The Wall Street Journal: China Stops Pushing Hong Kong To Ban Falun Gong Movement

Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

March 7, 2001

HONG KONG -- Two months of harsh criticism from Beijing over Hong Kong's handling of the Falun Gong spiritual movement has come to an abrupt halt -- a possible signal that the Chinese leadership has decided to back off for fear of undermining the city's government and spooking international investors.

For much of January and February, Beijing and its allies in Hong Kong demanded that the city's government fall into line with the rest of China and ban the group, which practices meditation and exercises. Human-rights campaigners and foreign diplomats have warned any ban would be a severe blow to the city's freedoms and the one-country, two-systems principle that governs its relations with the rest of China.

Over the past week, political analysts have noticed a subtle shift in the landscape, which they believe signals an accommodation has been reached between national and local authorities.

"It seems that some understanding might have been reached," said Shiu Sin-por, executive director of a think tank with links to Beijing, the One Country Two Systems Research Institute. "There were lots of occasions when they could have said things. They haven't done so."

The silence about Falun Gong's activities in Hong Kong has been particularly noticeable this week, as two of China's top organs of state have been meeting in Beijing, providing plenty of opportunities for new attacks on Hong Kong and its chief executive, Tung Chee Hwa.

On Monday, when Hong Kong reporters asked Chinese President Jiang Zemin about the group's continued activities in the city, he replied only that: "... The question in Hong Kong will be handled by Mr. Tung."

A Deleted Passage

There is no suggestion that the apparent easing of the attitude toward the group in Hong Kong will mean an easier ride in the rest of China, where the group alleges more than 100 of its members have died in the two-year crackdown. Chinese leaders this week repeatedly have said that eradication of the group remains a national priority.

Still, in the annual work report of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference, delivered Saturday, paragraphs on Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, were deleted at the last moment. Draft copies seen by some delegates had warned that the group [Chinese government's slanderous words].

Attacks from Beijing-backed newspapers in Hong Kong also have dwindled. And Beijing's supporters in Hong Kong, who promised to raise the issue at this week's meetings of the National People's Congress in Beijing, have said nothing and given no explanation for their silence. Tsang Hin-chi, a businessman who is one of Beijing's biggest supporters in Hong Kong and had earlier indicated that he wanted to raise the issue, said before flying to the capital, "I think the central people's government is already familiar with the situation."

Only one hard-line veteran Beijing supporter in Hong Kong, Xu Simin, has pledged to continue the fight.

Too High a Price?

Lau Siu-kai, an adviser to China on Hong Kong affairs while the city was under British control, said the understanding appears to be that Mr. Tung will take no action, but instead will criticize and try to marginalize Falun Gong in Hong Kong, where the group estimates it has about 500 followers; Beijing in return has resumed its traditional position of offering the Hong Kong chief executive its unqualified support.

"Beijing is moderating its pressure on Falun Gong in Hong Kong," said Mr. Lau, associate director of the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at the city's Chinese University. "They want to avoid giving people the impression they're applying pressure on Mr. Tung."

"I don't think the [Hong Kong] government is prepared to take action against the Falun Gong," Mr. Lau said. "The price is too high. It would create anxiety among Hong Kong people and jeopardize international confidence in the one-country, two-systems principle."

Law Yuk-kai, director of Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, one of the groups that originally raised the alarm over the persecution of Falun Gong, said the "clear message" from Beijing is that the issue should be dropped. "This has reinforced Hong Kong's once-weakened autonomy," he said.

Many commentators believe that since the spiritual group's [contact persons] in Hong Kong met with two senior pro-Beijing figures last month, the group has heeded the call to moderate protests over the persecution of its adherents in the rest of China.

However, Hui Yee-han, a spokeswoman for Falun Gong in Hong Kong, denied the group has changed its stance. "The meeting was just a start, to receive information," she said. The Chinese government "has moderated its rhetoric" toward the group in Hong Kong, Mrs. Hui said, but added that it is difficult to know whether or not this is just a lull.

May Test

Mr. Lau said the test for any compromise will come in May, when Mr. Jiang visits Hong Kong. Many Falun Gong practitioners believe that Mr. Jiang is personally responsible for the intensity of the crackdown, and Hong Kong authorities are expected to be resolute in making sure Falun Gong assemblies or protests don't disrupt the president's visit.

The incident that appears to have sparked Beijing's displeasure with Hong Kong's handling of Falun Gong came in January, when the city's government allowed the group to rent out City Hall for an international conference. It was then that Beijing's supporters and commentators in China-controlled newspapers launched a campaign against not only the group, but also the Hong Kong government, for permitting it to operate. Instead of taking action, Mr. Tung and his security chief, Regina Ip, have mounted an intermittent campaign of rhetoric against the group, calling it a "[slanderous words]" Officials also have vowed to carefully monitor the group. But they repeatedly have stressed that any action would be in accordance with the law. That law remains modeled on the British system, and lawyers say it would be difficult to use against a group that merely holds peaceful protests. Despite the inaction, the chorus from Beijing and its allies has ceased.

In Beijing, Qiu Sanyi, a National People's Congress delegate from Southwest Yunnan province, said that "Falun Gong is [Chinese government's slanderous words]" But in Hong Kong "it's a different situation," Mr. Qiu said, because "the authorities have some autonomy."