Hong Kong Government Expels 80 Taiwanese Falun Gong Practitioners

As Falun Dafa practitioners in Hong Kong prepared to hold a Global Experience Sharing Conference on Saturday February 22, around 80 practitioners from Taiwan were rudely denied access to Hong Kong and were expelled from the region. Although the Hong Kong government said that officials involved in the incident conducted themselves legally, Falun Gong spokesman Kan Hung-Cheung is very disappointed, and feels that this incident will adversely affect the reputation of Hong Kong.

Beijing Believed to Be Responsible

Kan Hung-Cheung stated yesterday that it is irrational to deny entrance to the Taiwanese Falun Dafa practitioners and believes that the Jiang regime pressured the Hong Kong authorities. All international Falun Dafa experience sharing conferences are held peacefully. Dozens of Taiwan Falun Dafa practitioners were detained inside the Airport's forbidden areas and forcibly sent back to Taiwan. Some of them were even physically harmed. This is offensive to people, and damages the reputation of Hong Kong.

According to a Central News Agency report, besides Taiwanese Falun Dafa practitioners, Japanese and Thailanders were also denied entrance. Some of them were also forcibly expelled from the region. Kan Hung-Cheung expresses his wish that the Government of Hong Kong would conduct themselves according to the law and not bow to pressure from Beijing.

Eight Hundred Practitioners from 20 Countries Attended the Conference

We learned that nearly 800 practitioners from 20 countries participated in the conference.

One of the Taiwanese practitioners who was denied entrance to Hong Kong is Huang Chunmei. She said that there were around 500 practitioners attending the conference and 370 of them were from Taiwan. Originally, 450 from Taiwan planned to attend, but about 80 of them were denied entrance over the past two days. The other 370 were not denied access to Hong Kong.

Some local politicians recognise that every time the Hong Kong Falun Dafa Association holds global activities, the Hong Kong government denies some foreigners entrance to Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Government Has No Intention to Uphold the "One Country, Two Systems" Policy

Some Falun Dafa practitioners believe that denying entrance to Falun Gong practitioners carries a political purpose. They are very disappointed because this action makes people doubt the Hong Kong Government's sincerity in upholding the "One Country, Two Systems" policy.

The Hong Kong Falun Dafa Association held a peaceful gathering and parade on Sunday, and hosted an "Open Forum Against Article 23" in the evening.

Chinese version available at http://www.yuanming.net/articles/200302/17659.html