A retired Chinese air force general has reportedly been jailed for 17 years for supporting the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual movement.

A Hong Kong-based human rights group said General Yu Changxin, 74, was convicted at a secret court martial of using a cult to undermine the law.

The sentence, passed on 6 January, is among the harshest handed down to leaders of the movement and has angered many other retired generals, a statement from the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said.

One unidentified general was quoted as complaining that the party leadership had "gone too far" by arresting General Yu, a former fighter ace who went on to train air force pilots.

According to the Hong Kong group, the Chinese authorities suspected General Yu of masterminding a gathering of 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing last April, and arrested him three months later.

The former Air Force Command Academy professor was also accused of helping Falun Gong expand its membership and held responsible for the deaths of practitioners who refused medical help when ill.

Hundreds 'await trial'

General Yu, who held a rank equivalent to a cabinet minister, is the most senior of about a dozen people jailed for links to the movement, which was banned by the Communist Party for being an "evil cult" last July. He is expected to appeal.

About 300 Falun Gong leaders face trial, while another 5,000 have been sent without trial to labour camps to undergo "re-education", the Hong Kong group said.

Last month, a Beijing court sentenced four Falun Gong leaders, including a former deputy director of the Ministry of Public Security, to up to 18 years in prison on charges ranging from stealing state secrets to causing deaths

Falun Gong, which draws support from across Chinese society, had millions of followers in China before the crackdown.

It teaches meditation, exercises and ideas drawn from Buddhism and Taoism.