TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- Taiwanese supporters of the Falun Gong meditation sect traveled to Hong Kong on Monday, preparing to protest while Chinese President Jiang Zemin attends an international economic meeting.
Hong Kong authorities have in the past detained Falun Gong activists at the airport, but Taiwanese members who arrived early Monday said they cleared immigration without any problems.
"Everything went smoothly," said Justine Huang, who led a group of 15 members.
At least 110 Taiwanese were to fly to Hong Kong on five different flights on Monday, and they planned to protest while Jiang speaks at the Global Fortune Forum on Tuesday, the group's news release said.
Hong Kong police have said that the group would be granted permission to stage a rally of 250 people. But Falun Gong supporters have complained they will be kept at the opposite side of the harbor where Jiang will be attending the forum.
"We want to use peaceful methods to urge Jiang Zemin to respect international human rights, stop destroying Falun Gong, release practitioners jailed on mainland China and clear our names," the news release said.
Former President Clinton will also attend the three-day event.
Falun Gong followers believe the group's slow-motion meditation exercises and Taoist- and Buddhist-influenced teachings promote health and good citizenship.
But China's government, which is extremely suspicious of large groups that might challenge its power, has banned Falun Gong. However, it is still permitted with some restrictions in Hong Kong -- where citizens enjoy Western-style freedoms of speech and religion that are holdovers from British colonial days.
But the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said that U.S. citizens and Falun Gong activists Li Xiaobin and Xu Zhenmei were detained at the Hong Kong airport over the weekend.
Director of Immigration Ambrose Lee denied that the government has blacklisted Falun Gong followers.
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