Falun Gong claims tens of millions of members in China alone. The authorities were alarmed as much by the large number of people that subscribed to the movement, said to exceed membership in the Communist Party, as by the fact that among them were many current and former officials. Earlier this summer, the Beijing Daily blamed the credulity of some party leaders for the sect's popularity. On Thursday, some 30 Falun Gong followers said members had been arrested, beaten and tortured by police authorities. The new law, if adopted by the legislature, would effectively curb all ''heretic cults'', like the Falun Gong.
Analysts say China's leaders are seriously worried by the recent explosion of popular religions.
Millenarian rumors and movements have been flourishing in the countryside, with many doomsday cults predicting the world's end. In some underground Christian churches, believers are reading Nostradamus and waiting for the apocalypse. The first victim of the anti-cult crackdown was a religious cult leader in Xiangtan, Hunan province, who was accused of raping 13 women and preaching the end of the world and who was executed this month. In another case, three public health officials in Dahua, Guangxi province, were sacked for inviting a Taoist monk to hold a witchcraft-style ceremony at the opening of a medical training centre. The ceremony included incantations against evil spirits, sacrificial offerings of a pig's head and chicken flesh, and the monk walking from room to room ringing bells and offering libations.