Associated Press
BEIJING — Protesting to draw attention to China’s brutal crackdown on the Falun Gong spiritual movement, two dozen Westerners chanted slogans and unfurled a banner Tuesday on Tiananmen Square, the first Falun Gong demonstration to involve Westerners exclusively.
They were quickly hustled away by police as hundreds of surprised Chinese looked on. State media said they would be expelled from the country.
The men and women, most in their 20s and 30s, initially looked like tourists, talking among themselves and taking photographs. But then they sat down together, legs crossed, eyes closed and hands pressed as if in prayer. "Purge the evil," some chanted in Chinese.
Police vans quickly encircled the protesters. After brief resistance, police loaded them onto vans and drove away. The incident lasted 10 minutes.
State television said 35 foreigners were detained.
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