HONG KONG, Feb 10 (Reuters) - China has arrested some 2,000 practitioners of the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual movement across the country since February 5, a Hong Kong-based human rights monitoring group said on Thursday.
The Information Centre of Human Rights & Democratic Movement in China said more than 500 Falun Gong members were arrested in Beijing alone since the first day of the Lunar New Year, which began on February 5.
The group estimated that China has sent more than 5,000 Falun Gong members to labour camps and sentenced 300 others to jail since it began its crackdown last year.
The Chinese authorities banned the Falun Gong movement, which combines elements of Buddhism, Taoism and meditation, in July after members demanded official recognition for their faith in a series of bold protests, including a gathering of 10,000 people at the central leadership compound in Bejing last April.
The human rights group also said two Chinese soldiers in uniform were taken away from Beijing's Tiananmen Square for practising Falun Gong on February 7.
(C) Reuters Limited 2000.