Hong Kong protesters kept away from chinese leaders
Chinese President Jiang Zemin flew to Hong Kong today to mingle with corporate bosses at a forum shadowed by controversy when their former British colony apparently tried to mute Falun Gong protests by barring more than 100 overseas members from entering.
Falun Gong spokeswoman Sharon Xu attacked the ‘‘pure discrimination against Falun Gong practitioners’’ kept away from demonstrations where the meditation sect accused Beijing of the torture-killings of 202 followers in mainland Chinese custody.
The US Consulate said it wanted to know why some Americans were barred, ahead of a global economic conference where Jiang and former President Bill Clinton were to address hundreds of top corporate executives.
Falun Gong spokesman Kan Hung-cheung said five followers from Macau were kept out of Hong Kong around today, bringing the total number of people banned in the last few days to more than 100.
Hong Kong has denied stopping anyone from entering on the basis of Falun Gong membership, but immigration officials have declined to say how many people were kept out or why.
As more than 150 Falun Gong adherents practiced their slow exercises to the mellow sounds of Chinese music in local parks today, some displayed pictures of people allegedly tortured by mainland Chinese police.
Others held a banner that said: ‘‘Jiang Zemin cannot shirk the responsibility for the persecution of Falun Gong.’’
Falun Gong says 202 followers have been tortured to death by the Chinese authorities a claim disputed by China’s State Council, although it is impossible to independently verify what is happening in China’s crackdown on Falun Gong.
Beijing has outlawed Falun Gong as an ‘‘evil cult,’’ and although it remains legal in Hong Kong, pro-Beijing forces are furious that Falun Gong can use the territory’s free speech rights to attack Chinese policy.
Hong Kong has come under pressure from pro-Beijing forces to clamp down on Falun Gong, but pro-democracy politicians and human rights activists say that could wreck the territory’s freedom of speech a hold over from British colonial days.
