HONG KONG (May 8) - Hundreds of members of the Falun Gong spiritual group, outlawed in mainland China, staged protests in Hong Kong on Tuesday, blaming visiting Chinese President Jiang Zemin personally for a crackdown on the quasi-religious movement.
Unfurling banners and executing their slow-paced exercises at police-approved sites, the Falun Gong demonstrations set the tone for a host of protests aimed at Jiang, who arrived at midday to attend an international economic forum.
"Jiang Zemin cannot shirk responsibility for the persecution of Falun Gong," said one banner, stamped with images of alleged Falun Gong members imprisoned in mainland China.
Accompanied by his wife and Vice Premier Qian Qichen, Jiang was welcomed by more than 100 children waving Chinese and Hong Kong flags. Beijing's chosen leader in Hong Kong, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, beamed deferentially nearby.
But the rest of Hong Kong promises to be less hospitable.
An array of groups will take to the streets to protest against Jiang and Beijing's policies, and more than 3,000 police have clamped a security zone around the conference center venue.
Over 600 international business executives and politicians, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton, will attend the Fortune Global Forum, which is focusing on China's development.
The protests are a rare instance of China's communist leaders being challenged on Chinese soil, and could pose one of the most serious tests to date to the large degree of autonomy granted to this former British colony when it returned to China in mid-1997.
Hong Kong officials have been at pains not to displease their new masters in Beijing but have also sought to preserve the financial center's freewheeling capitalist reputation and special status within China.
Fearing a blow to laws ensuring freedom of expression and religion, Hong Kong has resisted pressure to match the mainland in banning Falun Gong, which Beijing calls a subversive "evil cult."
Dressed in their yellow T-shirts, hundreds of Falun Gong followers exercised silently in several locations around Hong Kong.
"We call on Jiang to stop this unreasonable persecution in China," a spokesman for the group said.
Others taking to the streets on Tuesday include families of mainland Chinese fighting for residency rights in Hong Kong and democracy groups calling for the release of political prisoners and an end to China's one-party communist rule.
Determined not to allow the violent protests that have marred other world economic meetings in recent years, police have worked round the clock to seal off the harborfront conference venue and strictly control where and how many protesters could demonstrate.
Human rights groups said immigration officials had barred more than 95 suspected Falun Gong followers from entering Hong Kong in recent days to stop them from joining the protests. These included nationals from the United States, Australia and Taiwan.
U.S. NATIONALS BOOTED
The United States has asked Hong Kong to explain why some Americans have been turned away from Hong Kong since Sunday, a spokeswoman at the U.S. consulate said.
"We are concerned ... that these (immigration) procedures were apparently used arbitrarily to deny entry to some American citizens which could have the effect of limiting freedom of association and belief," she said.
Falun Gong has become one of Tung's severest headaches, with the group using Hong Kong's special status in China to criticize the Beijing leadership. Tung has struggled to balance Hong Kong's special freedoms with Beijing's determination to crush the group.
He recently accused Falun Gong of seeking to hurt Hong Kong's reputation and undermine its ties with Beijing by demonstrating during Jiang's visit this week.
Human rights groups say thousands of Falun Gong members have been sent to "re-education" camps and some have died in police custody. Beijing says the movement brainwashes members and is a threat to the central government.
Jiang addresses the forum on Tuesday night and leaves for home on Wednesday afternoon.