12/15/00 1:33 (New York)

HONG KONG, Dec 15 (AFP) - The head of the Falungong spiritual movement has applied to be allowed to attend an international conference on the China-banned sect in Taiwan, it was reported Friday.

Li Hongzhi, 49, is applying for a permit through his "friends" in Taiwan as "a scholar" and not as spiritual leader, the Chinese-language Sing Tao daily said.

It said he hoped to attend a Falungong conference in Taipei on December 23.

A spokeswoman for the Hong Kong branch of the Falungong declined to confirm the report, saying: "We will only know if master Li will be present at the conference in Taipei on December 23 to 24 when he is there."

Some 3,000 people are expected to attend the conference in Taipei, of which 500 will be arriving from overseas.

Li, currently in exile in the United States, visited Taiwan in early 1999 to mark the publication of his teachings.

However, after Beijing banned the sect in June that year, a subsequent visit by Li was abandoned because authorities in Taiwan would only give him a conditional visa that restricted him from joining public activities, the newspaper said.

The reclusive Li, [...], was recently nominated for the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize.

Falungong is a traditional Chinese mystic belief based on the teachings of Li, who advocates Confucian and Buddhist moral values, and group breathing and meditation exercises.

Since the movement was banned in China, thousands of practitioners have been detained with core leaders given jail terms of up to 18 years for protesting and refusing to give up their beliefs.