Dow Jones: HK Falun Gong Spokeswoman Says Sister Detained In Beijing

HONG KONG (AP)--A Hong Kong-based spokesman for Falun Gong said Sunday that her sister was detained in Beijing last week as she flew back after a brief trip here to visit and shop.

Xiao Haiying, a 31-year-old secretary, had been arrested previously for Falun Gong activities in mainland China, but she has been keeping a low profile and didn't participate in any of the group's meditation exercises or protests while she was in Hong Kong, said her sister, Sophie Xiao.

Sophie Xiao said her sister, who lives in Beijing, has been charged in mainland China with [...] making contact with an offshore Falun Gong practitioner.

Xiao's sister was in Hong Kong on Tuesday, when 500,000 people demonstrated against a pending antisubversion bill that critics say could be used by Hong Kong to outlaw Falun Gong. Xiao said she marched, but her sister didn't.

"She went shopping," Xiao said. "She said, 'This is your Hong Kong thing.'"

Xiao said she believes authorities had arrested her sister to retaliate for Xiao's high-profile work for Falun Gong. Although Falun Gong is outlawed in mainland China [...] the group remains free to practice in Hong Kong and frequently demonstrates against Beijing's efforts to eradicate it in the mainland.

"I think it's because of the role I'm playing in Hong Kong as a Falun Gong spokesperson," Xiao said by telephone. Xiao assumes she is the offshore Falun Gong member her sister is charged with meeting.

There was no official confirmation of any arrest by mainland officials.

An Associated Press reporter's phone calls to the Beijing Public Security Bureau information office went unanswered Sunday evening. A duty officer said he couldn't give out any information on the phone.

Xiao said it was her sister's first trip to Hong Kong. When the sister flew back to Beijing on Wednesday, her husband was alarmed when he couldn't find her at the airport. Security officials later informed the husband that his wife had been arrested, Xiao said.

Xiao said the authorities also are looking for her mother, who has been arrested seven times for Falun Gong activities and now is in hiding in the mainland.

Xiao said that when authorities told her brother-in-law his wife had been arrested, they asked about the mother's whereabouts.