HONG KONG SUBVERSION
Activists attach lettering to a banner announcing a 100-hour
fast to protest a proposed anti-subversion bill known locally as “Article
23” by pro-democracy lawmakers and activists in downtown Hong Kong on
Friday, June 27, 2003. Responding to reports that the U.S. House of
Representatives had passed a non-binding motion urging the Hong Kong government
to withdraw the anti-subversion bill, Hong Kong's chief secretary for
administration, Donald Tsang, said the government would try to persuade American
leaders that the legislation would do no harm. The national security bill bans
subversion,
sedition and other crimes against the state and strengthens police powers.
Critics fear it could be used to abridge freedoms of speech, the press and
assembly or to target certain groups, such as the meditation movement Falun
Gong, which is banned on the mainland but tolerated here. The Chinese characters
read: “100 hours fast against article 23.” (AP Photo/Anat Givon)
AUSTRALIA FALUN GONG
A line of Falun Gong practitioners take part in an early morning ceremony,
Saturday, April 26, 2003, to commemorate the persecution of Falun Gong followers
in China. About 100 Falun Gong members gathered on the beach to participate in
meditation and exercises during the ceremony. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
FALUN GONG RALLY
Sikhs arriving for a nearby Sikh Day parade look at posters of Dr. Charles
Li, during a Falun Gong rally in Times Square, New York, Saturday April 19,
2003. Li, an American citizen and other followers of Falun Gong, a meditative
practice banned in China, have been jailed for defying the ban and according to
the group, “650 deaths from torture and abuse have been confirmed.”
(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
FALUN GONG RALLY
During a Falun Gong rally in Times Square, Celia Wang, left, took to the
stage holding a poster of her imprisoned husband Zhang Yufei from a family
photo, while their son Wesley Wang, 7, reads a letter calling for his release
from a Chinese prison, Saturday April 19, 2003. Yufei and other followers of
Falun Gong, a meditative practice banned in China, have been jailed for defying
the ban and according to the group, “650 deaths from
torture and abuse have been confirmed.” (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
FALUN GONG
Falun Gong practitioner Kip Ng, center, holds a picture of a woman the group
says was killed by the Chinese government, during a quiet protest in front of
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's office in New York Wednesday, April 2, 2003, as
city residents make their way down Third Avenue. A group of about twenty Falun
Gong practitioners quietly held posters showing Chinese Falun Gong practitioners
whom the group says were tortured and killed by the Chinese government. The
group plans to stage a five-day protest in front of the building. (AP
Photo/Gregory Bull)
SWITZERLAND UN HUMAN RIGHTS
Swiss followers of Falun Gong, a spiritual movement banned in mainland China,
in front of the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, March 17,
2003, prior to the opening of the 59th session of the UN Human Rights
Commission. (AP Photo/Sandro Campardo)
CHINA FALUN GONG
Annie Wang, left, Daniel Ginsburg, second from left, Erik Meltzer, and
others, take part in a demonstration outside the State Department in Washington
Friday, March 7, 2003 to protest the arrest in China of Charles Li, of Menlo
Park, Calif. Li has been held in China since Jan. 22 after being detained at
Guangzhou airport in southern China for practicing Falun Gong. (AP Photo/Evan
Vucci)
CHINA FALUN GONG
Yeong-Ching Foo, fiance of Charles Li, of Menlo Park, Calif., paused while
attending a demonstration calling to the release of Li, Friday, March 7, 2003
outside the State Department in Washington. Li has been held in China since Jan.
22 after being detained at Guangzhou airport in southern China for practicing
Falun Gong. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
HONG KONG FALUN GONG
Wearing their trademark yellow T-shirts, Falun Gong followers hold placards
and banners during a protest at a Hong Kong downtown street Sunday, Feb. 23,
2003, as about 800 followers of Falun Gong, a spiritual movement banned in
mainland China, protesting a planned anti-subversion law they say will
jeopardize them. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
JAPAN HUMAN RIGHTS PARADE
A member of Falun Gong group takes part in the “Human Rights Parade
2002,” organized by Amnesty International Japan, at a Tokyo park Sunday,
Dec. 8, 2002. About 20 rights groups and organizations staged the parade to turn
the public on to human rights problems. The Chinese characters, center on
banner, read; “Falun Gong”. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
Posting date: 2/Sep/2003
Original article date: 1/Sep/2003
Category: Media Report
