South China Morning Post : Beijing `wants tough line on [group]'

Stella Lee and Ravina Shamdasani

03/20/2002

Falun Gong members staging daily protests at Chinese consulates in the United States claim the mainland is exerting pressure on Hong Kong to take a tougher line on practitioners.

One of the US practitioners, Cathy Chang, said an appeal to Beijing not to pressure Hong Kong had been added to their daily petition at the Chinese consulates in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Their move came after learning that 16 Falun Gong members had been charged last Friday with obstruction while staging a hunger strike outside Beijing' Liaison Office in Western District.

Ms Chang said they had also learned that Hong Kong Falun Gong members had had none of their 36 applications made since June to rent venues in Hong Kong approved.

"We are going to the Chinese consulates to ask that they should not put any pressure on Hong Kong. We see the trend of persecution is being extended to Hong Kong. We' concerned that Hong Kong is going to lose its `one country,two systems'," Ms Chang said.

In a statement, the US practitioners said Hong Kong' bowing to pressure from Beijing would mark the beginning of the end of freedom of belief, conscience and assembly in the SAR.

It comes as Hong Kong members prepare to send to the United Nations a report on last week' arrests, claiming practitioners were "arrested and violently handled by police for holding a peaceful, fully legal sit-in".

The report also claims nine injured demonstrators were denied medical
treatment for up to nine hours after their arrest.