Falun Gong protest quashed

Visitors gaze at a museum exhibit

Chinese police have prevented followers of the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual movement staging protests in Beijing.

The protests were staged in Tiananmen square on the second anniversary of the ban imposed by the Chinese authorities.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing police arrest up to eight people in the square as they unfurled protest banners.

They were bundled into police vans and taken away from the square.

Hong Kong

Another group of about 140 Falun Gong supporters is reported to have demonstrated outside Chinese Government offices in Hong Kong.

Earlier in the week, police set up roadblocks on roads into Beijing to deter Falun Gong supporters from congregating in the capital.

'Evil cult'

The Chinese authorities banned the group two years ago, dismissing it as an "evil cult".

They say it has caused some 1,600 deaths because its followers do not use medicine.

Falun Gong supporters protest in Taipei

Last week, five Falun Gong members were put on trial for their alleged part in a mass suicide attempt in Tiananmen Square in January.

Since the ban, tens of thousands of supporters have been detained for continued protests.

International human rights groups says thousands of Falun Gong members are in forced labour camps, and at least 200 have died in police custody.