HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa said the recent public suicide attempt by alleged members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement in central Beijing reminded him of the Jonestown mass cult suicide in 1978.
In the clearest sign to date that Hong Kong may enact laws to curb the group, he added: "We have to protect our own people and system and we cannot afford to wait for a Jonestown-type incident before acting."
Tung made his comments in an interview with Arnaud de Borchgrave of the Washington Times and United Press International (UPI) published on Monday.
The two groups are owned by News World Communications, set up by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, whose Unification Church has been accused of being a cult.
Tung said of Falun Gong: "It's a bit of a cult. Many have been willing to die for it and I was shocked to see cultists willing to burn themselves on Tiananmen Square."
He was referring to an apparent suicide attempt by alleged Falun Gong members in January. A mother and her daughter, 12, died after the incident.
"It is eerily reminiscent of the Jonestown mass suicide in Guyana...That too was a mix of cult and politics. Obviously we're watching them very carefully here," Tung said.
More than 900 disciples of the American Reverend James Jones drank cyanide-laced Cool-Aid at his Jonestown colony in Guyana in South America in what may be the largest mass suicide in history.
Falun Gong, which claims millions of followers in more than 40 countries, denies such fanaticism and says it is a peaceful spiritual group being persecuted ruthlessly by Beijing.
The presence of Falun Gong activists in Hong Kong has posed Tung with one of his toughest challenges: pleasing Beijing while protecting the territory's special freedoms within China.
Beijing picked Tung to run Hong Kong after British rule ended in 1997. The territory retains a large degree of autonomy, and Falun Gong has remained legal although it was banned as an "evil cult" in mainland China in 1999.
TUNG UNCOMFORTABLE
But Tung is clearly uncomfortable with the group's presence and deported nearly 100 foreign members who wanted to join anti-Beijing protests this month when Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited.
Curiously, Tung gave his interview on Falun Gong to two news groups owned by News World Communications Inc, which is linked to Sun Myung Moon. Moon's followers, sometimes called "Moonies," have been accused of cult-like activities.
Tung said China's banning of the Falun Gong and crackdown on members would not be a factor in Hong Kong's decision.
"Whatever we do, it will not be because of what China does or thinks."
Tung dismissed media criticism of Hong Kong's decision to deport Falun Gong members ahead of Jiang's visit to attend an international economic forum in the territory.
"We have every right to bar people who come into Hong kong solely to demonstrate and disrupt or disturb an important international economic forum," he said.
HK BLACKLIST
Security Secretary Regina Ip, questioned on Tuesday about the deporting of the foreign Falun Gong members, acknowledged Hong Kong keeps a "blacklist" of unwanted people.
"Every immigration department has its own list, the so-called blacklist...every government has it," Ip told legislators at a special session to discuss police actions during the forum.
"I can only say such name lists aren't static. They are often updated and the immigration director has the right to decide who can enter and who can't according to the situation."
Hong Kong officials have been criticized for deporting the Falun Gong members and their heavy security measures, enforced by some 3,000 officers, at the economic forum.
Ip met diplomats from a number of countries last week, including the United States and Australia, to address their concerns over the barring of their nationals.
05:47 05-22-01
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