BEIJING, Sep 28, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) A detained follower of the banned Falun Gong spiritual [group] has died in China of respiratory failure after suspected force-feeding, the group's U.S.-based headquarters said Wednesday.

Chen Aizhong, 33, died on September 20 at a hospital in Tangshan city, in the northern province of Hebei, the Falun Dafa Information Center said in a press release.

It said Chen, from Zhangjiakou in Hebei, had served just one week of a three-year sentence at Tangshan Labor Camp when he died.

Tangshan Labor Camp refused to comment on the case. An official at the People's Hospital in the city told AFP a Falun Gong follower had died of respiratory failure, but could not confirm the name.

The Information Center said it believed Chen had died from the effects of force-feeding after going on hunger strike, adding this had been behind the deaths of other followers of the spiritual group previously.

Chen's death brings to 286 the number of Falun Gong followers who have died in detention since the group was outlawed as an "[Jiang Zemin government's slanderous term omitted]" just over two years ago, the Center said

Independent human rights groups have put the toll at more than 150.

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