[Minghui 05/07/2001]

"Validate the Fa with reason, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and offer people salvation with benevolence" (Rationality)

 Wall Street Journal: Two American Falun Gong Members Are Denied Entry Into Hong Kong (excerpt) [05/07/01]

By Gren Manuel

Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

May 7, 2001

HONG KONG -- Two American Falun Gong practitioners were detained at the airport and refused entry into Hong Kong, triggering criticism by the group that city authorities were harassing the movement to avoid demonstrations that would embarrass officials visiting from Beijing.

The two, who arrived Saturday evening from New York and were scheduled to fly back to the U.S. on Sunday, are among eight Falun Gong practitioners who live outside the city that the group says have been barred from Hong Kong since April 28. Chinese President Jiang Zemin is scheduled to speak Tuesday at the opening of the Fortune Global Forum in Hong Kong, and many other senior officials will be visiting the city this week.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, practices meditation and [...] exercises. It is legal in Hong Kong but banned and persecuted in the rest of China.

Kan Hung-cheung, a spokesman for the group in Hong Kong, accused city officials of maintaining a blacklist of Falun Gong members to prevent them from entering the city, adding that authorities are "especially nervous because Jiang Zemin is coming in Hong Kong."

Mr. Kan said the two detained over the weekend they told him that officials had cited "security reasons" for denying entry.

He said at least a dozen less well-known Falun Gong practitioners had entered Hong Kong in the past week without problems, which he cited as evidence that Hong Kong authorities were using a list containing the names of high-profile members.

Hong Kong's director of immigration, Ambrose Lee, denied that claim, telling local reporters, "We will not refuse entry to someone just because they are a Falun Gong member. Each case is evaluated purely on the basis of law and government policies." He wouldn't comment specifically on which laws or policies were behind the recent refusals.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa last month strongly criticized Falun Gong for planning demonstrations while Mr. Jiang would be in the city, [...].

Mr. Tung in January came under strong public pressure from Beijing to ban the group. However, Beijing's complaints have since fallen silent, and some observers believe a behind-the-scenes deal has been arranged, in which the group will remain legal in Hong Kong as long as visiting senior Chinese officials aren't embarrassed by public protests.

The detentions aren't the first of Falun Gong members trying to enter the city. Three practitioners were detained last June and at least 13 were detained in January this year when practitioners staged a major conference. [...]