Hong Kong, China - Supporters of a religious organization banned in China as an evil sect were forced to cancel an international conference in Hong Kong Friday amid accusations of mainland interference.
Participants from all over the world, including a Canadian legislator, had gathered in this southern Chinese territory for the forum, which was to debate human rights and political issues in China.
An hour before the first guest speaker was to take the stand, however, organizers from The Epoch Times newspaper were told the hotel ballroom they'd booked weeks in advance was unavailable.
"They gave us no warning and would not find an alternative room for us," said the Epoch Times Amy Chu. "They would not help."
The Falungong mixes martial arts and meditation in a creed that claims to have thousands of believers in China. Beijing authorities have branded it a counter-revolutionary threat and banned it on the mainland.
Although it is not banned in Hong Kong, a former British colony ruled by China since 1997, sect leaders fear followers are discriminated against by authorities under pressure from China.
One of the invited speakers, right-wing Canadian MP Rob Anders, accused local authorities of giving in to pressure from Beijing.
"I had heard of this sort of intimidation from China but now I have seen it with my own eyes," Anders fumed.
"By caving into this sort of intimidation Hong Kong people are jeopardizing their own freedoms," he added.
Staff at Hong Kong's Conrad Hotel, where the meeting was to take place, told organizers the room was unsuitable because it had suffered water damage.
A spokeswoman would not comment on the incident and the resident manager was unavailable.
After the cancellation, however, three security staff were posted at the ballroom's locked doors preventing an Agence France-Presse reporter from inspecting the room.
Guests eventually gathered for their debate in a park across the road from the hotel.
Former legislator Szeto Wah, a veteran figurehead of a movement calling for democratic reforms in Hong Kong, was also due to speak.
"The hotel said its reputation would have been hurt if it had let us use a wet ballroom, but this has done far worse damage to the reputation of the hotel and Hong Kong," Szeto told a hastily arranged press conference in one of the hotel guest rooms.
The Falungong says thousands of its worshippers have been jailed or tortured in China.
In Hong Kong four practitioners are appealing against their deportation in 2003 when scores of believers from Taiwan were prevented from entering the city.