AP: Falun Gong members arrested

Wednesday, April 26, 00

By Joe McDonald

The Associated Press

published on Wednesday 4-26-00

BEIJING | A year after a protest that prompted an official crackdown, the Falun Gong meditation sect showed Tuesday it was still a force with a demonstration by more than 100 members in the heart of Beijing.

Police detained dozens of protesters who evaded heavy security to unfurl banners and meditate on Tiananmen Square. Officers rushed from one part of the square to another to stop the scattered protests.

Falun Gong has remained active despite a 9-month-old crackdown and thousands of arrests. Members stage small protests daily in Tiananmen Square an unusual feat in the tightly controlled capital.

The crackdown was prompted by a massive protest on April 25, 1999. At that time, police stood by as 10,000 members meditated in silence outside the leadership compound in Beijing to protest harassment.

But President Jiang Zemin, alarmed at the group's ability to mobilize followers, ordered a crackdown that ended in a ban in July.

On Tuesday, more than 100 people were taken away by police.

One group of 15 people sat down together to meditate and were pulled to their feet and pushed into a minibus. Police tackled four people who unfurled a banner, punching one man in the face. Police muzzled a middle-aged woman and pulled her backward as she tried to yell.

Protesters included Chinese of all ages and walks of life, including a man in a civil servant's uniform.

U.S. lawmakers, on a study trip aimed at deciding whether to pass a trade deal granting China the same permanent low-tariff import status as other U.S. trading partners, expressed concern over the arrests.

``For me, it raises an initial red flag,'' said U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from New York. ``I don't think we can bypass situations where human rights and workers' rights are violated.''

Police made an American woman rip the film out of her camera because of suspicion that she photographed an arrest.

They confiscated film and videotapes and detained at least eight foreign reporters.

Since the April 25, 1999, demonstration, 35,000 followers have been detained, a New York spokeswoman for Falun Gong said in a statement. She said 5,000 more were sent without trial to labor camps.