By Jonathan Granger
04jun05
A CHINESE diplomat seeking political
asylum in Australia has come out of hiding to address a public rally in Sydney,
despite saying he fears for his life.
And Chen Youg Lin, 37, has promised
to reveal to Australians "everything I know" about threats by Chinese
foreign agents "to the Australian society and its people".
Mr
Chen said he walked out of the Chinese consulate-general in Sydney four days ago,
saying he could no longer support his country’s refusal to embrace democratic
reform and its persecution of religious group Falun Gong.
Mr Chen, the former
consul for political affairs with the Chinese consulate in Sydney, says he is
in hiding with his wife Jin Ping, 38, and six-year-old daughter.
Today,
he emerged to address a rally commemorating the 16th anniversary of the Tiananmen
Square Massacre.
He revealed to protesters what he said was confidential
consular information about the kidnapping of several opponents to the Chinese
government.
He said at least one was sentenced to death, and he now fears
the same fate himself unless the Australian government grants him asylum.
Although
Mr Chen said he feared Chinese agents would kidnap him, he fled from his consular
posting on public transport – and he left today’s rally in a taxi.
Following
today’s gathering, in Sydney’s Martin Place, Mr Chen then told reporters the Chinese
government believed he was a threat before he left the consulate.
"Because
I had offered some help to some democracy activists and Falun Gong practitioners
in some way," he said.
"They (Chinese secret agents) have been
searching for me and chased me and when I went out in Gosford I spotted them and
I have to leave immediately."
Mr Chen said he ran, escaping on public
transport.
He said it was unlikely he could continue to escape the agents
because they had been to his house and were following him.
"It will
be very hard to get rid of (them) because they have thousands of agents in Australia,"
he said.
Mr Chen said he was being protected by "supporters of democracy".
Mr
Chen revealed to protesters at the rally what he described as confidential consular
information, including the case of an official, Lan Fu, who came to Australia
on November 27, 1999, on a tourist visa. Mr Chen said Mr Fu, an opponent of the
Chinese government, tried to extend his visa, fearing persecution should he return
to China.
Media reports later said Mr Fu voluntarily went back to China
in January 2000.
Mr Chen said Mr Fu was tried and sentenced to death three
months later.
"The reason behind this events (sic) were Chinese security
agents kidnapped Mr Lan Fu’s son who was studying in Australia," Mr Chen
said.
Mr Fu’s son was drugged and sent on a boat to the "high seas"
where a Chinese cargo ship took him to China, Mr Chen said.
"I told
this to the Australian government when the immigration and foreign affairs officials
interviewed me on the 31st of May but they don’t care," he told the rally.
"It’s important for the Australian public to know Australia is not
a safe place."
International affairs analyst Dr Keith Suter said Mr
Chen’s attempts for asylum had caused a problem for the Australian government.
"The
problem for the government is that if this were back in the old cold war days,
and a person had fled from the communist embassy, we would have welcomed the person
with open arms as we did with the Petrov scandal 40 years ago," Dr Suter
told Sky News.
"But now, of course, China is a major trading ally for
Australia and we don’t want to do anything that’s going to be offending China
in terms of its trade policies.
"It also comes at a time when China
itself is very sensitive about its human rights record. It’s hoping to get minimum
amount of publicity for its human rights record in the lead up to its nice friendly
Olympics (in 2008)."
Federal opposition immigration spokesman Laurie
Ferguson said Mr Chen’s case should be looked at by the immigration department.
"China
is a not a western democracy," Mr said.
"Obviously, whether it’s
ethnic minorities in western China or Falun Gong or people who seek a more open
society, there are issues there and obviously his case should be looked at."
Posting date: 4/Jun/2005
Original article date: 4/Jun/2005
Category:
Media Report
