AN Australian woman has been snatched off the street by police while visiting relatives in China.
Friends believe she has been arrested because of her spiritual beliefs.
Sydney mother Nancy Chen, 34, last contacted her family on Wednesday, telling them cryptically she had been "kidnapped" in Chengdu city in central China.
Ms Chen, of Sydney is a Falun Gong practitioner, which is outlawed in China.
Her family in Australia has confirmed that she was detained by the Chinese national security department.
But the Australian Government is yet to get a response from the Chinese to its inquiries.
Ms Chen arrived in China with her six-year-old daughter, Catherine Lu, for a short visit to her parents on January 17.
According to friends in Australia, Ms Chen left her daughter with her mother while she visited friends on Monday.
On Wednesday, she phoned her mother with the message: "I have been kidnapped near the American Consulate, Chengdu.
"They searched and took all my files including passport. Please ring my husband and ask the Australian Government to save me."
Falun Gong was banned in China in 1999. Since then, 557 practitioners have died as a result of torture or brutality, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,5885401%5E662,00.html
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