AFP: Australian Falungong practitioner allegedly detained at Hong Kong airport

HONG KONG, - An Australian Falungong practitioner has been denied entry at Hong Kong's international airport and allegedly detained by immigration authorities, a spokeswoman for the spiritual group said Thursday. Zhang Cuiying, who holds an Australian passport, was denied entry after arriving at the territory's Chek Lap Kok airport at 3pm (0700 GMT) from Sydney, Falungong spokeswoman Sophie Xiao told AFP. "She was invited here by a magazine to hold an art exhibition at the City Hall," said Xiao. An immigration spokesperson could not be immediately contacted. Xiao added that Zhang was a well known artist, who had been arrested before in the southern Chinese boomtown of Shenzhen en route to a Falungong protest in Beijing and subsequently imprisoned for eight months in March 2000. Immigration officials have told Zhang that she will be deported on the first plane back to Sydney, Xiao added. Hong Kong authorities deported at least 90 Falungong practitioners at the territory's airport in June, in the lead up to celebrations marking the fifth anniversary of the former British colony's return to Chinese sovereignty attended by Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Falungong practitioners said the swift identification of Falungong members at the airport suggested authorities had an immigration "blacklist". [...] Sixteen Falungong members were convicted of causing a public obstruction last week during a March 14 anti-Beijing protest outside China's main office here. The 16 -- four Swiss nationals, one New Zealander and 11 from Hong Kong -- had faced up to two weeks in jail after initially refusing to pay the fines. They were each fined between 1,300 and 3,800 Hong Kong dollars (165-490 US). However, a mystery member of the public allegedly paid their fines on Wednesday. The case marked the first time criminal charges were brought in Hong Kong against [practitioners] of the Falungong, which is legal in the territory but banned [...]in mainland China. The Falungong [practitioners] filed an appeal on Saturday against the verdict, which they said was "grossly unfair". The convicted Falungong [practitioners] are also considering filing a civil suit against Hong Kong authorities for "laying false charges and engaging in unlawful conduct during the forceful removal operation" of the March 14 protestors. Hong Kong is supposed to have a degree of autonomy from Beijing, and the case was seen as a test of the independence of its judicial system.