Members of the popular meditation group Falun Gong read books during a sit-in outside China's Xinhua news agency office in Hong Kong  MESSAGE BOARD: China Tomorrow

July 21, 1999
Web posted at: 12:38 p.m. EDT (1638 GMT)

In this story: Group claims 100 million members RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

BEIJING (CNN) -- Beijing police broke up a protest by thousands of members of the popular meditation group Falun Gong on Wednesday, detaining hundreds of mostly elderly men and middle-aged women suspected of belonging to the sect.

Members of Falun Gong staged rallies in Beijing and at least five other cities to protest China's arrest of at least 70 group leaders on Monday. Beijing police were ready for the protest, and herded at least 1,000 into buses and drove them to stadiums outside the city.

Members of the group living outside China put the total number of detainees as high as 10,000. Similar demonstrations of varying scale took place in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shenzen on Wednesday, and another group besieged the local government offices in Dalian on Tuesday.

Tuesday's crackdown stemmed from an April demonstration in Beijing that surprised government officials. Tens of thousands of Falun Gong followers converged outside the government leadership compound Zhongnanhai on April 25, demanding official recognition and an end to what they called official harassment.

Last month, 13,000 members of the group sent an open letter to the Chinese government demanding that authorities stop suppressing them. And last week, 5,000 members spent two days outside the government offices in the eastern city of Weifang, protesting a magazine's criticism.

Undercover police officers arrest a man in Beijing after breaking up a massive Falun Gong demonstration

Group claims 100 million members

Falun Gong members insist they have no interest in politics and say all they want is the freedom to practice their beliefs.

"We came here to complain because several of our teachers were detained," said one member who eluded Beijing police. "I just wanted a chance to explain to the government that we are good people. We aren't hostile to the government."

Falun Gong is based on the teachings of its leader, Li- Hongzhi, who now lives in the United States. During Monday's crackdown, police seized group literature and smashed busts of Li.

The sect claims 100 million members, while the government estimates its membership between 10 million and 70 million. Each member rises every morning to practice Falun Gong meditation exercises.

The group maintains a tight-knit organization, including use of the Internet, which unnerves China's government and likely is the impetus behind the recent crackdown.

"The Chinese government has always been afraid of tightly organized social organization," said Chinese author Dai Qing.

But Dai warned that the current round of intimidation may not have the desired effect on the sect.

"Using old methods to deal with a new problem is dangerous," Dai said. "If Falun Gong is suppressed, they may gradually turn more political."

Beijing Bureau Chief Rebecca MacKinnon, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.