AFP: Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioner claims he was set-up in China

Wednesday, 29-Oct-2003 4:20AMáááá?Story from AFP

TAIPEI, Oct 29 (AFP) - A Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioner who was jailed for almost three weeks on a trip to China, on Wednesday accused the Chinese government of setting him up.

Lin Hsiao-kai, 29, who became involved with the Falun Gong three years ago, said he was lured to Shanghai by a Chinese man who pretended to be a member of the banned [group]. The man also asked Lin to bring some information about the organisation to the mainland with him.

Lin said he travelled to Shanghai, carrying some information on Falun Gong in his lap-top computer, on September 30.

"But the more I talked to him the more I found he was not a Falun Gong [practitioner]," Lin told reporters, one day after he was released and returned to Taiwan.

Lin said he was detained by Chinese authorities for 20 days beginning on October 8.

"I was not tortured in the jail... but they questioned me about everything including how many Falun Gong articles I had written... The way they questioned me was terrifying," he said.

Lin said his detention "had led to a huge mental damage to me."

Chen Shu-ya, Lin's wife, said her husband had become nervous and suspicious after his trip to the mainland.

Lin said he had become so suspicious by the time he returned to Taipei on Tuesday that he was afraid of going home and stayed overnight at a local hotel.

"The first sentence I uttered when I met my wife yesterday was 'Can I trust you?" he said.

Lin said Chinese officials also warned him against speaking out against his detention and told him they could "easily find me in Taiwan."

China outlawed Falun Gong [...] in mid-1999 and practitioners have subsequently faced often brutal repression.

At least 1,600 Falun Gong followers have been killed, 500 others illegally sentenced, 20,000 sent to re-education (forced labor camps-ed.) and 100,000 arrested and jailed, according to the [group].

It is not clear how many Falun Gong followers there are in Taiwan, but Chang Ching-hsi, head of Taiwan's Falun Gong group said the group has been expanding at a rapid pace and [there are] now estimated to be about 300,000 [practitioners].

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http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/bl/Qtaiwan-china-sect.Rowl_DOT.html