HK Tung Says Falun Gong Evokes Jonestown Suicide - News about religious cults and sects

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa said the recent public suicide attempt by alleged members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement in central Beijing reminded him of the Jonestown mass cult suicide in 1978.

In the clearest sign to date that Hong Kong may enact laws to curb the group, he added: ``We have to protect our own people and system and we cannot afford to wait for a Jonestown-type incident before acting.''

Tung made his comments in an interview with Arnaud de Borchgrave of the Washington Times and United Press International (UPI) published on Monday.

The two groups are owned by News World Communications, set up by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, whose Unification Church has been accused of being a cult.

Tung said of Falun Gong: ``It's a bit of a cult. Many have been willing to die for it and I was shocked to see cultists willing to burn themselves on Tiananmen Square.''

He was referring to an apparent suicide attempt by alleged Falun Gong members in January. A mother and her daughter, 12, died after the incident.

``It is eerily reminiscent of the Jonestown mass suicide in Guyana...That too was a mix of cult and politics. Obviously we're watching them very carefully here,'' Tung said.

More than 900 disciples of the American Reverend James Jones drank cyanide-laced Cool-Aid at his Jonestown colony in Guyana in South America in what may be the largest mass suicide in history.

Falun Gong, which claims millions of followers in more than 40 countries, denies such fanaticism and says it is a peaceful spiritual group being persecuted ruthlessly by Beijing.

The presence of Falun Gong activists in Hong Kong has posed Tung with one of his toughest challenges: pleasing Beijing while protecting the territory's special freedoms within China.
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Curiously, Tung gave his interview on Falun Gong to two news groups owned by News World Communications Inc, which is linked to Sun Myung Moon. Moon's followers, sometimes called ``Moonies,'' have been accused of cult-like activities.

Tung said China's banning of the Falun Gong and crackdown on members would not be a factor in Hong Kong's decision.
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Tung dismissed media criticism of Hong Kong's decision to deport Falun Gong members ahead of Jiang's visit to attend an international economic forum in the territory.

``We have every right to bar people who come into Hong kong solely to demonstrate and disrupt or disturb an important international economic forum,'' he said.
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