A central government official in charge of religious affairs yesterday slammed Hong Kong's Catholic Bishop Joseph Zen and called for Falun Gong to be outlawed in the territory.
``The Hong Kong Catholic church should not be so critical of the (SAR) government,'' Yang Tongxiang, deputy director of State Administration of Religious Affairs, said.
``He (Bishop Zen) does not behave well. He should not do such things (criticise the government),'' Yang said.
``The Hong Kong Catholic church should do good things to support Hong Kong's return (to China), and should not do things that go against it.
``He is a Hong Kong resident. He should love Hong Kong.''
Yang was attending the opening of the annual session of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing.
On Falun Gong, he said: ``It is anti-science, anti-human, and anti-government. I do not think it is popular. I think it should be outlawed [in Hong Kong].''