BEIJING - China on Thursday denied a claim by Falun Gong that the group is suing Chinese President Jiang Zemin in a U.S. court, saying the outlawed movement was merely trying to disrupt Jiang's visit this week to the United States.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao accused the spiritual movement of inventing the claim, saying Falun Gong, which boasts thousands of members in the United States, "has a lying character." China's government banned Falun Gong as an "evil cult," and has detained thousands of its members in China.
"It is a trick by Falun Gong to make fabrications and deceive the press," Liu said in answer to a question at a regularly scheduled ministry news conference.
"Falun Gong devotees attempt to use this kind of trick to interfere with the top Chinese leaders and undermine relations with the relevant countries," he said.
News reports on the lawsuit "do not comply with fact," he said.
When asked whether he was denying the lawsuit had been filed and that Jiang's entourage was served with papers he said: "I think your understanding is right."
A lawyer for Falun Gong in the United States said the lawsuit against Jiang was filed Oct. 18. Terri E. Marsh said a notice of the lawsuit was delivered to the Chinese leader's guards at his Chicago hotel on Tuesday.
The lawsuit names Jiang and an office it alleges the Chinese president helped create to carry out "a systemic campaign of persecution, torture, and genocide against Falun Gong."
Marsh said the lawsuit was filed under a law allowing U.S. courts to hear cases against foreigners accused of human rights abuses or violations of international law abroad. She said U.S. District Judge William J. Hibbler in Chicago is handling the suit, which asks for unspecified financial damages and for the federal court in Chicago to prohibit Jiang from committing future abuses.
Court officials in Chicago could not immediately be reached for comment.
Hundreds of Falun Gong supporters have been among groups protesting Jiang's visit.
The group had attracted millions of followers with its mix of slow-motion exercises and teachings drawn from Buddhism, Taoism and the doctrines of its founder, a former Chinese government clerk.
Thousands of members have been detained. Most are released after a few weeks, but activists say more than 500 have been killed. Chinese officials deny mistreating anyone, though they say some detainees have died during hunger strikes or from refusing medical attention.
China calls Falun Gong a threat to public safety and communist rule, accusing its teachings of causing some 1,600 deaths by suicide, murder and refusal to accept modern medicine.