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Tradeoff over Chinese
defector
CANBERRA - China
says it will not punish a former diplomat who is
now in hiding after claiming Beijing has up to
1,000 spies watching dissident groups in
Australia.
Chen Yonglin, 37, is seeking
asylum in Australia and said he fears for his life
after walking out of the Chinese consulate-general
in Sydney 11 days ago. He has been in hiding with
his wife, Jin Ping, 38, and their six-year-old
daughter, and said he faced persecution if he
returned home after his four-year posting in
Australia.
Chen said his job was to
monitor the activities of people involved in the
Falungong movement, democracy advocates and people
who support the separation of Tibet, Taiwan and
East Turkistan from China. He has claimed there
are as many as 1,000 Chinese spies in Australia.
The
Chinese ambassador to Australia, Madame Fu Ying,
told reporters that despite the method Chen had
chosen to seek citizenship, he would not be
punished if he returned to China. "I don't think
there is any reason China would punish him," she
said.
Fu said she had met Chen,
who grew up in a poor area of China and rose
quickly through the diplomatic ranks to become a
first secretary last year, but had not been aware
of his concerns until now. She said the claims of
a spy network were untrue and Chen was making the
comments to boost his case to stay in Australia.
"I stand to be enlightened by anyone who
has knowledge - whoever has the names [of spies] I
would like to know," said Fu. "It has become a
very interesting point and a joke. If I can't
attend a dinner with one of my colleagues in the
diplomatic corps, if I say 'I am busy, I'm sorry,
I can't come', they say 'Oh, it's okay, you are
busy with your spy network'."
But New
South Wales Falungong Association spokesman John
Deller said Chen's comments vindicated the group's
claim that it had been harassed by agents. "The
recent news [of Chen] ... has exposed the Chinese
Communist Party's interference in Australia," he
said.
Unlike Fu, international relations
expert Professor Michael McKinley said Chen was
likely to face persecution if he returned to
China. "It would seem that if he goes back he is
certainly going to be punished in some way, and it
could be on a rather permanent basis: his future
employment prospects to say the least are probably
minimal," McKinley told ABC radio.
Immigration minister Amanda Vanstone
defended the handling of Chen's request for
asylum. "I think at this point, from the
information that I have, it has been handled
appropriately," she told ABC radio.
An
immigration spokeswoman said a visa application
had been received from Chen only on June 3, eight
days after he left the consulate. The department
had contacted the consulate to verify Chen's
identity and position "well before" that
application was received, she said.
Fu
denied rumors that Chinese security officers were
now chasing Chen. She also said any move to grant
Chen a protection visa would not damage relations
with China, which is in sensitive talks with
Australia on a free-trade agreement. "I think that
our relationship is strong enough to continue our
understanding of each other," she said.
Australian National University professor
Hugh White said growing trade relations with China
were likely to weigh on the Australian
government's mind in deciding Chen's status.
"China has made it clear consistently that the
development of an economic relationship is
dependent on Australia being sympathetic to
China's concerns on political and security
issues," White said.
The Australian Greens
and Democrats are expected to call for an inquiry
into Chen's case and other immigration issues when
parliament sits next week.
David Manne, a
lawyer and coordinator of the Refugee and
Immigration Legal Center, said Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer could issue Chen a rare type of
visa called a territorial asylum visa.
(Asia Pulse) |
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