U.S. and Hong Kong (2002)

State Department Noon Briefing Transcript

Following is the State Department transcript:

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U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing
Monday, August 12, 2002
1:30 P.M. EST

BRIEFER: Philip T. Reeker, Spokesman

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

QUESTION: The issue of Falun Gong becomes and more international with the pressure from Beijing. And now the Hong Kong police, under the pressure of Beijing Liaison Office, are going to put 16 Falun Gong practitioners on trial. And more recently, Cambodian Government deported two Falun Gong practitioners to China for not having UN authority certificates. And also in New Zealand and Iceland, the government also feel the pressure from Beijing.

So my question is the US Government also got pressure from Beijing, or what do you think about that?

MR. REEKER: I'm not exactly quite sure what your question is asking. We have been very clear about our concerns in terms of human rights and the opportunity to practice free speech and freedom of religion and freedom to practice one's beliefs. That hasn't changed. We have written about this in our Human Rights Report.

In terms of those specific instances you raise, I'm not sure that I have particular information on those. It's something I would have to check into.

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

(The briefing was concluded at 2:05 p.m.)

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