The Chinese government has warned the United States that continued appeals on behalf of the banned Falun Gong movement could damage relations between the two countries.
The Chinese embassy in Washington called a news conference to express its deep regret over a Congressional resolution, passed on Thursday, which accused Beijing of persecuting Falun Gong followers and other religious practitioners. The resolution urged the Clinton adminstration to use every appropriate channel to press for a change of attitude by China. However, an embassy spokesman Yu Shuning said the issue was not human rights, but a criminal cult which disrupted public order and was responsible for the deaths of more than one-thousand followers who had abided by its teachings and refused medical treatment. Falun Gong advocates a regime of physical and spiritual exercises to promote inner harmony.
The authorities launched a campaign against it after ten-thousand follows staged a protest in April in Beijing over the arrest of some of leaders of the movement.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service