About 150 Falun Gong practitioners demonstrated outside the Immigration Tower in Wan Chai yesterday as part of an attempt to petition President Jiang Zemin over treatment of the sect.
The group held a candlelight vigil last night and planned to continue their protest overnight. They are hoping to petition President Jiang, who will attend the flag-raising ceremony near the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai this morning, in a bid to ``stop China's suppression'' of the sect. They are also protesting against the SAR government's alleged denial of entry to overseas practitioners.
Protest spokesman Kan Hung-cheung said that in the past four days, more than 100 Falun Gong practitioners from overseas were refused entry to Hong Kong, including 48 from Taiwan. He believed Beijing had exerted pressure on the SAR government to restrict immigration during the period of the anniversary.
Kan said the government's repatriation of Falun Gong practitioners was a backward step in Hong Kong's freedom and democracy.
The Security Bureau said it would make no comment on ``individual cases or operational details'', but said that ``it is necessary for the authorities to ensure that people entering Hong Kong would not cause trouble'' in the run-up to the anniversary celebrations.
It also said ``no one is barred from the HKSAR because of their religious belief''.
Falun Gong has been declared illegal and subjected to a severe crackdown in China.
No restrictions have been imposed in Hong Kong, though frequent protests here against Beijing have put the Hong Kong administration in a difficult position.