Thursday, 29 June, 2000

BBC -- Members of the banned Chinese spiritual group, Falun Gong, say they've set up their own radio station and will begin broadcasting on Saturday.

Staff members in the United States say the station will transmit news about the movement and what the Chinese government is doing in its efforts to suppress it.

They say the broadcasts, on short-wave, will be directed at northern and central China and will aim to let ordinary people there know about what the movement says is the widespread persecution of its members.

The Beijing government has denounced Falun Gong as an evil cult and detained many of its followers. The BBC Beijing correspondent says the radio station is the latest weapon in the movement's propaganda war with the authorities.

Members abroad already run dozens of internet sites, although these can be difficult to access from within China.

(From the newsroom of the BBC World Service)