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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