The Trinity College postgraduate student held in a camp in China for the last two years for "re-education through labour" because of his membership in the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement was released yesterday.

Mr Zhao Ming was met by family members when he left the Tuan He Farm Labour Camp in Daxing County, north of Beijing, early yesterday morning.

He spent last night with relatives in the city.

Sources close to Mr Zhao said he was very weak and could hardly lift anything but that his mental state was strong.

No application was made by Mr Zhao to the Irish Embassy in Beijing up to late last night for a visa to return to Ireland, and it is not known what his immediate plans are.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in Beijing confirmed to The Irish Times that his "treatment" was complete and he had finished his "re-education".

She said the Chinese government would not be putting any obstacles in the way of Mr Zhao leaving the country if he so wished.

He was free to go through the procedures, she added.

Thousands of Falun Gong members are being held in re-education camps in China, and there are reports of tortures and even deaths of detainees.

Mr Zhao's release came after a high-profile campaign in Ireland by the Falun Gong movement and Trinity College students.

His detention was raised by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, with the Chinese Premier, Mr Zhu Rongji, during his visit to Ireland last September.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, also raised the matter with his Chinese counterpart during a visit to Beijing last month. During the meeting Mr Cowen was given assurances about Mr Zhao's release.

A spokesman for the Minister last night welcomed news of the release. He said the Irish Embassy in Beijing was ready to process any visa application made by Mr Zhao to return to Ireland.

Mr Zhao was arrested after travelling home to Beijing during the Trinity College Christmas holiday in December 1999.

He was placed under house arrest and had his passport taken, preventing him from returning to Ireland to resume his studies.

He broke house arrest to attend a rally in Tiananmen Square and then went into hiding.

He was not heard of until May 2000, when it was reported he had been detained without trial in the Tuan He Farm Labour Camp for his involvement in the Falun Gong movement.

Falun Gong claims it has received reports from fellow detainees that Mr Zhao was tortured in the labour camp. It was claimed that on one occasion he was beaten by more than 10 people on the ankles and knees with wooden sticks and was unable to speak properly for two weeks afterwards.

Falun Gong was outlawed in July 1999 after 10,000 members marched on the Chinese leaders' compound, Zhongnanhai, demanding official recognition. The Chinese government says Falun Gong is an [Jiang's regime's slandeous words] and has been waging a massive propaganda war against the movement in the last year.

Joe Humphreys writes: Irish campaigners against the imprisonment of Mr Zhao have welcomed the news of his release.

Mr Jim Dowling, spokesman for Friends of Zhao Ming, a campaign group set up two years ago after the arrest of the Trinity College student, said: "We are all delighted, although we won't be able to rest easy until we see Ming himself back in Ireland."

Mr Dowling, a Trinity lecturer who studied with Mr Zhao, described his release as "the end of a long road. We'll be having a big party to mark his return".

The campaign group comprised mainly members of the TCD Students' Union (SU), Graduate Students' Union (GSU) and Amnesty International, along with Falun Gong practitioners in Ireland.

It organised several public rallies and letter-writing campaigns whereby more than 2,000 appeals were sent to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Chinese officials in Dublin, Beijing and at the farm labour camp where Mr Zhao was detained.

"It belies the myth that students are a cynical, jaded bunch who are uninterested," said Mr Dowling. "This shows that if something resonates with the student body they get involved."