The Chinese authorities raised a protest Wednesday over the adoption of a bill by the US House of Representatives asking China to stop "persecution" of Falun Gong practioners.

Leaders of the National People's Congress (NPC) Foreign Affairs Office and of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Foreign Affairs Office as well as Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan expressed their indignation over the bill, which ignores the crimes committed by the cult and openly supports the cult.

The bill says that the ban of Falun Gong by the Chinese Government violates the Chinese Constitution.

Remarks by the NPC Foreign Affairs Office and the CPPCC Foreign Affairs Office and the Foreign Ministry spokesman refuted the bill as being drafted with ulterior motives and malicious intent.

Falun Gong stipulates that its members cannot go to doctors when they fall ill, and as a result 1,700 practioners have died.

Facts explicitly show that Falun Gong is a cult, and a ban of a cult by the Chinese Government is not only in line with the Chinese Constitution, but also in line with the international convention on citizens' rights and political rights.

The Chinese authorities said that the double standard applied by the US House of Representatives toward the cult will certainly be opposed by people across the world who want to see justice served against the cult.

(Xinhua News Agency July 26, 2002)