VANCOUVER - A Falun Gong follower says an unprovoked attack that sent him to hospital Thursday with facial injuries won't keep him away from the spiritual group's protest in front of the Chinese consulate in Vancouver.

Raymond Zhang, 33, a chemistry technician with a bruised face and bloody left eye, declared Friday that he and other Falun Gong practitioners would continue the 24-hour vigil that began almost six years ago.

"They won't stop me this way," said Zhang, who didn't recognize the three men who attacked him.

Zhang, who immigrated to Canada in 2003, goes to the Vancouver protest site once a week. When the attack occurred at about 5:30 a.m. Thursday, he was the sole protester there.

One of his jobs was to keep watch over the half-block-long array of banners that accuse China of human rights violations, torture and murder, allegations denied by the Chinese government.

Early Thursday, Zhang looked out from a wooden shelter when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

He saw a young Asian man in a white T-shirt tear down a Falun Gong photograph and attempt to remove a banner. Two other men -- also Asian and in their early 20s -- followed. Zhang said the man in the T-shirt confronted him with a handgun. Zhang said he heard the click of a trigger several times but, no bullets came out.

"He pointed it to my left temple and yelled at me," Zhang said.

"He then used his fist to punch my face and eyes," Zhang said. "Then two other guys joined him and the three of them started punching my face."

Zhang said the attack stopped when a TransLink bus stopped in front of the protest site.

Vancouver police Const. Howard Chow said officers and a police dog tried to find the three suspects but were unsuccessful. Chow said police have interviewed an independent witness who saw the attack.

The Vancouver Sun called the Chinese consulate and requested an interview with Tian Chunyan, the consulate-general in Vancouver, but no representatives responded or issued a statement.

In March, the wife of a Chinese diplomat defected to Canada and accused Beijing's embassy in Ottawa of systematically trying to quell criticism of China.

Jiyan Zhang claimed embassy staff tried to incite hatred against Falun Gong practitioners in Canada. "At the embassy, I witnessed materials to incite hatred against Falun Gong," she told reporters through a translator. "The embassy has a special unit dedicated to collecting information" on practitioners.

The men were all Asian, and Falun Dafa Association of Canada (FDAC) spokesperson Sue Zhang says there's no doubt that the "cowardly act" was instigated by the communist regime in Beijing. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) initiated a crackdown on Falun Gong in 1999, and has since been conducting a large-scale persecution of practitioners in China, says Zhang.

Zhang believes the assault is yet another example of the "long arm of Beijing" reaching into Canada, continuing a pattern of "intimidation and harassment against overseas practitioners."

"This is the Chinese Communist Party's way of expanding the persecution into Canada," she says. "This very violent and physical attack is another attempt to try to remove us from the consulate."

Across the country, incidents of assault, intimidation and harassment toward Falun Gong practitioners have been reported over the years. These incidents often involve the Chinese embassy and consulates directly, or involve persons in the community directed by the Chinese officials, according to FDAC.

"The Chinese Communist Party are thugs, they've proven that over and over again. They have no respect for human life and they believe they can bully people into doing anything," says Brian McAdam, ex-foreign diplomat and Asian organized crime expert.

McAdam says that with the sort of violence inflicted on Raymond Zhang, it's "crucial" that governments at all levels "particularly the City of Vancouver" provide protection to the Chinese community in Canada.

"There have never been any consequences for the Chinese government's behaviour in Canada," says McAdam. "The incredible thing is the Canadian government hasn't taken a hard stance on their activities, and they have to. They can't allow a foreign government to carry out this kind of intimidation."

In a press release, FDAC is calling on the Canadian government to demand that the "Chinese consulate officials immediately stop harassing, distributing hatred, and attacking Falun Gong practitioners in Canada, or face expulsion."