Nearly 1,000 Falun Gong adherents were barred from entering Hong Kong last week, with many of them being dealt with violently. The incident is said to have been masterminded by Zeng Qinghong, China’s vice president and rival of Chinese communist leader Hu Jintao, who this past weekend attended the city’s 10-year anniversary of returning to Chinese sovereignty.
According to Taiwan’s Falun Dafa Association, between June 24 and July 1, at least 527 Falun Gong adherents traveling from Taiwan to Hong Kong were denied entry at the Hong Kong International Airport, 271 were refused visas, and more than 20 with valid visas were not allowed to board the plane by airline companies; there were others who sought entry to the city individually but failed.
In addition, Falun Gong adherents in Macau, Japan, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States have also reported being denied entry, bringing the total estimated number of Falun Gong adherents rejected by Hong Kong to around 1,000.
The purpose of the Falun Gong adherents going to Hong Kong was to take part in the annual July 1 pro-democracy march. One consequence of barring them from Hong Kong was to make the Falun Gong presence in the widely watched July 1 march less dramatic than it might otherwise have been.
