DATE=12/7/1999 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=CHINA / U-S / FALUN GONG (L ONLY) NUMBER=2-256918 BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON DATELINE=BEIJING CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: China has accused the United States of ignoring what Beijing says is the damage done to Chinese society by the banned Falun Gong spiritual and exercise movement. V- O-A Correspondent Roger Wilkison reports the Chinese Foreign Ministry reacted to the first direct remarks by President Clinton on Beijing's crackdown on the group. TEXT: In a human rights speech Monday, Mr. Clinton spoke about China's detention and imprisonment of Falun Gong members -- calling it a troubling example of Beijing acting against those he said are testing the limits of freedom. Thousands of Falun Gong adherents are reported to have been detained since the Chinese government banned the group four months ago as a threat to Communist Party rule. Falun Gong members say the movement -- which draws on Buddhist and Daoist teachings as well as traditional Chinese slow- motion exercises and meditation -- promotes health and morality. Mr. Clinton said the United States wants to see China maintain growth and stability by meeting -- not stifling -- the demand of its people for openness and accountability. That kind of criticism does not sit well with the Chinese Government. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue -- speaking through an interpreter -- did not mention Mr. Clinton, but accused the U-S government of interfering in China's internal affairs. /////INTERPRETER ACTUALITY///// The U-S government has adopted a double standard on the cult and also turned a deaf ear to the adverse effects and damage of Falun Gong to the Chinese people and society and even tried to beatify this cult and interfere in China's internal affairs. /////END ACTUALITY///// Ms. Zhang expressed China's strong dissatisfaction with the criticism and called on Washington to stop erecting what she calls new hurdles to China-American relations. The Chinese spokeswoman says the government banned Falun Gong to protect the human rights of the Chinese people. She says most members have since renounced the sect. Ms. Zhang also expressed what she describes as China's indignation over the extension of a U-S ban on exports of crime-detection equipment and crowd-control devices that was imposed after Beijing cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrators near the city's Tiananmen Square in 1989. The ban was extended after the U-S State Department earlier this year reported China had mistreated Tibetan monks and nuns and persecuted underground Christians. Ms. Zhang accused Washington of using religion to meddle in China's internal affairs. /////INTERPRETER ACTUALITY///// This is a serious violation of the basic norms governing international relations and gross interference in China's internal affairs. The Chinese government and people would like to express their strong indignation about it. /////END ACTUALITY///// Ms. Zhang called on the United States to repeal the sanctions and eliminate what she calls the adverse impact of the ban on bilateral relations. (Signed) NEB/RW/GC/WD 07-Dec-1999 06:57 AM EDT (07-Dec-1999 1157 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
