Dec 22, 2000 -- (BBC Monitoring) Text of report by Harold Bruning of the Hong Kong newspaper South China Post (Business Post supplement) on 22 December.

Macao Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah yesterday [21 December] promised to investigate claims by Falun Gong practitioners that they were beaten by police when they tried to enter the territory.

Speaking at the end of the handover anniversary celebrations yesterday, Mr. Ho said if the allegations proved true, the officers involved would be punished.

A number of demonstrators and Falun Gong members claim they were injured by police. Among them, mother-of-three Kelly Kong Xo, 42, from Sydney, said she was beaten by a uniformed officer as she tried to enter Macao for the anniversary celebrations.

She was treated in hospital in Hong Kong after being ejected along with dozens of other activists and Falun Gong members ahead of President Jiang Zemin's arrival on Tuesday.

But Mr. Ho insisted: "We don't allow the police to apply excessive force." He said that "by and large" the police did their job "within the law".

His government would "not allow any activities that disturb social stability and public security". The approach towards handling matters of public security was in accordance with the Macao Basic Law.

On Wednesday, Mr. Jiang urged Macao to take concrete measures to crack down on anti-Beijing activities. Mr. Ho said Mr. Jiang had told him during his stay that he regretted tight security prevented him from making close contact with people. "He told me he didn't like it, but even the president has to submit himself to the measures, even he has to obey the tight security arrangements," the chief executive said.

Mr. Ho, who assumed the helm of Macao's administration on 20 December last year, admitted many people had not been given the opportunity to meet Mr. Jiang because of the strict security. The 45-year-old chief executive said he was grateful for the president's "compliments" about the achievements of the Macao Special Administrative Region in its first year of existence, adding his government was receiving "pressure from all areas, pressure that we haven't done enough".

He said his administration would continue to follow the policy guidelines of "consolidating the foundations and steady development".

Source: South China Post (Business Post supplement), Hong Kong, in English 22 Dec 00

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