An Argentine federal judge has on Dec 17 asked Interpol to issue an arrest warrant against former Chinese president Jiang Zemin and former security chief Luo Gan after four years of investigating charges of torture and genocide against Falun Gong practitioners. China has condemned the ruling, saying this was not the first time such order has been issued against its leaders. Its Foreign Ministry said Dec 24 that such overseas court rulings that support Falun Gong were hurting China's relations with those countries.

"Falun Gong has been legally recognised as a cult by the Chinese government," the report quoted Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu as saying in a faxed response. "Falun Gong's scheme to use foreign court proceedings to bring false charges hurts China's relations with the relevant countries, and this plot of false charges cannot succeed."

China has jailed or sentenced thousands of Chinese citizens for practicing the Falun Gong’s unique breathing exercise amid allegations that the vital organs of those executed had been channeled into the black market.

Falun Gong has brought similar cases against Jiang, Luo and other Chinese officials in France, Spain and elsewhere.