PRESS RELEASE 14 June 2001 Why is Falun Gong an evil cult?  The Democratic Party asked the Chief Executive Democratic Party member Albert Ho confronted the Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa with the above question in the Legislative Council this afternoon.  In reply to a question from a Pro-Beijing legislator, Mr. Chan Kam-lam, Mr. Tung stated categorically that the Falun Gong Group in Hong Kong was an evil cult.  This constitutes a hardening of the Government's position towards the Falun Gong since in his last Q & A session in the LegCo in February 2001, Mr. Tung described the Group as more or less having the characteristics of an evil cult. As Mr. Tung was unable to give any reason justifying his change of view towards the Falun Gong Group in Hong Kong, which up to now, is acknowledged by all senior Government officials as not having committed any breach of Hong Kong law, Mr. Ho expressed concern that the SAR Government had been pressed by Beijing to adopt a hard line against the Group in Hong Kong. "Any move to tighten control over the Falun Gong Group in Hong Kong would be a threat to religious and other freedoms and would undermine the rule of law in Hong Kong," said Martin Lee, Chairman of the Democratic Party.  Mr. Lee also expressed his fear that the Chief Executive's condemnation of the Falun Gong as an evil cult in the absence of any hard evidence was tantamount to putting his own view above the law.  The Democratic Party warns that any such attack by senior Government officials would not only harm Hong Kong's international image but also undermine the "one country, two systems" principle. Martin Lee, Chairman of the Democratic Party                            7223 9523 *****

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