NationStates Jolt Archive


High Ranking Chinese Diplomat Refused Asylum in Australia

Patra Caesar
06-06-2005, 03:03
I'm sure you've all heard about this, an attache of high ranking Chinese diplomats came to Australia last week to observe what a democracy looks like. While here one of them asked to defect saying that he fears for his life and that the Chinese government cracks down hard on political dissadents. He knows this because he was one of the people who reported them to the government he claims.

He tells us that the Chinese have kidnapped people from countries outside China and other breaches of international law and he now fears they are trying to get him.

So he's pleaded with the Australian government for asylum and offered to provide all the intelligence on China he has. The Australian government, wanting to be friends with China however is turning a blind eye on this and plans to send him back to China.

Source (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15524086-29277,00.html)

Diplomat would be punished: expert
June 06, 2005

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 said on 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 has said he fears for his life after walking out of the Chinese Consulate-General in Sydney.

He came out of hiding on Saturday to speak at a rally in Sydney. He claimed Beijing had 1000 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 also 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 the department's state director Jim Collaghan was rejected, and other officers 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 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.

So what do you guys think about this? Should he be granted asylum? Or should he be sacrificed on the alter of Sino-Australian relations?
Potaria
06-06-2005, 03:07
He should definitely be granted asylum. Will it happen? Probably not.

It's sad, really...
Patra Caesar
06-06-2005, 03:12
I think Chen will be sacrificed to the free trade agreement the government wants to establish with China. I think this is a shame and he should be offered asylum if his life is in danger (which I think if it wasn't before it probably is now).
Potaria
06-06-2005, 03:14
I think Chen will be sacrificed to the free trade agreement the government wants to establish with China. I think this is a shame and he should be offered asylum if his life is in danger (which I think if it wasn't before it probably is now).

This is what pisses me off about Capitalism... People will be sacrificed just in the name of "free trade", a.k.a. Money.
Corneliu
06-06-2005, 03:56
Well... Time to boycott Australia. They should've granted him Asylem.
The Downmarching Void
06-06-2005, 04:07
He certainly deserves asylum. Perhaps a nation with more class than Australia will step up to the plate and offer him asylum themselves. That Primeminister you have in Australia has turned your nation into USA Episode 2: Australian Style.
Elsburytonia
06-06-2005, 04:18
I would like to see him granted asylum however...

The facts around his story must be verified.

Potaria, in a communist society this idividual would not matter in any case, free trade agreement or not, the good of the many would take presidence and this individual would be cast aside quicker than you could spell USSR.
Potaria
06-06-2005, 04:19
I would like to see him granted asylum however...

The facts around his story must be verified.

Potaria, in a communist society this idividual would not matter in any case, free trade agreement or not, the good of the many would take presidence and this individual would be cast aside quicker than you could spell USSR.

Another person who confuses the totalitarian regime of the Soviets with Communism, when it was a Communism in name only... Okay, let's not get into this.
Spaam
06-06-2005, 04:20
He certainly deserves asylum. Perhaps a nation with more class than Australia will step up to the plate and offer him asylum themselves. That Primeminister you have in Australia has turned your nation into USA Episode 2: Australian Style.
I know, thats why I want to move to Canadia...
Leonstein
06-06-2005, 04:29
I say he's got his own private motives for saying these things about China.

I also say that was he American or Australian, you would look at the issue very much differently. You would want him back and tried for treason if he spoke out about Western Spies in China.

I therefore say that one (treacherous, by definition) individual is indeed not worth the trouble of angering Chinese diplomats.

If he fled to speak out, then he knew about the risks, and the Chinese Government cannot be held responsible for what happens to individuals who willingly take that risk and engage in such stupidity.

Sorry, but that's just my opinion...
Patra Caesar
06-06-2005, 05:59
I say he's got his own private motives for saying these things about China.

I also say that was he American or Australian, you would look at the issue very much differently. You would want him back and tried for treason if he spoke out about Western Spies in China.

I therefore say that one (treacherous, by definition) individual is indeed not worth the trouble of angering Chinese diplomats.

If he fled to speak out, then he knew about the risks, and the Chinese Government cannot be held responsible for what happens to individuals who willingly take that risk and engage in such stupidity.

Sorry, but that's just my opinion...

Some interesting points, however I don't think there have been that many kidnappings of political dissadents by the Australian government. Here, if people vanish in the night other people tend to notice.
Sventria
06-06-2005, 07:57
I don't think there have been that many kidnappings of political dissadents by the Australian government.

No, we don't get kidnapped, just deported. :(
Kanabia
06-06-2005, 08:00
Ah, I was just about to post on this too!

This man is a hero...

Too bad he'll probably be dead soon.
Olantia
06-06-2005, 08:12
Chen should have been granted asylum - without any doubt, he will be persecuted if he has to return to China. But AFAIK the Australian government has not made a final decision yet... or am I mistaken?
Bruarong
06-06-2005, 12:01
Chen should have been granted asylum - without any doubt, he will be persecuted if he has to return to China. But AFAIK the Australian government has not made a final decision yet... or am I mistaken?

How do we know if he isn't another Chinese spy? Why can't he just apply for migrating to Australia using the normal route? How do we know if anything he says is true? Is that worth jepodizing international relations over? I think the Australian government should look at the case very very carefully. One false move in this case could cause a lot of damage. The Australian diplomats aren't necessarily stupid here.
Olantia
06-06-2005, 12:43
How do we know if he isn't another Chinese spy? Why can't he just apply for migrating to Australia using the normal route? How do we know if anything he says is true? Is that worth jepodizing international relations over? I think the Australian government should look at the case very very carefully. One false move in this case could cause a lot of damage. The Australian diplomats aren't necessarily stupid here.
I don't think he is a spy - what is this he's supposed to be spying on? Are the Chinese interested that much in ASIO debriefing tactics? He is a Chinese diplomat, and it would have been inconceivable for him to apply for Australian visa in the normal manner.

Is Mr Chen a defector of Yurchenko kind, intent on preoccupying ASIO with a long spy hunt, with the spies existing in his imagination only? That's far-fetched, IMHO.

On jeopardizing the trade relations. Deporting him will be a sign of weakness, and I do not think this is a case for Australia to be so complaisant. In the end China will get over Mr Chen getting asylum.
Disraeliland
06-06-2005, 13:08
The Government didn't refuse asylum, they refused immediate asylum. My feeling is that the Government will take their time so they can stick with their current line about treating Chen as a normal case, rather than a special case, so as to reduce the political damage.
Yammo
06-06-2005, 14:25
I hope he stays. And not at Woomera either...
Jeruselem
06-06-2005, 14:40
I'm an Chinese Australian (not born in China though).
His claims aren't to be discounted as Australia is probably full of spies right now.
Patra Caesar
06-06-2005, 15:40
Did anyone else catch the Chinese Ambassador to Australia on Lateline tonight on the ABC? She wasn't very convincing IMHO.
Leonstein
07-06-2005, 00:57
Well, the Chinese Intelligence Agency has probably taken over from the KGB as the best on-the-ground spy network (remember the Chinese double-agent lady who screwed the CIA?)

So he's probably right, afterall embassies are the spy centres in a foreign land. Nonetheless, that makes him a traitor, and someone who willingly endangers the lives or freedom of others for his own profit.

So I stay with what I think: They should give him back to China who will deal with him as they see fit.
Hawaiian Islands
07-06-2005, 01:05
This is why I feel threatened in the US. I'm Chinese, and afraid to go to Intention Camps.
Corneliu
07-06-2005, 01:07
This is why I feel threatened in the US. I'm Chinese, and afraid to go to Intention Camps.

That's internment camp and if we didn't do it to the muslims we're not going to do it to Chinese.
Kryozerkia
07-06-2005, 01:53
That's internment camp and if we didn't do it to the muslims we're not going to do it to Chinese.
I'm giving you guys time... ;)