CHIEF Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang Yam-kuen yesterday fell back on his Christian beliefs to field a question about the Falun Gong - and left an impression his own view of what constitutes an ``evil cult'' may be at odds with that of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa.
A devout Catholic, Mr Tsang said he had a clear definition of what constituted such a cult because it was spelt out in the doctrine of the Catholic Church. The church has several times condemned the government for its tough stance against the sect.
The former finance chief was speaking at his first briefing to the Legco House Committee just 18 days after assuming his new office. Democratic Party leader Martin Lee Chu-ming asked him for his personal definition of an evil cult - the term that Beijing has used to ban the Falun Gong on the mainland - and which Mr Tung has also used to describe the qigong sect.
Replying that the definition was spelt out clearly in Catholic doctrine, he told Mr Lee: ``You are also a Catholic, I think you also know it clearly and do not need me to explain.'' He did not elaborate.
Mr Tsang was speaking just over two months after the Catholic Church accused Secretary for Security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee of defaming the sect when she said it had its ``spears pointing directly at the Central Government''.
In an editorial in its March issue, the Catholic weekly Kung Kao Pao declared: ``In a society that has the rule of law, mysterious or even superstitious beliefs are not crimes. Unless there is solid evidence that it is harming others, religion should belong to religion, and the rule of law should belong to the rule of law.'' It said the public should be left alone to judge the sect.
The previous month, Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, in an article in the church's Sunday Examiner, condemned Mr Tung for branding the sect as ``more or less bearing some characteristics of an evil cult''.
Kung Kao Pao had earlier criticised Mr Tsang's predecessor, Anson Chan Fang On-sang, for not standing up to Beijing on issues such as the Falun Gong and right of abode for mainlanders.
Other churches have also criticised the government's approach, with Rose Wu Lo-sai, Hong Kong Christian Institute director, saying Mr Tung's remarks undermined religious freedom and ``one country, two systems''.
In his remarks yesterday, Mr Tsang also dropped a further hint that the government was preparing to use a pending French law as the basis for legislation to ban the qigong sect.
Also answering Mr Lee, he said the Asian financial turmoil had taught him that ``we can't see what just happens in Hong Kong, but should also keep eyes on what happen outside the territory''. Only by studying world trends could the government ``come up with the best preparation''. He said that while the Falun Gong was continuing to act within Hong Kong laws, ``some religious groups or semi-religious groups have indulged in some extreme behaviour in other places''.
There was, therefore, a need for Hong Kong to watch cautiously what happened in other countries.
Beijing had its own ways of dealing with the issue, while evil cult problems had arisen in overseas countries such as the United States, Japan and France.
He said the government had the ``responsibility'' to study what happened in other countries ``so that we won't be at a loss as to what to do when things happen.''
He pledged the government would consult the Legislative Council and the public when it had ``concrete ideas''.
During the briefing, Mr Tsang also insisted that the police force - headed by his younger brother Tsang Yam-pui - had not abused its power in dealing with protesters during the Fortune Global Forum this month.