Hong Kong, China - A newspaper linked to the Falun Gong spiritual group said Wednesday that it has found a new printer willing to keep the publication running for another two months, despite fears that doing so could offend China.
Last week the former printer of The Epoch Times _ which frequently criticizes Beijing and employs Falun Gong followers _ said it would print its last edition of the newspaper last Friday.
Amy Chu, a spokeswoman for the newspaper, said Wednesday that one of its readers had agreed to print the newspaper for another two months starting from Monday. The newspaper runs five days a week from Monday to Friday, so there was no break in production, she said.
The temporary printer was fearful of committing to a longer print run, Chu said.
The newspaper had difficulty finding a long-term printer as many expressed fears that taking on the publication may offend China's Communist leadership, which outlawed Falun Gong as an "evil cult" on the mainland in 1999.
But the group, which has attracted millions of practitioners with a mix of slow-motion exercise and Buddhist and Taoist teachings, remains legal in Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Falun Gong often accuses Beijing of persecuting and torturing its followers on the mainland. It also alleges that China is extending its crackdown on the group in Hong Kong.
Chu said the paper's last printer did not mention that it came under direct pressure from Beijing.