March 13, 2002

Four Swiss practitioners of Falun Gong who were allegedly refused entry into mainland China will refuse food outside the local Chinese representative office, a spokeswoman for the meditation [group] said Wednesday.

Hong Kong Falun Gong spokeswoman Sophie Xiao said the Swiss had planned to go to Beijing to appeal against China's crackdown on the group banned by mainland authorities as an [Jiang Zemin regime's slanderous term omitted] but they were allowed to get only as far as Hong Kong, which has separate immigration rules. Xiao said she had no further details. No one answered the phone at the Chinese Liaison Office here when a reporter rang Wednesday evening to ask whether the Swiss had been barred from mainland China.

One of the Swiss practitioners, Erich Bachmann, declined comment, saying the group would have a statement Thursday when the three-day protest is launched. Bachmann would not say where in Switzerland he or the others lived.

A number of overseas Falun Gong practitioners have recently been kicked out of China for demonstrating in Beijing.

Falun Gong remains legal in Hong Kong, although government officials have characterized the group as a [slanderous term omitted] that must be closely monitored.