China has told Thailand it is worried about any protest by the Falun Gong spiritual movement during this month's Asia-Pacific summit in Bangkok, Asian diplomats said on Wednesday.
China is eager to prevent any embarrassment to President Hu Jintao who is due to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok on October 20-21, they said.
"Falun Gong tops China's security concerns at APEC," a Beijing-based diplomat told Reuters.
But China stopped short of asking Thailand to ban outright any protest by Falun Gong, outlawed by Beijing in 1999 as an "evil cult" after 10,000 members besieged the Chinese leadership compound to demand official recognition for their faith.
Last week, Thailand's deputy prime minister cited intelligence reports as saying up to 300 Falun Gong members planned to enter the country to protest at the APEC summit. Two suspected Falun Gong members were arrested in Bangkok on October 2 for holding expired visas.
Falun Gong members staged protests during last year's APEC meeting in Mexico.
Thailand has promised a trouble-free summit and is mounting a huge security operation to protect the 21 APEC leaders, with thousands of soldiers and police assigned to summit venues, the airport and hotels.
"NO DISRESPECT"
The Chinese Embassy in Bangkok has relayed Beijing's concerns to the Thai government, the diplomats said.
Thai religious authorities have warned Falun Gong members not to show disrespect to Chinese leaders during the APEC summit, said a Bangkok-based diplomat who asked not to be identified.
"The Thai government has told Falun Gong not to cause trouble during APEC," said the second diplomat.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Thai Embassy in Beijing had no immediate comment.
A Thai official said on Wednesday there would be no Falun Gong protests in Bangkok during the summit.
"All foreign members of the Falun Gong have left Thailand, while Thai members of the group will not stage a protest," General Pallop Pinmanee, a security adviser to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, told reporters.
Nopphadol Eakabuse, a coordinator of the 50-member Falun Gong group in Thailand, told Reuters they had been asked by Thai authorities not to rally during the summit.
"The government has asked for our cooperation not to stage a protest and we are happy to cooperate," he said.
Falun Gong combines a mixture of Taoism, Buddhism and traditional Chinese breathing exercises with the ideas of its founder Li Hongzhi.