05/03/2001

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Followers of the Falun Gong spiritual movement in Hong Kong said on Thursday they had received police permission to protest during Chinese President Jiang Zemin's planned visit to the territory next week. A leader of the movement in Hong Kong told Reuters he expected over 200 people to participate in mass outdoor exercises to take place on May 8, the first day of the three-day Fortune Global Forum which Jiang is scheduled to attend.

"We estimate around 200 local practitioners will participate. Some overseas practitioners also plan to come," Falun Gong spokesman Kan Hung-cheung told Reuters.

But Kan said the location of the protest zone was far from ideal because it would be a fair distance away from the venue of the forum.

He would not say where exactly the demonstration would take place, but added the group would announce details of the arrangement on Saturday.

Members hope the session would draw world attention to what it called "cruel persecution" of Falun Gong adherents in mainland China.

Falun Gong, which combines meditation and exercise [...], was banned in China in July 1999 but remains legal in Hong Kong.

Apart from the exercise session, members also plan to distribute flyers, hold a photo exhibition and seminar as well as hand a petition to Jiang.

During a Falun Gong conference in January in Hong Kong, the followers blamed Jiang personally for trying to crush the movement in China.

Local officials in Hong Kong subsequently said they would tighten their watch on the group for fear it would disrupt the territory's stability.

Kan said police had implied the protest this time around should not include personal attacks against anyone but he said the group would still erect banners with Jiang's name on them.

Analysts see the upcoming event as the toughest test yet to Hong Kong's promised freedom since the former colony's handover from Britain to China in mid-1997.

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