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
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