WIRE:07/20/2000 05:26:00 ET
HONG KONG, July 20 (Reuters) - More than 120 Falun Gong practitioners took to the streets of Hong Kong on Thursday calling on China to end its year-long crackdown on the spiritual movement. "The suppression is getting more and more serious in China. We want to support our fellow practitioners China," group spokeswoman Hui Yee-han said. The demonstrators, including children, called on China to release all detained Falun Gong members and withdraw the arrest warrant on its founder Li Hongzhi, who now lives in exile in New York. The Falun Gong followers went through slow-motion exercises and then sat quietly meditating outside China"s representative office in Hong Kong, the former British colony which reverted to Chinese rule in 1997. Under a "one country, two systems" formula, Hong Kong has a large degree of autonomy from Beijing and has not followed mainland China in outlawing the religious movement. Falun Gong members said they would later hand a petition to the Central Government Liaison Office during a 10-hour protest. China officially banned the spiritual movement, which combines elements of Buddhism, Daoist teachings and meditation, on July 22 last year, branding it an "evil cult," after Falun Gong members demanded official recognition for their faith in a series of protests. Hui said although the movement was legal in Hong Kong, the only place on Chinese soil, its members were being discriminated against and harassed, citing difficulties in booking venues for gatherings.
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Category: Falun Dafa in the Media
