Falun Gong in Hong Kong

[1] Practitioners regularly stage sit-ins, hold public meditation sessions, and frequent popular tourist sites to distribute literature detailing alleged human rights abuses by the mainland government.

[7][8] Since the suppression by Chinese authorities begin in July 1999, Falun Gong has retained its legal standing in Hong Kong, and practitioners there are still entitled to freely exercise their beliefs and assemble for protests, marches, and conferences.

In June 2000 and on several subsequent occasions, authorities enforced travel restrictions to prevent Falun Gong practitioners from entering the territory to stage demonstrations.

[10] He also stated that Falun Gong would not be allowed to “abuse Hong Kong’s freedoms and tolerance,” and called its protests against the Beijing government “unacceptable.”[1] In the spring of 2001, security agents from China's Ministry of Public Security began arriving in Hong Kong to monitor Falun Gong activities in advance of a visit by Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who was also the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.

Stephen Chan, a Catholic priest, said “the government is damaging the reputation of a group of people who have broken no laws.”[5] Officials’ stance toward Falun Gong began to soften as the March 2002 elections for chief executive approached, as politicians were eager to show that “One Country, Two Systems” remained intact.

The bill was withdrawn after a July 2003 protest that drew approximately 350,000 to 700,000 Hong Kong citizens, thereby ensuring that Falun Gong practitioners would still have the right to assemble.

[citation needed] Beginning in late 2000, there have seen several instances in which Hong Kong authorities barred Falun Gong practitioners from entering the territory to participate in demonstrations, conferences, and other events.

[13] The Hong Kong Association of Falun Gong applied for a judicial review of the event, setting off a six-year human rights case that tested the integrity of the one country, two systems arrangement.

[18][19] In 2010, Hong Kong immigration officials denied visas to several production staff with the Falun Gong-affiliated Shen Yun dance company, which was scheduled to perform in January 2010.