HONG KONG, June 15 (Kyodo) - About 100 Hong Kong members of the Falun Gong movement staged a protest march Friday, slamming Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa for branding them an ''evil cult'' in a move seen as paving the way for banning the group.
Wearing yellow T-shirts, the practitioners marched peacefully to the Hong Kong government headquarters to object to Tung's ''derogatory and unfair'' remarks against them on Thursday.
''Your statement of 'Falun Gong is without a doubt an evil cult' is a groundless and preposterous continuation of previous irresponsible remarks,'' the local followers said in an open letter to Tung.
The Hong Kong leader's labeling of the group as an ''evil cult'' was the first time he had publicly done so since the movement was outlawed in China in 1999.
Tung also accused Falun Gong of being a ''well-organized'' group with a political agenda, charging that it has done harm in mainland China.
He vowed the government will keep a close eye on the group's every move in Hong Kong. But he added there are no immediate plans to enact legislation against it.
Falun Gong remains legal in Hong Kong under the ''one country, two systems'' principle governing the territory, which has been a Chinese special administrative region since 1997.
Holding banners reading ''Falun Dafa is good,'' and ''Falun Dafa benefits the country, benefits the people,'' the protesters practiced their breathing meditation exercises outside the government headquarters as part of their protest.
Falun Dafa is the spiritual movement that practices Falun Gong, which refers to five sets of exercises done to Chinese music and involving lotus postures and hand movements. Increasingly, the movement itself is being called Falun Gong.
The protesters said Tung has no basis for calling their group ''evil'' and ''political'' as they have always been law-abiding citizens whose only demand is an end to persecution against their fellow adherents in China.
''All we do is to exercise either at home or in a park to improve our health, and study the teachings to upgrade our moral standards. As a result, we have become mentally and physically healthy people,'' they said.
''Mr. Tung, why is that evil?'' they asked.
The protesters went on to say that Hong Kong has no legal definition of 'evil cult' and that Falun Gong has broken no laws in the territory.
''Yet Mr. Tung, without any legal backing, casually declared that Falun Gong was an 'evil cult.' Mr. Tung, if you don't call that a violation of 'freedom of conscience,' what do you call it then?'' they asked.
The protesters also criticized Tung and his aides for being ''libelous,'' ''groundless'' and ''vicious'' in comparing Falun Gong with the 1978 mass cult suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, and the Japanese AUM sect that sprayed poison gas in the Tokyo subway system.
The Falun Gong members called on Tung and his government to have a dialogue with them to clarify any unnecessary misunderstandings.
Separately on Friday, a government spokesman, Stephen Lam, denied that Tung's remarks on Falun Gong are aimed at boosting his chances of reelection as the chief executive next year. He told reporters that Tung has yet to decide whether to stand for election.