HONG KONG - Falun Gong followers on Saturday accused Hong Kong of bowing to pressure from Beijing by building over an area near China's representative office here, stopping members of the spiritual sect from protesting there.
For months, about 20 Falun Gong followers have gathered there daily to do meditation exercises and condemn Chinese oppression of Falun Gong.
The sect is banned in China but remains legal in Hong Kong despite its return to Chinese sovereignty five years ago. Despite denials of Hong Kong officials, Falun Gong followers believe Hong Kong is tightening its handling of the group under pressure from Beijing, which has waged a brutal campaign to eradicate it.
The protest area, on a sidewalk near the liaison office in central Hong Kong, was boarded up on Thursday night for what officials say are environmental improvement works. A flower bed will be placed there.
Falun Gong spokeswoman Hui Yee-han said the action was "clearly done out of political consideration" in a move to suppress the group's activities in Hong Kong and to snuff out their voice of opposition to China.
But officials denied the accusation and noted there had been no local opposition to the construction work.
"There is absolutely no political purpose at all," said Cynthia Tong, spokeswoman of the Home Affairs Department. "We can't sacrifice the plan for the interests of only one particular group."
Hui said police offered the group an alternative protest area opposite the backdoor of the liaison office but she said it was too far away. Police Superintendent Michael Chiu denied Saturday that police has recommended any alternative sites.
Various activist groups have used areas outside China's liaison office for staging protests — but the Falun Gong daily demonstration has drawn criticism from pro-Beijing figures and some local residents who call it an eyesore.
Sixteen members of the meditation group — including four from Switzerland — were charged by authorities for obstruction outside the Chinese liaison office in March, after police broke up their protest.