Associated Press: Falun Gong follower from Australia can' t attend show of her own artwork in Hong Kong

A Falun Gong follower from Australia who hoped to deliver an appeal on behalf of the meditation [group] at an exhibition of her artwork here said Friday she was barred from entering the territory.

Painter Zhang Cuiying, who was jailed in mainland China for Falun Gong activities, had intended to open an exhibition of her traditional Chinese-style art in Hong Kong' City Hall, the site of an earlier Falun Gong conference that sparked controversy.

Zhang, an Australian citizen, said by telephone from Sydney she had been kept out of Hong Kong when she tried to attend that conference in January 2001, and was again barred Thursday. "I' obviously on their blacklist," Zhang told The Associated Press after flying back to Sydney. "This is absolutely unacceptable for Hong Kong, which is supposed to have freedom of speech."

Zhang said her art has nothing to do with Falun Gong, but added she' hoped to voice an appeal to China to stop cracking down on the group [..]. Immigration Department spokesman K.Y. Tsui declined to comment on Zhang' s case, but said all applications for entry into Hong Kong are processed according to the law.

The exhibit of Zhang' art was organized by a U.S. publishing company, Epoch Group Ltd., which said it is not affiliated with Falun Gong although it carries writings by some of the group' followers in its Chinese-language weekly, The Epoch Times.

After the exhibit opened Friday, Hong Kong officials demanded that the organizers remove several copies of a 61-page book featuring Zhang' s paintings and her message condemning Beijing' crackdown on Falun Gong, according to the paper' chief editor, Amy Chu.

Chu, who also is a Falun Gong practitioner, said officials told her that the book was "irreverent" to the exhibit, but she said the copies were not immediately removed.

At Hong Kong' s Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which runs City Hall, spokeswoman Annissa Chan declined comment on whether officials had ordered removal of the books.

Falun Gong is legal in Hong Kong and frequently protests here against Beijing' s treatment, creating a dilemma for the territory' government, which says free speech rights are sacred but also does not wish to offend Beijing.

Zhang, 40, said immigration officials gave no reason for barring her.

Australian citizens do not require visas for Hong Kong and normally are admitted without incident, but a spokesman for the Australian consulate, Wan Wai-lun, declined comment on Zhang' case.

Zhang said 13 uniformed officers, including two with bulletproof vests, escorted her to the flight back home.

Falun Gong has complained that during each of the last two visits to Hong Kong by Chinese President Jiang Zemin, more than 100 overseas practitioners were barred from entering.