According to Sydney Morning Herald, China has banned members of the Falungong spiritual movement from sitting university entrance exams, as it shifts its crackdown to Falungong younger practitioners, state media reported today.

Assessments of university entrance applicants to determine their 'political thought and morality' have been expanded to determine whether they are members of the banned group, the China Education Daily reported. 'Practitioners who have still not repented are generally not permitted to register their names,' it said. The new guidelines will apply to all high school students now registering to sit the entrance exams in July. Falungong has mostly attracted the middle-aged and elderly with its eclectic mix of traditional qigong breathing exercises and Buddhist and Daoist philosophy, but also has a number of the young and well-educated among its claimed 80 million membership in China. China on Monday charged overseas practitioners with leading 'anti-China forces' in spreading discrediting rumours about the government crackdown of the group, which began with its banning in July. Police detained about 200 Falungong members in Beijing's Tiananmen Square last Thursday as authorities wait nervously for the anniversary of the group's mass demonstration in the capital on April 25 last year.

"Falun Gong activists haven't been stopped despite mass arrests, beatings and even killings... [This is] arguably the most sustained challenge to authority in 50 years of Communist rule."

-- WALL STREET JOURNAL April 20, 2000, Page l