AP: Hong Kong economic forum could test its freedoms (excerpt)

5/5/01 HONG KONG (AP) -- The official goal is to lure foreign investment, but observers say the most telling aspect of a global economic conference next week will be how Hong Kong handles demonstrations by the Falun Gong meditation [group]. China is trying to crush Falun Gong, but it remains legal in Hong Kong, a Chinese territory where citizens continue to enjoy Western-style freedoms of speech and religion that are holdovers from British colonial days. Falun Going plans to use Chinese President Jiang Zemin's appearance at the Fortune Global Forum -- where he is expected to meet with Bill Clinton -- as a chance to speak out against Beijing's often violent suppression of adherents on the mainland. Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa outraged Falun Gong and pro-democracy activists by accusing [...] Critics say Hong Kong is planning security overkill that could tarnish its international reputation. Three thousand police are to be deployed, compared with 2,000 during Hong Kong's 1997 handover from British to Chinese sovereignty. Hong Kong officials say they are taking precautions to avoid any anti-globalization protests, even though there have been no indications such activists plan to mobilize. Pro-Beijing forces, furious that Falun Gong can attack Chinese policy on Chinese soil, have demanded a crackdown on its activities in Hong Kong. Pro-democracy figures fear that would wreck Hong Kong's freedoms. "Protests ought to be heard and seen," grumbled lawmaker Martin Lee, chairman of the opposition Democratic Party and the most prominent critic of Hong Kong's government. Falun Gong was denied permission to protest near the exhibition center where Jiang is to speak Tuesday. The [group] says Hong Kong was offering to let 20 followers demonstrate at a distance. Falun Gong spokesman Kan Hung-cheung said Saturday that followers were still negotiating with police to find a place where several hundred people could practice their meditation exercises. [...]