fuori. E' il governo cinese che ha fabbricato accuse contro innocenti, come fece durante la Rivoluzione Culturale».
Secondo il Washington Post la repressione avrebbe lacerato i vertici del partito e sarebbe stata decisa unilateralmente dal presidente Jiang Zemin, accusato in passato di esser troppo debole verso Usa e Taiwan.
«Però il popolo è con noi. Nessuno vuole vedere donne, pensionati e persino tanti capi di partito strappati alle loro case e torturati solo perché hanno osato sfidare l'ateismo e la mancanza di spiritualità del regime. Ci temono perché siamo 100 milioni: il doppio degli iscritti al partito comunista».
Perché tutti i gruppi religiosi cinesi, dai buddisti agli islamici vi hanno denunciati?
«Si tratta di chiese-fantoccio, gestite dalla nomenklatura. I veri fedeli in Cina sono tutti in clandestinità, perseguitati e braccati come noi. E soprattutto solidali con la nostra causa, che è anche la loro».
Che strategia vi siete dati per sopravvivere?
«Li Hongzhi ha scritto ai leader di Pechino, chiedendo una risoluzione pacifica del conflitto attraverso il dialogo diretto ma il governo continua a respingere i suoi appelli. Contiamo sul sostegno del mondo cattolico, del Vaticano e del governo italiano, sempre in prima fila per i diritti umani».

BEIJING, Nov. 12 - China sentenced four provincial leaders of the Falun Gong spiritual movement today to prison terms of up to 12 years in the first of a series of show trials to mete out punishments to the banned group's most active members.
Chinese state television showed the four defendants sitting before a panel of judges on its prime-time broadcast, which reaches hundreds of millions of households. Grim-faced policemen stood rigidly behind the three men and one woman as the TV announcer warned that anyone "who violates the interests of the masses will certainly face the legal consequences."
The trial came just two days before U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's scheduled arrival in Beijing. Annan told reporters in Tokyo that he is puzzled by the Chinese crackdown. He said he plans to raise the matter with Chinese leaders, and appealed to the government to adhere to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and China's own constitution, both of which protect freedom of religion and association.
But Chinese authorities have largely disregarded international criticism because they believe the domestic stakes are too high not to, observers said.
"While the crackdown is seen as heavy-handed, it reinforces the Chinese government's credible threat to non-government organizations that it would brook no challenge to its authority," said Dali L. Yang, a Chinese political scientist at the University of Chicago.
In a brief trial at the Intermediate People's Court today, Song Yuesheng was convicted of "using a cult to violate the law," instigating protests and escaping police custody. Song, whom the state media have called an unreformed "schemer," was accused of organizing a 183-strong gathering in a park on Aug. 8 to resist government efforts to squelch the exercise and meditation group.
The official ban on the group issued on July 22 also outlawed any expression of opposition to the ban. Song's stiff dozen-year sentence appeared to be a warning to other organizers of the high price of continued dissent. The other three defendants from Hainan--Liao Yulin, Chen Yuan and Jiang Shilou--were sentenced to terms of two to seven years. Authorities accused the defendants of traveling to at least 10 cities to organize opposition to the ban. All four pleaded guilty but appealed for leniency.
The Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said at least 300 others are expected to stand trial soon. More than 1,000 followers have already been imprisoned in China's "reform through labor" system, where trials are not required and sentences can stretch for years, the group said.

BEIJING (AP) - Prosecutors have indicted seven hunger-striking members of the banned Falun Gong sect as part of a Chinese government plan to put an estimated 300 group leaders on trial by the end of the month, a human rights group reported Saturday.
China opened a wave of show trials on Friday, using a seven-hour hearing in southern Hainan province to convict and sentence four ``backbone'' members to prison terms ranging from two to 12 years.
Scores of rank-and-file believers who have refused to recant have also been sent without trial to labor camps. In the past ten days, 35 followers in northern Hebei province were given ``labor re-education'' terms of up to three years, the Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said.
Like the four in Hainan, the seven hunger-strikers detained in Hebei's provincial capital of Shijiazhuang were indicted Thursday for ``using an evil cult to obstruct the law,'' the Hong Kong-based center said.
The center did not explain what specific acts the seven are accused of committing nor did it elaborate on their hunger strike, a tactic that has been used by group members to protest what they see as government injustices.
Fearful of the group's fervor, organization and ability to mobilize large numbers of supporters, the ruling Communist Party banned Falun Gong in July. But followers have defied the ban, staging quiet protests and performing their slow meditation exercises in public.
In response, the government has moved to strengthen its crackdown in recent weeks by ordering more arrests and redrafting a law on ``evil cults.''
A spokesman for the State Council, China's Cabinet, said this past week that 111 Falun Gong members had been formally arrested as of Nov. 4 and that 1,000 others who streamed into Beijing to protest had been detained.
The Hong Kong-based center said police and prosecutors have filed more charges against group members since Nov. 4 and that 300 are facing trials this month.
Labor camps in two northern cities, Tangshan and Changchun, are holding more than 150 followers alone, the center said. It estimated that police have used their legal powers to send - without trial - more than 1,000 members to China's 300 labor camps.
Founded by an ex-government clerk who lives in New York, Falun Gong combines slow-motion exercises with concepts from Buddhism, Taoism and the unorthodox theories of founder Li Hongzhi. Practitioners believe that channeling unseen forces to an orb spinning in their abdomens promotes health and morality.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan voiced concern yesterday over the Government's treatment of the banned Falun Gong sect, urging Beijing to respect members' human rights. Mr Annan said he would hold "full and frank" discussions on the issue with Beijing officials during a visit to China scheduled to begin tomorrow.
He will meet President Jiang Zemin and Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan before heading for Turkey on November 17.
Mr Annan said: "I am a bit puzzled by the official Chinese Government reaction to the movement. I hope any action the Government takes will be in conformity with basic requirements of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Chinese constitution."
The declaration, adopted by the UN in 1948, is a set of international guidelines governing civil and political rights.
Mr Annan's comments were made as four Falun Gong members were jailed for up to 12 years in Haikou, Hainan.
State media reported yesterday that a Falun Gong leader in Shenyang had been arrested for organising sit-in demonstrations outside the Liaoning provincial government offices.
Miao Qisheng was arrested on Tuesday. He was accused of getting more than 3,000 Falun Gong practitioners to demonstrate outside the offices for more than five hours on July 21, the Shenyang Daily said.
Miao then reportedly arranged another sit-in at the same location from 3am to 10am the next day.
He will be charged with organising an illegal gathering.
Meanwhile, Belgian followers of the Falun Gong have been ushered out of a new technology show in Brussels, on the grounds that their belief is not an invention, organisers said.
The followers set up a booth at the Brussels Eureka fair, hosted by the Belgian Chamber of Inventors, when it opened on Wednesday, filling it with literature and a video of the Falun Gong's five-step exercise regime.
They were later asked to go after other exhibitors complained that their presence was inappropriate, president of the exhibition Jose Loriaux said.
Yuhong Shi, a Falun Gong practitioner in Brussels who applied for the booth under Eureka's medical science and health section, said she had packed up the exhibition but was going to stay on the premises.
She accused the Chinese Embassy in Brussels of pressuring Eureka's organisers with threats of a pullout by the Chinese exhibitors, of which 12 are listed in the Eureka catalogue.

Four members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement were jailed for between two and 12 years yesterday. It was the first formal trial of members of what Beijing has decreed "an evil cult".
The Intermediate People's Court in Haikou, capital of the southern island province of Hainan, jailed Song Yuesheng for 12 years for "using an evil cult to violate the law" and escaping from police custody, a court official said.
Xinhua said Song incited followers in 10 other cities to join a civil disobedience campaign.
Co-defendant Chen Yuan was jailed for seven years on charges of "using a cult to violate the law", Xinhua said.
The court showed leniency to Jiang Shilong, who received three years for showing "sincere remorse", it said.
The fourth defendant, Liang Yulin, was given a two-year jail term for helping Song escape from police custody.
The defendants pleaded guilty, but their lawyers sought leniency, the court official said.
Two hired their own lawyers, while the other two were assigned lawyers by the court.
Xinhua has described Song as an "organiser, schemer and commander" of the Falun Gong in Hainan.
The four were accused of defying a Ministry of Public Security ban on the Falun Gong and organising illegal gatherings of practitioners, including one in a park on August 8 that was attended by 183 people.
The Government outlawed the group in July after more than 10,000 practitioners staged a silent protest in Beijing to demand official recognition. More than 100 people have been formally arrested and are expected to face trial.

HONG KONG, Nov 13 (Reuters) - A court in northern China has charged seven practitioners of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement with ``using the cult to violate the law,'' a Hong Kong-based human rights group said on Saturday.
The court in the city of Shijiazhuang laid the charges on Thursday against Liang Yening, Zhang Jiangzeng, Li Jinxiao, Ren Yueying, Zhang Boyu, Xu Liang and Zhang Ka, the Information Centre of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said.
On Friday, China jailed four leaders of the banned movement for up to 12 years in what was the first known trial of members of what the ruling Communist Party has decreed ``an evil cult.''
The rights group estimated that hundreds of members of Falun Gong throughout China face sentencing and that more than 1,000 have been sentenced so far.
In Shijiazhuang in the past week 14 people have been sentenced to labour camp, it said.
Falun Gong shocked the government in April when more than 10,000 members staged a surprise, silent protest outside Beijing's Zhongnanhai leadership compound to demand official recognition.
The government, which apparently fears the group as a threat to its monopoly on power, declared the movement ``an evil cult'' last month and vowed to wipe it out.
The government has blamed Falun Gong for the deaths of about 1,400 practitioners.
Falun Gong, which mixes Buddhist and Taoist beliefs with meditation and breathing exercises designed to harness inner energy and heal, discourages adherents from seeking medical help.
The group has burrowed its way into the ranks of the Communist Party, the government and the military. It has also attracted support from the most vulnerable sections of society, including the unemployed, the elderly and the sick.