China Reportedly Sends 500 in Sect to Camps

Authorities have sentenced more than 500 people to labor camps in the latest crackdown on the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, a human rights group reported Sunday.

The Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China reported that the sentences were handed down to Falun Gong members from Hebei, a northern province bordering Beijing. It cited unidentified sources.

The Chinese government banned Falun Gong in July. Authorities have decided to use labor camp sentences to punish group members who continue to meet secretly or travel to Beijing to protest the ban, the center said, citing an official it did not identify.

Only a small minority of high-profile Falun Gong members are likely to stand trial because too many trials would risk international condemnation, the group said. Chinese police have the authority to send citizens to labor camps without trial for up to three years.

Falun Gong combines traditional meditation exercises with Buddhism, Taoism and the often unorthodox ideas of its founder, ex-government clerk Li Hongzhi. In seven years, Li, who now lives in New York, claims to have built a worldwide following of 100 million, most of them in China.