Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal

May 9, 2001

HONG KONG -- The U.S. and Britain requested an explanation from Hong Kong for barring several foreign practitioners of Falun Gong from entering the city, with the U.S. saying the expulsions appeared "arbitrary" and threatened to undermine freedom of speech, religion and travel in Hong Kong.

The statements, delivered by diplomats, came just hours before Chinese President Jiang Zemin delivered a speech here in which he stated that Beijing has never intervened in Hong Kong's autonomy and that the city's citizens enjoyed "full freedom and more democratic rights than ever before."

In his speech, delivered to hundreds of world business leaders attending a three-day conference organized by Fortune magazine, Mr. Jiang avoided any reference to Falun Gong. Yet the spiritual movement, which blames Mr. Jiang personally for a two-year crackdown on adherents in the mainland, was clearly at the heart of frenzied official activity surrounding Mr. Jiang's rare, one-day visit.

Over the past 10 days, immigration officials at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok airport have detained and expelled more than 100 overseas Falun Gong members who arrived to demonstrate against official persecution of the group in the mainland, practitioners said. Several who refused to board flights home said they were wrapped in bags and carried onto airplanes by Hong Kong authorities. At the same time, security surrounding the business forum, where Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra and former U.S. President Bill Clinton are also scheduled to speak, has been unprecedented for the city, with thousands of police officers patrolling the streets, skies and harbor around the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.

Police relegated a candlelight vigil by about 350 Falun Gong followers to a park two kilometers (1.24 miles) from the conference venue. Twenty practitioners were given permission to meditate and display banners near the conference site, but they were penned up in a police barricade across a busy street and out of sight from Mr. Jiang and other participants. The arrangements have drawn criticism from human rights activists and members of the meditation group, [...]

The statements from the U.S. and British consulates appeared to be the first official reaction by foreign governments to the most recent moves by Hong Kong against Falun Gong practitioners.

Barbara Zigli, spokeswoman for the U.S. consulate in the city, said Washington recognizes the right of Hong Kong to determine who may enter its borders. "We are concerned, however, that these procedures were apparently used arbitrarily to deny entry to some American citizens, which could have the effect of limiting freedom of association and belief and restricting the free flow of ideas."

Trevor Adams, a spokesman for the British consulate, said "freedom of association and ease of travel are both important parts of Hong Kong's international image." Mr. Adams and Ms. Zigli both said their governments are seeking clarification from Hong Kong about its immigration procedures. They said their inquiries related to the handful of American and British citizens turned away at the airport. Followers from South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Macau and especially Taiwan were among others denied entry. Several dozen overseas members have entered the city in the past few days, but most were low-profile followers, Falun Gong spokespeople say.

In response to the inquiries by the U.S. and Britain, Hong Kong authorities said they don't maintain a "blacklist" of Falun Gong members and denied that religious affiliation was considered in the recent expulsions. "Just as in other places, every day there are people refused landing in Hong Kong," a Security Bureau spokesman said.

Mr. Adams said Hong Kong authorities had cited "security reasons" as a factor behind British passport holders being denied entry.

Hong Kong maintains an open-door immigration policy toward citizens of most major countries, offering visa-free access for business or tourism. Several Falun Gong followers from other regions who were denied entry said they had proper visas and had traveled to the city in the past without trouble.

Inside the exhibition center, Mr. Jiang emphatically reiterated China's "one country, two systems" policy, which holds that Hong Kong will maintain a high degree of autonomy and its freer way of life for at least 50 years following its handover from British rule in 1997. "The Chinese government will never waver in or change this policy, come what may," he said.

[...]

In contrast to the massive crowds of angry demonstrators who have gathered at other international conferences recently, Hong Kong's crop of demonstrators were a small and eclectic band of pro-democracy activists, religious rights advocates and pro-Beijing organizations. Police hemmed them off from the conference site with steel barricades.

By midevening Tuesday, four demonstrators -- though none of them Falun Gong followers -- had been arrested for obstructing police and for breach of peace.