HK Falun Gong on hunger strike

HONG KONG, China -- The Falun Gong spiritual movement has launched a hunger strike in Hong Kong to show support for other followers jailed in mainland China.

Dressed in their trademark yellow T-shirts, the hunger strikers, all Hong Kong residents, began the protest at the Chinese Liaison Office in Hong Kong around 9 a.m. (0100 GMT), witnesses say.

A Falun Gong spokeswoman said some of the hunger strikers would remain outside the building through the night.

"Some of the hunger strikers are refusing to drink water or take food, and other practitioners might step in later to take the place of those who cannot physically go on striking," said Fiona Chan, a Falun Gong spokeswoman in Hong Kong.

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The Hong Kong action was in support of about 300 members on hunger strikes in several Chinese labor camps, according to a Falun Gong statement.

Chan said the number of hunger strikers would be kept at about 10. The police were not immediately available for comment, but local television showed a few officers videotaping the protest, and one or two others standing nearby.

Falun Gong has been labelled by Beijing as an 'evil cult' but it is legal in Hong Kong, a former British colony promised a high degree of autonomy when it reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.

The movement says more than 50,000 practitioners have been thrown into prisons, labor camps and mental hospitals around China where they are mentally and physically abused.

Human rights groups estimate some 200 Falun Gong members have died from torture during detention in China.

Chinese authorities have acknowledged several deaths in custody, but attributed most to suicide or illness.

Beijing has said 150 prominent members have been jailed, mostly for "using a cult for obstructing justice" but has been silent on the numbers sent for "reform through labor" punishment that does not require a judicial trial.