Friday February 15, 2002

BEIJING (Reuters) - [...] Police held more than 40 foreigners after they unfurled yellow banners and shouted ''Falun Gong is Good!'' in a protest on Thursday to highlight China's campaign against the movement ahead of a visit to Beijing by President Bush next week.

It was the latest in a string of protests by foreign members of the group, who have taken up the cause as demonstrations by Chinese members dwindle under the weight of an intense security and propaganda campaign during the past two years.

[...]

The square erupted briefly into chaos as hundreds of police chased after the Western protesters, tackled them and loaded them into police vans. Chinese tourists, sightseeing during the Lunar New Year holidays, looked on astonished.

A group spokeswoman in New York said 14 more were detained in their hotel rooms in Beijing ahead of the protests, which aimed to ''expose the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong in China.''

[...]

SEEKING ACCESS

A U.S. embassy spokesman said 33 of the foreigners were American and they had been ''expelled'' from China.

''Earlier today, the Chinese told us that among those foreigners detained...33 are confirmed to be U.S. citizens. They further told us that all 33 had been expelled.''

A separate list of the protesters included two from Poland, two from Romania, two from Sweden, four from Britain and one from Brazil.

Western embassy officials said seven German and five Canadian nationals had been held for involvement in the protests.

Four British members of the movement were deported on Thursday, and officials at other embassies, still seeking access to their nationals, expected others would be expelled on Friday.

''They are still in detention. We think they will be deported later today,'' said one German diplomat.

It was the second demonstration this week by Western Falun Gong members in Tiananmen. Security on the square was extraordinarily tight, with police checking foreigners' identity papers and searching bags.

China expelled a Canadian and an American follower of the movement on Tuesday, a day after they protested in the square.

In November, China expelled 35 foreign Falun Gong members after they protested on the square and another Canadian woman for a Falun Gong protest there last month.

Once frequent protests by Chinese members of Falun Gong have all but dried up in the past year.

[...]

Falun Gong says more than 1,600 followers have died as a result of abuse in police custody or detention centers.

[...]

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20020215/wl/religion_china_dc_5.html