VIDEO CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon shows the book destruction (July 29) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K  MESSAGE BOARD: China Tomorrow

July 30, 1999
Web posted at: 3:56 p.m. EDT (1956 GMT)

In this story: Sect concerned for Li's safety Sect appeals to U.S. for help Crackdown shows no sign of easing RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The State Department says the United States will not turn over Falun Gong leader Li Hongzhi to Chinese authorities because the two countries have no extradition treaty.

The development came as police in Beijing detained at least 20 people who were demonstrating Friday outside the tightly guarded compound where Chinese leaders live and work.

One man fought back, bloodying a police officer. Two other officers, one wielding a pole, beat the man. The detainees were later transferred to minibuses and driven away.

The State Department says it deplores China's "heavy-handed attempts" to censor free expression and freedom of thought.

China on Thursday ordered the arrest and trial of the U.S.- based founder of the meditation group on charges of spreading superstition. The action followed raids on book dealers who sell Falun Gong books and materials.

Li, who lives in New York, is a former Chinese government clerk who founded Falun Gong in 1992.

Falun Gong is one of many schools of qigong, a practice that tries to improve health through exercise and meditation, and attempts to channel unseen forces. Its doctrines draw on martial arts, Buddhism, and Taoism. Qigong has been popular in China for decades.

Sect members have expressed fears that China might try to extradite Li. "We are very concerned for master Li's personal safety," read a Falun gong statement issued in New York Thursday. "What will China do next?"

China's official Xinhua News Agency said China would ask for unspecified cooperation from member countries of Interpol, the international police agency. The U.S. Justice Department said it was given information by Interpol Thursday on China's request.

China's ministry said Li organized gatherings and demonstrations without appropriate permits, and was "suspected of having committed the crime of disturbing public order," Xinhua reported.

Li has said he has no connection to sect demonstrators in China. "It's been seven years since I practiced it in public," he said of Falun Gong in a CNN interview.

Some 400 U.S. followers of Falun Gong demonstrated outside the U.S. Congress on Thursday, demanding that Washington resist any attempt to have Li handed over to China.

A statement read on Li's behalf said, "If the persecution continues, it could cause the people to lose confidence in the Chinese government and its leadership."

"We are appealing to the United States as a world leader in human rights ... to urge the Chinese government from using force against its people," Falun Gong U.S. spokesman Zhang Erping said on CNN.

"We are not opposing the government, we are only asking the government to leave us alone," Zhang said.

Zhang said that the Chinese government has sent tens of thousands of people to stadiums without food, drink, or restroom facilities.

U.S. officials said they expected that diplomats from the Chinese embassy would discuss the issue at the State Department.

State Department spokesman Lee McClenny said Washington had repeatedly raised its concerns with Beijing about a ban on the group announced last week.

Beijing's crackdown on Falun Gong, which has as many as 70 million members, shows no sign of easing. Chinese leaders regard the group as the most serious threat to communist rule since pro-democracy protests in 1989.

Chinese authorities say they've confiscated or destroyed more than 1.55 million of the sect's publications.

"Falun Gong literature is the enemy of science, civilization, atheism, and dialectical materialism," said Gui Xiofeng, director of the National Anti-Pornography Office, which removes materials deemed offensive to the Communist Party.

Beijing's crackdown on the sect appears to have been prompted by a silent protest April 25 by more than 10,000 Falun Gong followers outside President Jiang Zemin's residential compound. The group said it was protesting harassment by officials.

Reports in China's state media have blamed Falun Gong for more than 700 deaths, saying followers have refused medication, and committed murder or suicide.

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

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