Hong Kong Government Expels Nearly 80 Taiwanese Falun Gong Practitioners - Taiwan Falun Dafa Association Registers Solemn Protest

In the wake of protests triggered by Article 23 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong, on February 21, with the excuse of security, the Hong Kong government expelled nearly 80 Taiwan citizens who held legal visas upon their arrival in Hong Kong. This incident aggravated public concern over Beijing's manipulation of Hong Kong.

Professor Chu-Cheng Ming, chairman of the Department of Politics at National Taiwan University said on February 22 that more than 80 out of the 400 Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioners who held legal visas for their trip to attend a Falun Dafa conference in Hong Kong were detained or expelled. At least nine of them were violently confronted, At least 18 were held in detention. The Taiwan Falun Dafa Association expressed solemn protest of this incident.

When talking about the illegal treatment they were forced to undergo, the seven Falun Gong practitioners who attended the press conference all said they could not accept the lawless and wilful treatment from the Hong Kong government. The seven are: Chang Chen-Yu, Yang Kun-mao, Chen Tao-kang, Lu Li-qing, Tsai Shou-ren, Chang Li-zhu and Chen Me-ya. They all received almost the same mistreatment: being held under duress, being body searched, their luggage examined, their contact with the outside and their personal freedom restricted, and they were even forcibly carried onto the plane by police, wrapped in a so-called "riot defence blanket".

Professor Chu-Cheng Ming described the Hong Kong police's reasoning, "We all know that you are good people, but our superiors order us to do this. We are under great pressure." Mr. Chang Chen-Yu said the police even apologised to him and told him they were following orders from the government. Almost all seven practitioners felt the police who came into contact with them were under pressure from "higher-ups" while there were yet "higher levels above the higher." Since the police could not provide any legal excuse for their actions, officer Fung Baak-Hou had to detain and expel these good people with the excuse of "security reasons". Therefore, people guessed that the Hong Kong government received pressure from the Jiang regime to expel these Falun Gong practitioners.

According to Falun Gong practitioner Hung Chi-hung, dozens of practitioners even had their visa applications rejected when applying to visit Hong Kong, he himself being one example. None of them had any criminal record or history of violating security policies, therefore he thought the Hong Kong administration has received pressure from the Chinese dictator's regime and this expulsion is only the tip of an iceberg.

Mr. Chen Tao-kang said similar incidents took place in Iceland last year. The Icelandic government accepted a so-called blacklist from the Chinese government and people whose names were on the list were refused entry into Iceland. This incident met strong opposition from the Icelandic people.

Professor Chu-Cheng Ming said that up until noon on February 22, around 25 Falun Gong practitioners are still being detained in the airport with no room or board. The Mainland Affairs Council (Taiwan) is taking emergency actions.

Chinese version available at http://www.yuanming.net/articles/200302/17657.html