HONG KONG—Just before the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong’s hand-over to communist China, many Falun Gong practitioners from Taiwan were barred from entering Hong Kong.
The practitioners were detained in Hong Kong airport; most of them have been forcibly returned to Taiwan. The incidents started on June 25, and by June 30, about 520 people had been deported or are now blocked at the airport, not allowed entry into Hong Kong.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson commented on the Hong Kong incident, saying “We believe all individuals, regardless of their beliefs or affiliation, enjoy the right to legitimate travel and peaceful assembly … We expect that Hong Kong would continue to uphold its high standards of personal and political freedom.”
On the evening of June 29, many Taiwan Falun Gong practitioners continued to arrive at Hong Kong airport. The airport specially mobilized dozens of policemen to check the passports of arriving visitors. Many Falun Gong practitioners were taken away even before they arrived at customs.
Ms. Chen, who was deported on the morning of the 28th, told The Epoch Times that the whole deportation process was very violent. Although most of the Falun Gong practitioners being deported were females, the Hong Kong authorities still sent male policemen to handle the deportation process.
According to Ms. Chen, she was carried out by five large male officers; two held her feet, two held her hands and another one held her head. Her hands were bruised by the violent treatment. Chen said, “I saw another female Falun Gong practitioner whose surname was Liao carried away on a stretcher.”
Ms. Gan Jing, a 16-year-old high school student, told The Epoch Times that when practitioners held hands to protest the illegal arrest, the police used physical force to separate the practitioners. During the struggle, one officer held her neck and tried to block her nose to stop her breathing in an attempt to stop her from struggling. Her hand was also bruised as a result of the violent treatment.
An 80-year-old woman, a pregnant woman and a 12-year-old child were amongst the 50 practitioners deported on the 28th. According to estimates, around 100 Hong Kong police were mobilized for the deportation process.
Earlier this week, Taiwan human rights lawyer Theresa Chu who was violently deported on the 25th, made public an internal document from an airline company. The document stated that during the July 1 period, Hong Kong Immigration would provide airline companies with a blacklist and requested that the airline companies flying from Taiwan to Hong Kong cooperate with them to ban Falun Gong practitioners from boarding the plane. Chu said that what the Hong Kong government did has seriously breached Hong Kong’s basic law and international Convention.
According to Epoch Times reporter Ye Yingshi and An Qi from Macau, on the afternoon of June 29, Ms. Lin and Mdm. Hu from Macau arrived in Hong Kong by boat with valid travel documents. However both of them were detained for two hours and deported back to Macau.
Spokesperson for the Hong Kong Falun Dafa Association, Kan Hung-cheung said that the group has filed an urgent judicial review with the Hong Kong Supreme Court, accusing the Hong Kong government of illegally deporting Falun Gong practitioners.
