HONG KONG - Members of the Falun Gong meditation group, banned in mainland China but not here, rallied Friday to protest Beijing's crackdown on the group in the northern Chinese city of Changchun.
"This is an urgent call to help stop the persecution of our members. The situation in Changchun is very severe," said Hong Kong Falun Gong spokesman and businessman Tony Chan, a member for six years.
Wearing their customary yellow T-shirts, about 100 Falun Gong members sat quietly in Chater Garden, in the bustling city center. They also performed slow-moving meditation exercises to recorded Chinese music. The group planned a candlelight vigil Friday evening and marches over the weekend.
Members held aloft a wreath with portraits of sect members they claimed were killed in China's crackdown.
Falun Gong members say about 5,000 members have been arrested and nearly 100 tortured to death in Changchun since March 5, when followers hacked into the lines of Changchun's cable TV network, broadcasting a lecture by group leader Li Hongzhi.
Chinese officials in Hong Kong did not respond to requests for comment.
Government officials in the mainland insist no Falun Gong members have died of persecution. Instead, they say crazed followers of the group the government branded an "evil cult" and outlawed nearly three years ago have hacked loved ones to death, hurled themselves from trains and buildings, set themselves ablaze, hanged or starved themselves to death in detention, and refused lifesaving medical treatment.
Falun Gong has attracted millions of followers, most of them in China, with its combination of slow-motion exercises and philosophy drawn from Taoism, Buddhism and founder Li's often unorthodox ideas. Adherents insist that it promotes health and good citizenship.
The sect remains legal in Hong Kong — although authorities here have taken a tougher line against its members, arresting 16 people during a protest outside the territory's Chinese liaison office March 14.