PM to seek help for ill NZer in China jail

Prime Minister John Key will raise concerns over the treatment of New Zealand businessman Danny Cancian who suffers from asthma but has to share a Chinese prison cell with over a dozen other men, most of them smokers.

Mr Cancian is 18 months into a five-year jail sentence for killing a man after a fight at a south China restaurant in 2008.

Initial moves would be at ambassador level, but Mr Key did not rule out today taking it higher.

"The first thing I'll do is take the matter up with our Ambassador in China. As a general rule as a leader to leader we don't tend to take up individual cases, but we're obviously aware of the case. We understand the circumstances and we'll first try to get a sense from the ambassador whether there are any other options.

"If there aren't, we may chose to progress that to the next level and take it up with Premier Wen (Jiabao)."

Mr Key said he did not know if it would be possible to transfer Mr Cancian to a New Zealand jail.

"We really don't know whether that would be acceptable to the Chinese. The issues he's got is that he doesn't want to be in a prison that has smoking - ironically given the moves that New Zealand's currently making. All, as I understand it, all of the Chinese prisons have smoking prisoners, so it's hard to see what the alternatives are within China.

"Now, whether that would present alternatives back in New Zealand that would be acceptable is something we'll need to go and progress."

Mr Cancian was jailed for five years after killing a man in 2008. He was attacked in a south China restaurant while having dinner, and while his attackers admitted starting the fight, the judge ruled again him.

Cancian's family told One News that his health was extremely poor and he had to go to hospital twice a month for treatment for his asthma.

- NZPA