A NORTH-EAST demonstrator was arrested yesterday after clashing with Chinese police during a protest in Macau.

County Durham man Thomas Dobson, who is believed to be from Barnard Castle, was bundled into a police van along with other supporters of the banned Falun Gong sect during a demonstration in the former Portuguese colony.

Mr Dobson, who shouted "Falun Dafa is correct" as he was dragged into the back of a police van, was believed to have spent last night being questioned by Chinese police.

Last night, the Foreign Office said the British Embassy in Macau was investigating the incident, but a spokesman refused to confirm whether Mr Dobson was one of those arrested.

The demonstration was planned to coincide with the arrival of Chinese President Jiang Zemin, to mark the first anniversary of Chinese rule.

In an incident outside the Lisboa, Macau's biggest casino, police surrounded about a half dozen Falun Gong followers, then dragged them away and shoved them into police cars.

Jess Jauhal, a Falun Gong volunteer, said Mr Dobson could expect harsh treatment from the Chinese.

She said: "What will happen to him is unsure, but we know that many Chinese and foreign Falun Gong followers have been imprisoned, tortured and sent to labour camps.

"There are even cases of torture leading to death, but as a British citizen, we are confident that Mr Dobson will receive better treatment."

Miss Jauhal said that from the estimated 100 million Falun Gong followers worldwide, as many as 10,000 were in labour camps in China, 20,000 were in prison and 91 followers had been tortured to death.

Diana Mawdsley, of Brancepeth, near Durham City, whose son James suffered brutal beatings while serving 14-months for handing out pro-democracy leaflets in Burma, said she felt for Mr Dobson's family.

She said: "They must be beside themselves, it is awful not knowing how a loved one is, and for their sake I hope he receives better treatment than James did."

As Macau's first year under Chinese rule ends, ordinary citizens are pleased gangsters are no longer shooting up its streets, as they were before the handover that ended 442 years of rule from Lisbon. But critics warn that the region's freedom, guaranteed for 50 years, may already be under threat.

Falun Gong adherents complained of police harassment to thwart their efforts to demonstrate outside appearances by Jiang, whose government has staged a massive crackdown on Falun Gong in the mainland.

Like former British colony Hong Kong, Macau is supposed to enjoy considerable autonomy and freedom under an arrangement dubbed "one country, two systems," but a human rights centre said it was looking more like "one country, one system."