BEIJING (Reuters) - China Friday denounced the Falun Gong spiritual movement for "stirring up trouble" on Tiananmen Square in central Beijing and expelled 53 Western members detained over a protest a day earlier.
At least 14 others were picked up ahead of the Tiananmen protest, a Falun Gong spokeswoman said in New York. China's state media put the total number of detained Falun Gong members at 59.
It was the latest in a string of demonstrations by foreign members of Falun Gong, who have taken up the cause as protests by Chinese members dwindled amid an intense security and propaganda campaign during the past two years.
"Falun Gong sent foreigners to China to stir up trouble and preach about the evil cult, attempting to undermine the peaceful atmosphere of the Chinese people's joyful Spring Festival and disturb social security," Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said in a statement.
The square erupted briefly into chaos as hundreds of police chased Western protesters and loaded them into police vans. Chinese tourists, sightseeing during the Lunar New Year holidays, looked on astonished.
A Falun Gong spokeswoman in New York said the 14 others were detained in their hotel rooms in Beijing ahead of the protests, which aimed to "expose the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong in China."
China banned the group as an "evil cult" in 1999. Kong said the incident exposed the group's "evil nature."
EXPELLED
The official Xinhua news agency said 53 people from 12 countries had been expelled by 6 p.m. (5 a.m. EST) Friday but did not specify the countries from which they came.
Six others who refused to reveal their nationalities or present identification were detained by Beijing police for investigation, Xinhua quoted sources as saying.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman earlier said 33 of the foreigners were American and all of them had been expelled from China.
In Washington, a U.S. official said 29 of the Americans were on their way to Detroit and four were probably going to Canada.
U.S. officials will meet the Americans on arrival to ask them how they were treated in China, the official added.
A list of protesters released by the group in the United States included two from Poland, one from New Zealand, two from Romania, two from Sweden, four from Britain and one from Brazil.
Western embassy officials said seven German and five Canadian nationals had been involved. Four British members of the movement were deported Thursday.
It was the second demonstration this week by Western Falun Gong members in Tiananmen. Security on the square was extraordinarily tight, with police checking foreigners' identity papers and searching bags.
China expelled a Canadian and an American follower of the movement Tuesday, a day after they protested in the square.
In November, China expelled 35 foreign Falun Gong members after they protested on the square and another Canadian woman for a Falun Gong protest there last month.
CHINESE PROTESTS DWINDLE
Once-frequent protests by Chinese members of Falun Gong have all but dried up in the past year.
Their cause was dealt a blow on the eve of the Lunar New Year last year, when five alleged Falun Gong members set themselves ablaze in the square. A 12-year-old girl and her mother died of their injuries.
Falun Gong has denied any involvement.
But the government used graphic footage of the incident in a nationwide media campaign to discredit the group. It has also jailed leaders for subversion and sent thousands to "re-education through labor" camps, according to Falun Gong and rights groups.
Falun Gong says more than 1,600 followers have died as a result of abuse in police custody or detention centers.
The government says only a handful have died and those were from suicide or natural causes. It blames Falun Gong for the deaths of at least 1,900 people through suicide or refusing medical treatment.