overseas media on Falun Gong

More than 40 figures from all walks of life in Hong Kong gathered at a forum in Hong Kong Friday afternoon, denouncing the wickedness of the "Falun Gong" cult and its jeopardy to the state and society.

Participants all expressed their concern about the recent suicidal blaze that occurred at the Tiananmen Square and their support to the move of the central government to crack down on the cult.

Liu Shanzai, deputy director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), said a number of facts have fully disclosed the evil essence of the "Falun Gong" cult and its serious damage to the society.

To date, some 1,600 "Falun Gong" followers died of the practice of the cult and some 651 suffered from mental disorder, he said.

The crackdown on the cult by the central government in accordance with law maintained the fundamental interests of the people, he said, adding that the move has not only win support from the people from all walks of life in the nation, but also got extensive understanding in the international community.

Liu reiterated that it will be never allowed to let anyone to make Hong Kong a center for the "Falun Gong" cult and make Hong Kong a base to overthrow the central government and damage the " one country, two system" and Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.

Tsang Hin-chi, a member of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, said the "Falun Gong" is by no means a real health exercise, but an anti-government organization with its political purpose.

He said there is no health excise like the "Falun Gong," which makes its practitioners to deliver propaganda pamphlets and says anti-government slogans.

It is quite a reasonable and wise decision for the central government to stop the activities of the "Falun Gong" cult in the country and disclose its wickedness to the people, he noted.

Zhou Jie, vice-president of the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association, pointed out that the "Falun Gong" is not a merely evil organization, but a political tool of some anti-China forces in the West to "Westernize" and "separate" the country.

The combat against the "Falun Gong" cult is a serious political struggle related to the fate of the state, she added.

The forum was hosted by the Hong Kong-based newspaper "Wen Wei Po." Zhang Guoliang, president of the "Wen Wei Po," said many Hong Kong residents used to lack enough understanding about the "Falun Gong" cult, till the recent bloody facts exposed the wickedness of the cult.

He believed the forum would be a good chance for the participants to make a deep analysis on the necessity and importance to crack down on the "Falun Gong" cult, from the aspects of science, religion, history and society, and the "one country, two systems" principle as well.

It will be much helpful to "Wen Wei Po" readers and the community to get a better view of the fraudulence and damage of the cult to maintain the prosperity of Hong Kong and the mainland, he added.

(Xinhua)