Vancouver Sun: Jailed Chinese-Canadian follower of Falun Gong returns to Canada

OTTAWA (CP) - The daughter of a Chinese-Canadian follower of Falun Gong who was jailed in China for his beliefs was overjoyed by his return to Canada on Monday, but said they now fear for her mother.

Zhang Kunlun, 59, was to arrive at an Ottawa airport late Monday after spending two months in a prison in the eastern province of Shandong. Chinese authorities released him last Wednesday after serving only part of his three-year labour camp sentence. His daughter, Zhang LindDi, said he is feeling weak because he was tortured in prison with electric shocks.

"I just can't believe it," she said from Ottawa, adding she found out at noon that her father was returning.

"It was a big surprise. When I realized it was the truth I was really happy."

Zhang LingDi said her father was not planning to make a statement to reporters Monday night partly because he is afraid the Chinese government will go after his wife, Shumei, who has remained in China to look after her 90-year-old mother.

She is also a follower of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.

"He is worried the government will do something to her," said Zhang LingDi, a student at the University of Ottawa.

"But I think it's okay for her because of the high profile" of Zhang's case, she said.

Zhang Kunlun holds dual Chinese and Canadian citizenship. He was the first Falun Gong follower with foreign citizenship that China was known to have imprisoned since banning the group 18 months ago as a public menace and threat to party rule.

Zhang immigrated to Canada in 1989, and returned to China in April 1996, using his Chinese passport. That meant, under terms of a diplomatic agreement, that China could treat Zhang as a Chinese citizen, not a Canadian.

A sculpture professor in Shandong's Jinan city, Zhang was repeatedly detained for defying the ban against Falun Gong.

He was last arrested Nov. 7, and eight days later police sentenced him without trial to a labour camp.

The Canadian government has persisted in championing his case.

It's believed China released Zhang to improve relations with Canada ahead of a Feb. 9-18 visit by Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

"I'm very grateful to the Canadian people and the Canadian government," said Zhang LingDi.

"So many people pushed for his release."

China has insisted foreign pressure played no role in Zhang's release, saying the professor was released after promising to sever ties with Falun Gong.

Zhang LingDi, who is also a follower, said her father told her that was a lie in phone conversation last week.

She said her father will be staying with her in Ottawa. She's not sure whether he'll return to China. If he does, she's afraid he will be detained again.

"For sure he will be arrested," she said. "If they arrest him three times, they can arrest (him) a fourth time."

She said she doesn't know whether her mother will return to Canada.

"She hasn't tried (to return)," said Zhang LingDi. "I don't know if the China government will allow her to come back."

The Falun Gong movement attracted millions of followers during the 1990s with a mix of meditation, slow-motion exercises and a hybrid philosophy drawn from Taoism, Buddhism and the ideas of its founder, Li Hongzhi.

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Followers say 122 Falun Gong followers have died in police custody since the crackdown began.

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