AP: Falun Gong says eight practitioners banned from Hong Kong ahead of handover anniversary

HONG KONG - Eight Falun Gong followers including an American, a Swede and three Australians were barred from entering Hong Kong, apparently to stop them from protesting when Chinese leaders arrive to mark the fifth anniversary of the handover of the former British colony, a spokeswoman for the meditation [group] said Thursday.

Falun Gong is banned [...] in China but remains legal in Hong Kong, where members often demonstrate against the persecution of followers on the mainland. [...]

Falun Gong spokeswoman Sophie Xiao said that immigration authorities gave no reason for turning away the eight followers, who she said also, included a Taiwanese woman and two Chinese from nearby Macau.

Speaking to The Associated Press by telephone at the Hong Kong airport late Thursday, Mimmi Svensson from Varberg, Sweden said officials told her she was refused entry for security reasons.

"I'm quite sure that it's because I'm a practitioner of Falun Gong," said Svensson. "I'm quite sure they have a blacklist."

Svensson said officials were arranging for her repatriation.

Taiwanese woman Hong Yuexiu was also refused entry Thursday evening, said Xiao. Phone calls to Hong and the Immigration Department late Thursday went unanswered.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin is widely expected to attend events next Monday that will include a swearing-in ceremony as Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa begins his second five-year term.

The Falun Gong spokeswoman recalled that about 100 Falun Gong practitioners from overseas were refused entry to Hong Kong when the Chinese president last visited two years ago for an economic conference. They wanted to join demonstrations against Jiang's efforts to eradicate the [group] in mainland China.

"The same thing's happening again," she said.

The American Falun Gong follower was turned away at Hong Kong's airport last weekend, and the three Australians were stopped after flying in Wednesday, she said by telephone. The two practitioners from Macau were blocked at the ferry terminal earlier in the week.

Earlier in the day, Immigration Department spokeswoman Lisa Yip declined comment on Falun Gong's allegations, saying she could not discuss individual cases.

The frequent protests in Hong Kong by Falun Gong against the crackdown by Beijing place the government of the territory in a delicate situation. Falun Gong is legal in Hong Kong under a political arrangement that allows its citizens to continue to enjoy freedoms and rights unknown on the mainland.

Hong Kong is now conducting its first criminal trial against Falun Gong followers, with 16, including four Swiss, charged with causing an obstruction during a protest in March outside the Chinese government liaison office here.

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The Falun Gong followers say that they are innocent.