MONTREAL, Jun 22, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) Beijing has freed a Chinese Canadian resident who is a Falun Gong practitioner, after arresting her on May 10, a spokeswoman for Falun Gong announced Thursday.

Ying Zhu, 35, was arrested by Chinese authorities as she returned to Canton, southern China, to visit her ailing mother. Beijing only confirmed the arrest two weeks after it happened.

"Ying regained her freedom without notice and returned to Montreal at 1:00 am this morning (0500 GMT). She is very tired," Canadian Falun Gong spokeswoman Cindy Gu said in a telephone conversation with AFP.

The woman is due to meet with reporters Friday in Montreal, where "she will express her sincere thanks to the many Canadian people who supported the strong campaign that led to her release," Gu said.

Ottawa was unable to confirm Ying's release.

"We have heard nothing to the effect that she had been freed or that she had left China," said Reynald Doiron, a spokesman for the Canadian Foreign Affairs Ministry.

After Ying was arrested, Ottawa asked the Canadian consul in Canton to intervene on her behalf. "We can only rely on the cooperation of Chinese authorities, because she doesn't have Canadian citizenship," a ministry spokeswoman said at the time.

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