Financial Times: HK says it will not ban Falun Gong

February 11 2001 Hong Kong's justice secretary on Sunday said that the government had no plans to implement laws against local members of the Falun Gong, the spiritual [group] banned on the mainland. The comment from Elsie Leung, secretary for justice, was the strongest statement in support of the freedoms of the [group] in the city, which in the past couple of weeks has been severely criticised by Hong Kong and Chinese government officials. Last Thursday, Hong Kong's chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, told the local legislature that the government would closely observe the activities of local Falun Gong members, who have infuriated Beijing by organising international meetings in Hong Kong. He also described them as an [Chinese government's slanderous word], prompting accusations from legislators that he was toeing Beijing's line. "We will not allow anyone to abuse Hong Kong's freedoms," Mr Tung warned. Government officials and media in Hong Kong have said that Mr Tung's tough talk on the Falun Gong would allow him the leeway to resist pressure to ban the group in Hong Kong. Banning the [group] would seriously undermine the autonomy China promised the local government when the former British colony was returned to it in 1997. In another move to lower the temperature on the Falun Gong issue, Ms Leung said that the public should not be alarmed about enactment of an anti-subversion law, which the government is required to legislate and promised the government will take public opinion into account before deciding to pass the legislation. The issue is something of a political minefield, given China's generous definition of the term, which is the local government has chosen to put off enacting such laws. Recently, pro-Beijing figures in Hong Kong have said that the government should consider putting in place such laws so that they could be used against groups like the Falun Gong, a position denounced by politicians and human rights activists in the city.