Police in China are reportedly holding members of the religious movement Falun Gong for trying to hang a giant portrait of their leader Li Hongzhi over the painting of Mao Tse Tung in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

It is believed that 12 mainland Falun Gong members, together with four followers from Hong Kong and Macao, were involved in the protest.

The 12 mainlanders are still being held, said the Hong Kong-based Information Centre of Human Rights and Democratic Movement.

Beijing banned Falun Gong in July last year, calling them a threat to Communist Party control.

Li's blend of exercises, meditation, Buddhist and Taoist concepts and his own theories and rules has attracted millions of followers.

About 300 Falun Gong leaders face trial, while another 5,000 have been sent without trial to labour camps to undergo "re-education", the Hong Kong group said.

Labour camps

Last month, a Beijing court sentenced four Falun Gong leaders, including a former deputy director of the Ministry of Public Security, to up to 18 years in prison on charges ranging from stealing state secrets to causing deaths.

Earlier this month the United States cited crackdowns on Falun Gong in criticism of human rights abuses in China.

Washington said it would sponsor a resolution condemning China's human rights policies when the United Nations Commission on Human Rights met in Geneva in March.