The spiritual sect Falun Gong lashed out yesterday at "totalitarian" Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and officials hoping a global finance conference will lure more business to Hong Kong found themselves defending security that critics called heavy-handed.
Falun Gong, which is outlawed as an "evil sect" in mainland China but legal in Hong Kong, has complained that more than 100 overseas practitioners were barred from entering Hong Kong over the past few days to protest during Jiang's visit.
PHOTO: AP
Some of the world's top chief executives were pondering the profits they might make in Hong Kong and the mainland Chinese market that is gradually becoming more open, but the three-day Fortune Global Forum has been overshadowed by demonstrations outside.
Hong Kong's No. 2 government official, Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang (曾蔭權), insisted during a morning news conference that Hong Kong remains one of the most open societies in the world, but he avoided questions about why so many Falun Gong people had been kept away.
"We hardly have any visa restrictions, but we do keep certain undesirable elements out," Tsang said. "We have about 50 people denied entry every day on average. If you look at that figure, it's much less than most other countries or most other entry points."
Tsang was asked whether "undesirable elements" referred to Falun Gong.
"No, no, no," Tsang said. "They are all sort of things. They are international criminals, they are terrorists. They are all kinds of people. I am not talking about any particular thing, but I am demonstrating one particular fact. The number of people who are denied entry into Hong Kong in relative terms is much less, much less than most other countries."
During separate demonstrations by pro-democracy protesters, police scuffled with activists and arrested four people Tuesday night, then more demonstrators marched to a police station where they waved a big papier-mache Jiang head on a stick and demanded that their colleagues be freed.
Falun Gong says the followers who were barred from Hong Kong included citizens from the US, Britain and Australia who should be allowed to enter without visas.
The US and British consulates said they have sought an explanation about why their citizens were kept out. "I am quite sure that we will explain our position very clearly to them, to their satisfaction, over time," Tsang said.
Hong Kong denies it has barred anybody on the basis of Falun Gong membership, but the heavy police presence and rules keeping protesters far away from Jiang and dignitaries who also included former US president Bill Clinton have drawn much criticism.
Falun Gong says Hong Kong officials appeared to be doing Beijing's bidding -- and the group took aim again yesterday at Jiang, whom Falun Gong blames personally for the crackdown in China.
"Jiang is a totalitarian who won't respect human rights," Falun Gong spokeswoman Hui Yee-han told a news conference.
Clinton crossed the Hong Kong harbor yesterday morning to visit Jiang, a meeting that has been characterized as a chance for them to privately reflect on the work they did together when Clinton was in the White House and the two nations sought closer ties.
Clinton "is not coming here with any formal message from the US; he's in a private capacity," Clinton spokesman P.J. Crowley said yesterday.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
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VIOLATION OF NORMS: China’s CCTV broadcast claimed that Beijing could use Interpol to issue arrest warrants, which the MAC slammed as an affront to order The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for attempts to intimidate Taiwanese through “transnational repression.” The council issued the remarks after state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) yesterday during a news broadcast aired a video targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), threatening him with “cross-border repression” and saying: “Stop now, or you will be next,” in what Taipei officials said was an attempt to intimidate not only Shen, but also the broader Taiwanese public. The MAC in a statement condemned the threat, accusing Beijing of trying to instill fear and self-censorship among Taiwanese and
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