Thursday January 11, 2001

China's release of Kunlun Zhang, a Canadian citizen imprisoned for practising the spiritual meditation of Falun Gong movement, is a small victory in the quest for improved human rights in China. The emphasis is on the word small.

For Mr. Zhang is just one of tens of thousands of Falun Gong adherents who have been sent to be "re-educated" in labour camps since China declared the movement an illegal [slanderous word] in 1999. As many as 74 Falun Gong practitioners have died while in custody, with many more subjected to beatings and other forms of torture.

Mr. Zhang most probably would have languished in his labour camp for the full three years of his sentence had it not been for two things: his Canadian citizenship and the Team Canada trade mission scheduled to arrive in China next month, led by Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

Public opposition in Canada to Mr. Zhang's imprisonment had been growing steadily, particularly after his daughter, LingDi, a student at the University of Ottawa, began publicizing his plight. Several members of Parliament, including at least two Liberal backbench MPs - Ottawa West-Nepean's Marlene Catterall and Mount Royal's Irwin Cotler - urged the prime minister to use the trade mission as leverage with China to secure Mr. Zhang's release.

Although the Chinese claim Mr. Zhang has been released because his "re-education" had been achieved sooner than expected, it is clear his continued detention risked overshadowing next month's trade mission.

No doubt Canadian officials used much behind-the-scenes "quiet diplomacy" to arrange Mr. Zhang release. That's good, but it would be a mistake to conclude that Canada can now lift the pressure on China to end its repression of the thousands of other Falun Gong followers still imprisoned.

The end of Mr. Zhang's ordeal is just the first step on a very long road toward better respect for human rights in China.