HONG KONG (AP) - Police said Monday that were acting on complaints from the office of China's representative in Hong Kong when they arrested 10 Falun Gong followers protesting over the weekend.
Police cordoned off the sidewalk in front of the office Monday, blocking the area where the Falun Gong adherents were arrested Saturday for allegedly obstructing the public. Their demonstration was a show of support for members detained at labor camps in mainland China, where the group is banned.
The 10 followers became the first Falun Gong members to be arrested in Hong Kong, where the meditation sect remains legal.
The followers, who were released without being charged on Saturday evening, protested for a third straight day on Monday, with the police keeping them 100 feet clear of the Chinese office.
Before the arrests, Hong Kong officials had only escalated their rhetoric against Falun Gong, with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa calling the group a ``cult'' and saying that it needs to be monitored.
Police said Saturday they had received two complaints but they would not say who made them. But a police spokesman, Mackenzie Mak, told The Associated Press on Monday that both complaints had come from the Chinese liaison office.
Mak said the police had struck a balance in answering the needs of the public and the demonstrators, although local Falun Gong followers branded the police action as an abuse of power.
Mak said demonstration locations are determined according to the law and in consideration of any inconvenience to the public.
``The police always seek to strike a balance,'' Mak said.
Falun Gong spokesman Kan Hung-cheung disagreed.
``The arrests were unnecessary,'' Kan said. ``We believe they were made after the police received pressure from Beijing, including the Chinese liaison office.''
Officials at the Chinese office had not responded by Monday evening to an earlier written request by the Associated Press seeking comment.
Kan accused police of exercising a double standard and acting like ``hired guns'' for the Beijing administration in handling Saturday's demonstration, which he said has been ``very peaceful and has only taken up a very small space.''
``The police said we were obstructing the public; they never question themselves to ask whether they are obstructing the public to a larger extent with their barriers,'' Kan said.
Justice Secretary Elsie Leung said freedoms of demonstration and speech remain intact in Hong Kong, as long as these are exercised lawfully, without causing inconvenience to others.
``I believe anybody, who acts according to the law, is able to exercise freedom of speech, but no one should obstruct the traffic or cause inconvenience to others,'' Leung told reporters Monday.
AP-NY-08-27-01 0647EDT
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.