AP: On eve of Macau anniversary, police arrest Falun Gong [Practitioners]

10.34 a.m. ET (1549 GMT) December 19, 2000

By Verna Yu, Associated Press

MACAU (AP) - As Macau prepared Tuesday to celebrate the first anniversary of its handover to China, police scuffled with Falun Gong practitioners who protested the Chinese government's crackdown on the group.

As Chinese President Jiang Zemin arrived, authorities detained more than 20 adherents of the meditation [group]. Thirty Falun Gong followers allegedly were deported, and several anti-Beijing protesters from Hong Kong were turned away before Wednesday's handover anniversary.

The incidents underscored some of the problems the former Portuguese territory faces a year after being returned to Chinese rule. Many in Macau are pleased to see order established - gangsters no longer have shootouts on the streets, as they did before the handover that ended 442 years of governance by Lisbon.

But critics warn that freedom in the tiny gambling enclave off the southern coast of China - guaranteed for 50 years under the transfer arrangement - may already be threatened. Authorities are showing an intolerance comparable to what exists on mainland China.

"Our activity in Macau is absolutely peaceful and follows the rule of law in Macau,'' said Kan Hung-cheung, a Falun Gong spokesman in Hong Kong. "Macau shouldn't prohibit these actions if they are a liberal government, not under the influence of Jiang Zemin.''

The Macau government and police said they refused to grant Falun Gong a public-assembly permit because it would have disturbed traffic. The [group] is outlawed in mainland China but legal in Hong Kong and Macau.

Macau police said they had detained "more than 20'' Falun Gong followers for planning an "illegal meeting.'' The suspects were being questioned but no charges were immediately filed, they said.

In one incident, outside Macau's biggest casino, authorities dragged away eight Falun Gong followers and shoved them into police vehicles.

Kan said 26 were still being held Tuesday night, including 12 from Hong Kong, six from Australia and three from Macau. He said at least 30 Falun Gong adherents were deported after arriving by ferry from Hong Kong, 40 miles away.

At an evening dinner banquet, Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen praised Macau's "vigorous'' new government, but did not mention the roundup of the Falun Gong figures.

"The public security is getting remarkably better, and the economy has resumed growing,'' Qian said.

Jiang is a prime target for Falun Gong demonstrations because of his government's intense crackdown on the [group] in mainland China.

Like Hong Kong, Macau is supposed to enjoy considerable autonomy and freedom under an arrangement dubbed "one country, two systems.'' The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, a Hong Kong human-rights monitoring group, said it looked more like "one country, one system.''

"If Macau prohibits any peaceful petitions like mainland China, it will be just another city in mainland China,'' the center said.

Still, many Macau citizens are pleased with the return to China. The predominantly Chinese population is governed by officials who speak the same language. Killings by Macau's infamous triad gangs have stopped and tourists have returned to the casinos, the economy's backbone.

"Things are more stable, not so much turbulence,'' said Tam Yiu-cho, 84. "We're better off under a Chinese government.''

Jiang was greeted at the airport by military music, with children waving flags and shouting "welcome.'' Reporters were kept too far away to hear anything he said.

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