The Associated Press
11/21/01 2:51 AM

BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese police refused Wednesday to say where they were holding about three dozen Westerners detained for demonstrating in Beijing's Tiananmen Square against China's crackdown on the banned Falun Gong spiritual sect.

Swedish Ambassador Kjell Anneling said China's Foreign Ministry informed his embassy that protesters would be deported on the first available flight. He said the Chinese didn't specify where protesters were being held, where they would be flown to or whether they would be expelled together.

The U.S. Embassy said Wednesday it was still gathering information on any Americans detained.

Anneling said seven Swedes were among those who staged Tuesday's demonstration, in which participants sat in the lotus position, [...] and unveiled a banner.

[...]

As Chinese tourists stood by, police pushed demonstrators into vans and drove them off the square, China's symbolic political heart and a favorite venue for protests by Falun Gong practitioners.

Falun Gong said demonstrators included people from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Falun Gong identified one of those detained as Zenon, from Toronto. Canadian Embassy spokeswoman Jennifer May said she had also been told all the protesters would be expelled. She couldn't say if they would face charges.

Demonstrators said they wanted to publicize the plight of Falun Gong followers detained since China outlawed the group in July 1999.

Falun Gong claims 300 followers have died from torture and mistreatment in police custody. Thousands have been sent to prisons and labor camps. The group attracted millions of Chinese followers in the 1990s and says its philosophies and slow-motion exercises promote health and citizenship.

[...]

Anneling said the protests would focus attention on allegations of brutality against Falun Gong followers. He said Sweden, like many European nations, has told Chinese officials that their treatment of followers "is not acceptable."

Meanwhile, Falun Gong said Wednesday it feared follower Teng Chunyan, sentenced to three years in prison last year for helping publicize the [persecution], might have been tortured and brainwashed. [...]

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