DATE=11/9/1999 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=CHINA - FALUN GONG (L-O) NUMBER=2-255956 BYLINE=STEPHANIE HO DATELINE=BEIJING CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: China is lashing out at the United States for granting political asylum to an unnamed member of Falun Gong, a spiritual group that has been outlawed in China. V-O-A's Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing, the government continues to deny reports that authorities are mistreating any of the Falun Gong adherents they have detained. TEXT: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Zhang Qiyue, repeated official statements that the government is only punishing a small number of people she identified as Falun Gong plotters and organizers. Ms. Zhang, speaking through an intepreter, denied there is a wider campaign against the majority of the group's followers. // ZHANG INTERPRETER ACT // We'll re-educate them and pursue a policy of uniting and tranforming them. There's no such thing as persecuting of those practitioners of the so-called Falun Gong. // END ACT // Chinese authorities blame Falun Gong and its ban on medical treatment for the deaths of 14-hundred people. They have acknowledged that two Falun Gong adherents who were in official custody died, but maintain police did not cause their deaths. At her regular briefing Tuesday, Ms. Zhang sharply criticized the United States for an action she says has opened the way for more attacks against the Chinese government. // ZHANG INTERPRETER ACT // The court of the immigration authorities of the United States, in disregard of the specific facts, gave so- called political asylum to a practitioner of Falun Gong. // END ACT // The spokeswoman did not name the person who was granted political asylum. The Asian Wall Street Journal reported that a U-S Immigration and Naturalization Service judge has granted asylum to a 17-year-old girl who claimed she would face persecution if she returned to China. Ms. Zhang called the U-S decision an example of double standards on the issue of cults. She asked the United States to respect Beijing's handling of the Falun Gong question and urged Washington to overturn the immigration court's decision. Meantime, Chinese authorities are continuing to harass foreign journalists who have been covering the unfolding crackdown on Falun Gong. Last week, five foreign reporters who attended a secret Falun Gong news conference had their credentials temporarily taken away by Chinese public security authorities. This week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry is calling-in these journalists to issue warnings. On Monday, one foreign reporter was issued a very severe admonition that was described as "just short of an expulsion." At least four other western journalists have been called in for meetings at the Foreign Ministry later this week. (SIGNED) NEB/HO/FC/PLM 09-Nov-1999 05:06 AM EDT (09-Nov-1999 1006 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
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