Sect Defies Ban; 300 Reported Held

Members of a popular meditation group are defying a 2-month-old ban by the Chinese government, prompting a renewed wave of arrests. Police in nine cities have detained at least 300 practitioners of Falun Gong in the past week, 10 of them in a park in Changsha, a southern provincial capital, the Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China reported. While most are being held for five to 15 days, police are beating and mistreating those Falun Gong followers who insist on continuing their banned practice in prison, the group said. Falun Gong teaches a blend of Buddhist and Taoist ideals and slow-motion exercises that are supposed to promote health and morality. It has drawn an estimated 60 million followers worldwide.