Falun Gong practitioners yesterday warned Taiwan against Beijing's "one country, two systems" policy.
Before the UK handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997, Beijing promised to maintain the legal and political institutions in Hong Kong for 50 years following the handover.
"Only 10 years after Hong Kong's return [to China], we're experiencing more and more repression from Beijing," said Chu Wan-chih (朱婉琪), a Human Rights Law Foundation lawyer who has been assisting arrested Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong.
Falun Gong is a spiritual practice introduced by Li Hongzhi (李洪志) in 1992. Falun Gong has been banned in China, and has been branded an "evil cult" by the Beijing government. Practitioners in China are often prosecuted and tortured.
Although Hong Kong enjoys special administrative status under China's "one country, two systems" policy, Falun Gong practitioners and supporters are now facing tighter control, and sometimes threats, from Beijing Chu said.
"Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong, whether locals or foreigners, are often closely watched and followed by Chinese officials," Chu, accompanied by Falun Gong practitioners and their sympathizers, said at a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
Chu then told the press conference that she had also been harassed.
"Once, when I was in Hong Kong, I got a phone call as I walked into my hotel room after dinner," she said. "The caller, speaking in Mandarin with a Chinese accent, kept telling me, `You should know who I am,' and `I've been watching you since you arrived at the airport.'"
Chu said she was disappointed with China's "one country, two systems" policy in Hong Kong, and warned "all Taiwanese people with any expectations of the system ? to look at Hong Kong as an example."
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