A Chinese diplomat seeking asylum in Australia would be punished if he returned home, an expert in international relations said today.
Professor Michael McKinley, a senior lecturer in international relations at the Australian National University, said Chen Yonglin would face persecution if he returned to China after sympathising with Falun Gong.
“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,” he told ABC radio.
“If you were going to err on the side of caution you would have to say that he deserves some favourable treatment (in receiving a visa to stay in Australia).
“But it could be that what the government would say is that this would be a recipe for a whole lot of other people trying to get asylum status or protection visas as well.
“And I suspect the government is going to take a pretty hard line no matter what they do.”
Mr Chen says he fears for his life after walking out of the Chinese Consulate-General in Sydney 11 days ago.
He came out of hiding on Saturday to speak at a rally in Sydney at which he said the Beijing government had 1,000 spies in Australia and Chinese people were being abducted and taken back to China.
He also said Chinese people had no political or religious freedom.
The Chinese mission in Sydney later accused Mr Chen of making up stories about his homeland to avoid returning home after four years in Australia.
Mr Chen has told the Sydney Morning Herald that Australian immigration officials tipped off the Chinese embassy about his planned defection, despite him urging them not to.
He said he walked into the immigration department’s Sydney office on May 26 with his wife Jin Ping and daughter Chen Fangong.
Mr Chen said his request to meet with the department’s state director Jim Collaghan was rejected and other officers then called the Chinese embassy.
The newspaper said the Chinese consulate then called Mr Chen’s mobile, prompting him to flee into hiding with his family.
When Mr Chen met with Australian officials on May 31 he said he was advised to apply for a tourist visa.
The immigration department today refused to confirm Mr Chen’s version of events, saying it could not comment on individual cases.
– AAP
Posting date: 6/Jun/2005
Original article date: 6/Jun/2005
Category: Media Report
