January 3, 2001

A Canadian follower of falun gong imprisoned in China has been moved to a "more severe" labour camp where he is in greater peril, activists in Canada said yesterday.

"The place is very famous. In China it's called 'Hell on Earth,'" said Lingdi Zhang of the Shang-Dong No.1 labour camp, to which she believes her father, Kunlun Zhang was moved during the holiday season.

While Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs is trying to confirm whether such a move took place, a group of Canadian falun gong practitioners, which is lobbying for Mr. Zhang's release, says the prison change makes his plight dire.

Lucy Zhou, a spokeswoman for the group, said the ShangDong No.1 labour camp also called the WangCun labour camp will inflict more severe punishments on Mr. Zhang, who is refusing to disavow his belief in falun gong, a meditation movement that the Chinese Communist government regards as a dangerous cult.

International human-rights group Amnesty International estimates that 77 falun gong practitioners have died in custody or shortly after their release 17 in the ShangDong province where Mr. Zhang is imprisoned.

The group also said Mr. Zhang's detention is the first time a foreigner has been jailed rather than deported for practising falun gong.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Reynald Doiron said Canada is trying to confirm whether such a move took place Mr. Zhang entered China with his Chinese passport, so the Chinese government regards him as one of its citizens.

Ms. Zhang said yesterday her father used his Chinese passport in 1996 because he was hurrying to visit his ailing mother. Mr. Zhang remained in China because he could not find a suitable person to look after his mother, and he took a job at the Shangdong Universit of Art, Ms. Zhang said. His wife joined him while his daughter stayed in Canada and went to university.