January 23, 2002

A foreign supporter of the Falun Gong spiritual movement protested against China's ban on the group on Tiananmen Square in central Beijing Wednesday, and was quickly taken away by security agents.

The protester, a caucasian woman who appeared to be in her 40s, wore a sash that read: "Falun Gong" and "SOS."

Standing in the huge square while curious Chinese tourists watched, she sang and held out her arms before a uniformed officer and others in civilian clothes loaded her into a police van that drove her away. The protest lasted only a few minutes.

Police have detained thousands of Chinese followers, often beating and kicking them, on Tiananmen Square since the government outlawed Falun Gong in July 1999 [...]

[...] Most protests against the ban on Falun Gong have been by Chinese members of the [group].

But in recent months, there have also been scattered protests by foreign supporters.

In November, the government expelled a group of 35 Westerners who protested on Tiananmen Square, China's symbolic heart, against Beijing's treatment of Falun Gong followers. It was the first Falun Gong demonstration on the square to involve Westerners exclusively.

[...] Falun Gong accuses Chinese authorities of torturing and mistreating detainees. It says 350 have been killed, 500 sentenced to prison, more than 1,000 sent to mental hospitals and 20,000 detained in labor camps.