JAKNEWS.COM---Several hundred Falungong activists marched through central Hong Kong on Sunday (31/1) to protest a decision by city immigration officials to deny visas for several members of a Falungong-linked dance troupe.

The Falungong sect, which is banned in China, said that Beijing was behind the visa decision earlier this month which forced organisers to cancel the New York-based dance company's sold-out tour.

Critics say it is fresh evidence of China's increasing influence over the Asian financial hub, a former British colony transferred back to Chinese rule in 1997.

Hong Kong has recently seen street protests as activists call for direct elections as early as 2012, sparking the ire of Beijing, which said universal suffrage must wait until at least 2017.

Kan Hung-cheung, chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Falun Dafa, said the march Sunday was largely aimed at "protecting the future of Hong Kong."

"We're on the brink of losing more and more freedoms here," Kan told AFP, adding that his group may take legal action against the city's government.

China outlawed Falungong -- a spiritual movement loosely based on Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian philosophies -- in 1999 as "an evil cult" following a silent mass gathering in Beijing by its members, who often report brutal repression.
 

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