Re: espionage, falun gong, aussies

On Wed, 06 Jul 2005 09:39:15 +0800, tokock <tokock@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

>
>
>Ignorant Peasant wrote:
>> By Janaki Kremmer, Correspondent
>> The Christian Science Monitor
>> Jun 30
>>
>> SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - According to Chen Yonglin, China's highest-profile
>> defector in decades, the main task of the Chinese Consulate here is to
>> spy on five so-called "poisonous groups" in the Australian community.
>> Once a fortnight, he says, officials file reports about Free Tibet
>> supporters, Taiwan independence advocates, Uighurs who want an East
>> Turkistan homeland, Falun Gong members, and the Chinese pro-democracy
>> movement.
>>
>
>The US Emabssy must be busy planning for cultural dances and folk
>singing tours to Australia.
>The Japan embassy must be busy planting cherry blossom in the embassy
>surrounding.
>Tell me, what do you expect from any embassy/consulate from any country ?
>
>

Well that was well thought out, now, wasn't it.


>> Mr. Chen said in an interview that he knows this because the officials
>> reported to him. Chen served as the embassy's first political officer
>> until he quit in late May. Australia rejected his initial asylum bid,
>> but has granted him a temporary visa. He also requested political asylum
>> from the United States, but says he has not yet received a response.
>>
>> The Chen case underscores tensions here over human rights as well as
>> differences between Australia and the US over how to deal with a rising
>> China.
>>
>> Australian politicians and media have criticized John Howard's
>> government for showing too much deference to China when it turned down
>> Chen's asylum request, without an interview, within 24 hours.
>>
>> They also point to recent revelations that Chinese officials were
>> allowed to privately interview other asylum seekers in Australian
>> detention, as well as a government decision to turn down a US
>> invitation to a forum in January to discuss China. Australia's foreign
>> minister has denied turning down the invitation over fears of angering
>> China.
>>
>> Australia and China are in negotiations over a free-trade agreement and
>> a multi-billion dollar gas deal.
>>
>> The Howard government says it will not treat Chen differently from the
>> other 1,000 Chinese who seek protection here every year. While Australia
>> decides on whether to grant him a protection visa, he and his family are
>> in hiding. He has taken his case to the international media to further
>> his cause.
>>
>> Database of names
>>
>> In a face-to-face interview with the Monitor, Chen said he had access to
>> a database with hundreds of blacklisted names. He coordinated biweekly
>> meetings to receive fresh intelligence data - sometimes new names, other
>> times details on family members in Australia or in China. His job,
>> which he took up in 2001, amounted to spying on Falun Gong and opposing
>> demonstrators.
>>
>> "But I realized soon what [Chinese officials] do with some of these
>> supporters in China," he says. "I did some research and found people who
>> had been jailed and even killed for being Falun Gong.... I began reading
>> about the movement and saw it was peaceful. "
>>
>> Chen saw he had a chance to help the Falun Gong. He stopped the biweekly
>> meetings, and when he was asked why, said he was too busy with business
>> delegations from Beijing.
>>
>> And Chen did something more: When Beijing asked for details of the 800
>> people on the Falun Gong blacklist, he said they were unimportant and
>> details were sketchy. Beijing began thinking that the list was worthless
>> and decided to recompile it, he says. "They ended up with 120 confirmed
>> names and details of Falun Gong [members] who are on the blacklist, and
>> the rest are now gone."
>>
>> There are up to 5,000 Falun Gong supporters in Australia, most of them
>> of Chinese origin. The movement, which springs from a combination of
>> Taoism and Buddhism, preaches truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.
>>
>> China outlawed the group in 1999, calling it an "evil cult." Members
>> often protest outside Chinese embassies. At a press conference in
>> Beijing, Shen Guofang, assistant minister of foreign affairs, said that
>> the government had an obligation to "stop any individuals or
>> organizations, be it the Falun Gong or other groups, from disrupting the
>> normal work of China's diplomatic missions in Australia."
>>
>> Dressed tastefully in a black suit, creamy shirt, and maroon and gold
>> tie, Chen outwardly shows little stress, despite expressing fears that
>> he might be kidnapped by the Chinese authorities, dragged out to the
>> high seas, and put aboard a cargo ship bound for Beijing.
>>
>> "I have seen the evidence of possible kidnapping. I know how they do
>> it," Chen says. After he applied for asylum, he noticed that, "they
>> began to stake out my house and suddenly, I began seeing more Chinese in
>> the area than before. I knew I had to run."
>>
>> Chen says he feels let down by Australia. "I feel I have been unfairly
>> treated. When I look at Australian society it is free. I did not expect
>> that they would reject my plea for political asylum."
>>
>> But he is not wholly surprised. For the past four years, Chen said, he
>> has witnessed a Chinese government strategy to influence Australia. In
>> February 2005, he says, a meeting was organized in Canberra by the then
>> vice foreign minister, Zhou Wenzhong, now the new ambassador to the US,
>> of all senior staffers of Chinese embassies in Australia and New Zealand.
>>
>> "It was part of what China calls the 'grand neighboring concept,' where
>> the aim is to put Australia within [China's] sphere of influence and to
>> put a wedge between the US and Australia....And as we can see, this is
>> happening."
>>
>> Howard LaFranchi contributed from Washington.

.

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