Falun Gong plans Hong Kong meeting

Thousands of Falun Gong followers have been arrested in mainland China

The Falun Gong spiritual movement is to hold an international conference in a Hong Kong government venue, despite being banned on the Chinese mainland.

Organisers of the conference, which is to be held in Hong Kong City Hall later in January, said they expected around 1,000 practitioners from around the world to take part.

I am sure Beijing intends to threaten us but we won't be affected by these attacks

Falun Gong spokesman

For the last two years, the conference has been held at a commercial venue in Hong Kong, where Falun Gong is legal.

This meeting will be the first at a government site.

The Chinese Government has launched a fresh campaign against the movement, with accusations in the Xinhua official news agency that it has been trying to stir up social unrest.

Defiance

Followers of the movement vowed to push ahead with the conference and said they would not be intimidated by the campaign.

Many followers are middle-aged women

"I am sure [the Beijing authorities] intend to threaten us, but we won't be affected by these attacks," a Hong Kong Falun Gong spokesman told Reuters news agency.

The BBC's Beijing correspondent says that the Xinhua accusations are a surprising admission by the government of how ineffective its suppression of the group has been.

And a source at Falun Gong UK has alleged that the Chinese Government has been holding an emergency meeting to discuss lifting the ban and allowing Communist Party members to practise Falun Gong.

'Foreign influence'

The Xinhua article said that Falun Gong protesters who gathered almost daily on Beijing's central Tiananmen Square were attempting to cause chaos in the city.

An "evil cult" say the authorities

It added that Falun Gong was being used by foreign political forces who wanted to keep China weak and divided and ruin its economic progress.

It said that the campaign to wipe out Falun Gong would continue and ultimately be successful.

But, the government has so far proved ineffective in its efforts over the past year and a half.

The movement, loosely based on Taoist and Buddhist doctrine, teaches meditation and exercise but is described as an "evil cult" by the Chinese authorities.

Its founder, Li Hongzhi, has fled China and now lives in the US.