AP: Falun Gong Places Ads In HK Papers, "Welcome" China Leader

Monday, November 6 1:58 PM SGT

HONG KONG (AP)--Taking a jab at China's leadership, Falun Gong meditation [group] members ran newspaper advertisements Monday extending a "welcome" to a visiting communist leader but demanding an end to Beijing's crackdown of the group outlawed on the mainland.

"We sincerely hope that you and other kind and fair-minded government leaders can stand on the people's side and defend Falun Gong," [group] adherents said in their ads placed in the Chinese-language Sing Tao Daily and Apple Daily.

The message was aimed at Li Ruihuan, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a mainland government advisory body, and also a member of the Communist Party's politburo.

Li is on a five-day visit to Hong Kong, where on Sunday he urged local government leaders to run the territory better than the previous British colonial administration had governed.

"Hong Kong Falun Gong members welcome the visit of chairman Li Ruihuan," read the ad, which was framed in red, the color of the Communist Party.

The Falun Gong members asked Li to stop President Jiang Zemin and his aides from continuing an "illegal" crackdown on Falun Gong and to resolve the dispute in a "peaceful and fair" way.

Although Falun Gong is banned in China, the group remains legal in Hong Kong, where citizens enjoy considerably more freedom than their counterparts on the mainland.

Kan Hung-cheung, a spokesman for Falun Gong in Hong Kong, said the group would send a petition to Li by mail and by hand to Li's hotel - and possibly to mainland Chinese representative office in Hong Kong - before Li's return to Beijing Thursday.

The group said it planned no demonstrations, however.

Falun Gong has attracted millions of followers, most of them in China, with its combination of slow-motion exercises and philosophy drawn from Taoism, Buddhism and the often [unique] ideas of founder Li Hongzhi.

Followers claim the group has no political ambitions but want the freedom to practice their meditation exercises, which they say promote health and citizenship.