50 From Falun Gong Arrested in Beijing

BEIJING--As fireworks thundered from the outskirts of Beijing, police in Tiananmen Square beat, kicked and then detained at least 50 Falun Gong members who welcomed the Year of the Dragon with one of their biggest and most dramatic protests of recent months. Practitioners began converging on the vast square minutes before the new year began. Many pulled red banners from beneath their clothing and waved them. At least two dozen people emerged from a pedestrian tunnel that opens onto the square and sat down cross-legged in unison, a pose typical of the sect that the government banned in July.

Police pounced on the protesters quickly. They kicked, punched and dragged protesters to their feet, herded them into vans and drove them away.

Other protesters who came to the square alone or in smaller groups were likewise tackled. After about 25 minutes, columns of police closed the square, ushering bystanders away.

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