Associated Press Writer

Friday, Nov. 17, 2000; 5:43 a.m. EST

HONG KONG -- Members of the Falun Gong spiritual group appealed to the Hong Kong government Friday for help in tracing a member who disappeared after he filed a lawsuit against Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

About 100 Falun Gong adherents sat in meditation poses atop red plastic mats outside the central Hong Kong government offices as a member handed appeals to representatives of the government and the police.

The group sought help in contacting Chu O-ming, a Hong Kong resident. He was working as a furniture dealer in Beijing when he and another Falun Gong member sued Jiang for banning the group. Group members have not been able to contact him recently.

Chinese security officials say Chu and Wang Jie, who joined him in filing the lawsuit, are under "residential surveillance." Falun Gong members hope to obtain more information, said Hui Yee-han, a spokeswoman for the group.

"We are very worried," Hui said. "We hope the Hong Kong government will give us a hand."

As prearranged, a uniformed police officer and a government official received the appeal from Hui and shook her hand before retreating inside the government office.

Falun Gong has attracted millions of followers, most of them in China, with its combination of slow-motion exercises and its philosophy drawn from Taoism, Buddhism and the often unorthodox ideas of founder Li Hongzhi. It has been outlawed in mainland China but remains legal in Hong Kong, where citizens enjoy considerably more freedom under a largely autonomous local government.

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