AP: UN Official In HK Doesn't Understand Falun Gong Fuss

HONG KONG (AP)--With controversy swirling over Falun Gong's activities in Hong Kong, a visiting U.N. human rights representative said Tuesday he didn't see any need to hinder the group. "In my country there are so many [groups], we never bother about them," said P.N. Bhagwati, former chief justice of India and now a representative of the U.N. Human Rights Committee. "So long as they're acting within the law, there can be no objection," Bhagwati told reporters at the start of an official visit to discuss human rights in Hong Kong. "I don't think any government would take objection to that." Bhagwati and U.N. human rights colleague Christine Chanet met privately with Hong Kong's secretary for home affairs, Lam Woon-kwong, but declined to say whether they will see any followers of the Falun Gong [group] while they are here. But they said they want to know more about the Falun Gong issues that have gripped Hong Kong the past few weeks. Bhagwati and Chanet arrived at a time when pro-Beijing forces are clamoring for the Hong Kong government to clamp down on Falun Gong, while pro-democracy and human rights campaigners are arguing just as vigorously that such a move would harm Hong Kong's freedoms. Lam said he used Monday's meeting - the first in several days of sessions on various topics - as an opportunity to explain "the controversies surrounding Falun Gong, using a factual and objective approach." Lam assured the U.N. officials that Falun Gong is legal in Hong Kong and he explained "the government will deal with them according to the spirit of the rule of law." The four-day U.N. visit was arranged before Falun Gong exploded last month as a major issue in Hong Kong - but local human rights activists say they will voice concerns to the U.N. officials about Falun Gong and Hong Kong's freedoms. Beijing and its allies among local politicians and newspapers have accused "[Chinese government's slanderous word]" Falun Gong of trying to turn Hong Kong into a base of anti-China subversion - a claim rejected by Falun Gong, which insists it is not political.