08/02/2001

HONG KONG, Aug 2 (AFP) - The mother of a local Falungong member called Thursday on the Hong Kong government to help locate her son, who has been missing since being arrested by Beijing authorities last month.

The whereabouts of Hong Kong resident Chan Yuk-to have been a mystery since he was arrested at his residence in Beijing on July 12, the spiritual group said.

A spokeswoman for the group, Sophie Xiao, said Chan had been working in the mainland capital for two years when he was suddenly seized by Beijing police, who provided no reason for his arrest.

Following the failure of Chan's father to find his son, his mother Lau Yuk-ling was sending "in a petition letter to Hong Kong immigration authorities to ask the government for assistance in investigating the case", Xiao said.

China outlawed the Falungong in July 1999 after the group staged a massive silent protest in Beijing, and authorities have rounded up hundreds of practitioners. But the movement remains legal in Hong Kong.