Participants all expressed their concern about the recent suicide blaze that occurred at Tian'anmen Square and their support to the move of the central government to crack down on the cult.

Liu Shanzai, deputy director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), said a number of facts have fully shown the evil essence of the Falun Gong cult and its serious damage to the society.

To date, some 1,600 Falun Gong practitioners died of the practice of the cult and some 651 suffered from mental disorder, he said.

The crackdown on the cult by the central government in accordance with law maintained the fundamental interests of the people, he said, adding that the move has not only win support from the people from all walks of life in the nation, but also got extensive understanding from the international community.

Liu reiterated that no one will be allowed to make Hong Kong a center for the Falun Gong cult or a base for subverting the central government and damaging the principle of "one country, two systems" and Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.

Tsang Hin-chi, a member of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, said Falun Gong is by no means a real health exercise, but an anti-government organization with its political purpose.

He said there is no health exercise like the Falun Gong, which makes its practitioners to deliver propaganda pamphlets and chant anti-government slogans.

It is quite a reasonable and wise decision for the central government to stop the activities of the Falun Gong cult in the country and expose its wickedness to the people, he noted.

Zhou Jie, vice-president of the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association, pointed out that the Falun Gong cult is not merely an evil organization, but a political tool of some anti-China forces in the West to "Westernize" and "divide" the country.

The combat against the Falun Gong cult is a serious political struggle related to the fate of the state, she added.

The forum was hosted by the Hong Kong-based newspaper Wen Wei Po. Zhang Guoliang, president of the Wen Wei Po, said many Hong Kong residents have lacked enough understanding about the Falun Gong cult till the recent bloody facts exposed the wickedness of the cult.

He believed the forum would be a good chance for the participants to make a deep analysis of the necessity and importance of cracking down on the Falun Gong cult, from the aspects of science, religion, history and society, and the "one country, two systems" principle as well.

It will be much helpful to Wen Wei Po readers and the community to get a better view of the fraudulence and damage of the cult to maintain the prosperity of Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, he added.

(Xinhuanet 02/09/2001)