Clay Chandler, Washington Post Sunday, January 14, 2001 2001 San Francisco Chronicle Hong Kong -- Hong Kong immigration officials drew criticism from human rights groups yesterday for detaining 12 practitioners [of] the Falun Gong spiritual movement who were trying to attend a weekend conference that has antagonized China and highlighted the former British colony's awkward relationship with Beijing. The practitioners -- including seven Japanese and at least one Australian -- were denied admission at the city's main airport. Some were deported, but most remained in custody nearly 24 hours after their arrival. Practitioner Pat Wong, from San Francisco, identified one person who did not get in as Li Zhi-wai, also of San Francisco, who Wong said probably carries a Chinese passport. "People are refused entry only because they fail to meet immigration requirements, such as having forged travel documents and adverse immigration records," Hong Kong's Immigration Department said late yesterday, adding that it would not discuss individual cases. The detentions come amid an escalating battle between Falun Gong and the Chinese government, which banned the [group] in 1999 .... Several human rights advocates expressed concern that Hong Kong's government was harassing legal visitors to their city in a misguided effort prove its loyalty to Beijing. "Hong Kong is a free society," said Law Yuk-kai, director of Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor. "We do not discriminate against visitors at the border on the basis of their religious or political affiliations . . . I'm afraid the only logical explanation in this case is that the Hong Kong government is seeking to please the central authority" in Beijing. Barring visitors for religious or political reasons would be a departure for Hong Kong. The agreement under which it was returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 promised to preserve individual liberties under a "one China, two systems" formula. Under the formula, Falun Gong remains legal in Hong Kong. Haruhisa Inose, a 46-year-old Japanese practitioner, said immigration officials questioned him for nearly three hours Friday night before allowing him to enter Hong Kong. Inose said he was never asked about his affiliation with Falun Gong. Instead, officials peppered him with questions about the purpose of his visit, where he would stay and who he planned to see. Inose's wife Ni Hong, a Chinese citizen who arrived from Japan on a separate flight, remained in custody yesterday afternoon. "I never imagined they'd treat us like this in Hong Kong," Inose said. Nearly 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners have gathered in Hong Kong this weekend to focus international attention on allegations that their movement has been brutally suppressed by the Chinese government. Led by 120 women dressed in white, the traditional color for mourning in China, they rallied yesterday in Hong Kong's central business district. Carrying banners demanding that China "stop persecuting Falun Gong," the group marched across town to lay petitions to Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and the mainland police at the doorstep of the Chinese government's liaison office. There they found the gates locked and no one to accept their petition. A few police officers marched alongside the protesters, while officials in plain clothes filmed the crowd. But Falun Gong members said the atmosphere was more relaxed than at a demonstration in December 1999. "I wasn't worried coming here," said Guo Jingchung, a medical technician who flew from Boston with 20 others. "Hong Kong is the one place in China where we can speak freely." "There are people dying -- the numbers are rising," said Sophie Xiao, a Hong Kong spokeswoman for Falun Gong, which is outlawed on the mainland. "In September, it was 50 reported deaths, and now it's 120. It's time to stop all this." "We want to show the world that what Jiang Zemin is doing is against the law," said Fiona Ching, a spokeswoman for the group, referring to the Chinese president. "We are only exercising our most basic human rights." The [group] -- which embraces an amalgam of Taoist and Buddhist doctrines and advocates meditative... exercises for better spiritual and physical health -- was to conduct a religious symposium today in Hong Kong's City Hall. Organizers say this was the only venue that would have them; dozens of hotels turned them down. China considers the group a threat to party rule. Mainland police are routinely seen rounding up and beating practitioners trying to demonstrate, but it is impossible to verify all Falun Gong claims about abuse and death at the hands of Chinese authorities. Chronicle news services contributed to this report. 2001 San Francisco Chronicle Page D1 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/