CBC News: Ottawa to investigate Falun Gong complaints

OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley says his department will investigate allegations that Chinese diplomats have threatened Canadian followers of the Falun Gong spiritual movement. A group of Falun Gong members accuse Chinese consular officials of using threatening phone calls and letters to harass and intimidate them. At a news conference on Wednesday they said they've been the target of a systematic campaign of "direct interference, threat, intimidation, and assault by Chinese foreign officials right here in Canada." Rocco Galati, the lawyer for Falun Gong of Canada says, "The general substance of the threat is "you have family in China. We would hate for something bad to happen to you or your family." The Falun Gong movement has attracted millions of followers in China during the past 10 years with its combination of meditation, exercise [...]. China has been cracking down on Falun Gong since 1999, when it banned the group, calling it a public menace and a threat to Communist party rule. Human rights groups says hundreds of followers have been arrested, tortured and sent to labour camps. Manley says he's seen no evidence of harassment in Canada, and has no plans to lodge a formal complaint. "We don't call in ambassadors because somebody writes a letter," he said. But he promised to look into the allegations. PM pressured to raise issue And there is pressure on the prime minister to raise the issue during his trade trip to China, which starts on Friday. Jean Chretien will lead more than 600 businesspeople on a nine-day trade trip - the biggest Team Canada mission ever. New Democrat MP Svend Robinson says the mission has to be about more than just trade. "Jean Chretien as prime minister must speak out clearly and publicly on behalf of Canadians, voicing our deep concern about the deterioration of human rights; certainly on the peaceful practice of Falun Gong." The human rights group Amnesty International is also demanding that Chretien speak out, saying not only has China's human rights record not improved, it has sharply deteriorated. Chretien has promised to talk about human rights, but says there's only so much he can do. "We raise the problem and we engage the dialogue," he said. "You know, we're not running China. They are running China."