HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong has thrown out two American followers of China's banned Falun Gong spiritual movement ahead of a visit by Chinese President Jiang Zemin, a Hong Kong-based rights group said.
U.S. passport holders Li Xiaobin and Xu Zhenmei were put on a flight to New York Sunday afternoon after being refused entry when they arrived Saturday night, the Information Center for Human Rights & Democracy said.
The government was not immediately available for comment.
Hong Kong authorities had been expected to put stricter curbs on the group ahead of Jiang's visit for a huge gathering of business and political leaders in the territory that begins on Tuesday.
Vilified and banned on mainland China, the Falun Gong is legal in Hong Kong.
But many political observers say the group's protest plans at the conference could present the toughest test yet to Hong Kong's promised freedom since Britain handed it back to China in July 1997.
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U.S. passport holders Li Xiaobin and Xu Zhenmei were put on a flight to New York Sunday afternoon after being refused entry when they arrived Saturday night, the Information Center for Human Rights & Democracy said.
The government was not immediately available for comment.
Hong Kong authorities had been expected to put stricter curbs on the group ahead of Jiang's visit for a huge gathering of business and political leaders in the territory that begins on Tuesday.
Vilified and banned on mainland China, the Falun Gong is legal in Hong Kong.
But many political observers say the group's protest plans at the conference could present the toughest test yet to Hong Kong's promised freedom since Britain handed it back to China in July 1997.
Want to learn more? http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=world&Repository=WORLD_REP&RepositoryStoryID=%2Fnews%2FIDS%2FWorld%2FINTERNATIONAL-RIGHTS-HONGKONG-DC_TXT.XML
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