Following reports last month of the mistreatment of Taiwanese Falun Gong members at the hands of Hong Kong immigration, Vice President Annette Lu yesterday called on the public to view the incident as a serious violation of human rights.

HONG KONG,(AFP) – Hong Kong Falungong practitioners on Sunday slammed government treatment of a group of Taiwanese nationals allegedly detained and treated inhumanely when they arrived for a group meeting.

About 800 followers of Falun Gong, a spiritual movement banned in mainland China, marched through downtown Hong Kong on Sunday to protest a planned anti-subversion law they say will jeopardize them.

Council sources told The Age that part of the reason was because Lord Mayor John So was under pressure from the Chinese business community to exclude the group. Cr Riley denied the suggestion.

The case centred on “one decision” by the festival hosts, their legal responsibilities and their preparedness to accept the consequences that could arise from allowing Falun Dafa a stall at the event, Dr Vout said.

MANLY Falun Dafa practitioners will be coming together to celebrate truth, compassion and tolerance from February 17-24.

Concern for crowd safety, not politics, was the reason the spiritual group Falun Dafa was excluded from last year’s Chinese New Year Festival in Melbourne, a tribunal heard today.

The “long arm” of Beijing prevented Australian Falun Gong practitioners from joining last year’s Chinese New Year Festival in the southern city of Melbourne, lawyers for the spiritual movement said Tuesday.

FALUN Dafa, a group espousing truth, tolerance and forbearance was silenced by Ashfield Council last week in line with the Chinese Government’s ban on the organisation.

The “long arm of Beijing” prevented spiritual group Falun Dafa from joining last year’s Melbourne Chinese New Year festival, a Melbourne tribunal was told yesterday.

The Falun Dafa are an exercise and meditation group who had performed at the three previous Penrith Australia Day celebrations.