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Neve said Amnesty has been urging federal authorities for some time to create a single point of contact for people and groups “who feel intimidated by Chinese government.”

Such a system would also help Ottawa track the extent of the problem, he said.

Smith says he briefly entered the festival grounds last month with the nine-year-old son of a friend, and was ordered to remove a T-shirt bearing the words Falun Dafa — another name for Falun Gong — by the festival’s CEO. He said John Brooman told him he didn’t want the event politicized, and mentioned that it was co-sponsored by the Chinese embassy. Brooman also threatened to remove a group of other Falun Gong followers doing exercises outside the festival in city-owned Mooney’s Bay park, Smith charges.

A city councillor said he also saw some Falun Gong supporters handing out leaflets to people entering the festival.

China has a well-documented history of persecuting the group — seen as a threat to Communist control — while Canadian authorities have deemed the Falun Gong a spiritual movement deserving of human-rights protections.

Photo by Ian MacAlpine/Postmedia/File

Brooman could not be reached for comment, but said in a letter to the organization he is sorry if he offended Smith, calling him a “very nice man,” while emphasizing he did not want any organization to “use our event as a platform for advocacy.”

Smith says there was no advocacy; he was just getting his friend’s son something to eat.

The Chinese embassy — listed as a festival “gold sponsor” — told the National Post Thursday it was unaware of the incident, but echoed Brooman’s comments on keeping politics out of the event.