DATE=11/16/1999 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=CHINA-FALUN GONG (L) NUMBER=2-256212 BYLINE=STEPHANIE HO DATELINE=BEIJING CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: Chinese police have detained more followers of the outlawed spiritual group, Falun Gong, as they staged a protest on Beijing's Tiananmen Square Tuesday. V-O-A's Stephanie Ho reports the incident coincided with a visit to the Chinese capital by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. TEXT: Witnesses say plainclothes police detained around 20 Falun Gong adherents who had unfurled a three-meter-long red banner that said "Falun Dafa" - another name for their philosophy. The protesters, both young and old, stood on the vast square with their feet spread slightly and their arms outstretched above their heads in a posture of meditation. Police knocked their arms down and hustled the followers into a police van. In the van's hurry to drive away, it hit one woman bystander, although witnesses say she was not seriously hurt. The act of defiance appears to have been timed to coincide with U-N Secretary-General Annan's visit to Beijing. U-N staffers say a group of Falun Gong adherents was turned away from the gate to the U-N compound in Beijing Monday morning. Shortly afterwards, security was tightened - which included a visible police presence and the blocking off of some of the surrounding roads. Before the U-N Secretary-General arrived in Beijing Sunday, he said he was puzzled by China's harsh crackdown on Falun Gong and would raise the issue with Chinese leaders. At a regular news briefing Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi, speaking through an interpreter, acknowledged that the matter was discussed in a meeting between Mr. Annan and the Chinese Foreign Minister. /// SUN INTERPRETER ACT /// Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan expounded the positions taken by the Chinese side on the question of Falun Gong and also the measures taken by the Chinese side. /// END ACT /// Falun Gong members have repeatedly appealed for U-N intervention, saying they do not oppose the Chinese government. The Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China says five groups of Falun Gong members around the country have written letters to Mr. Annan. The Information Center says these letters urge him to organize an independent U-N fact-finding mission to determine whether Falun Gong is beneficial or harmful. The Chinese government outlawed Falun Gong in July and has labeled it "an evil cult." During a heightened crackdown against the group last month, police rounded up hundreds of members who descended on Tiananmen Square and staged a silent protest as the National People's Congress approved anti-cult legislation. Last week, in the first of what is expected to be a series of trials, four Falun Gong leaders in southern Hainan province were sentenced to up to 12 years in prison. Many others have been sent to labor camps, an administrative punishment that does not require a trial. (signed) NEB/HO/FC 16-Nov-1999 06:46 AM EDT (16-Nov-1999 1146 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
