China defector in Australia contacts U.S. embassy

Story dated 07 June 2005

"A spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy told Reuters that Chen Yonglin, a 37-year-old political affairs consul at China's consulate in Sydney, had contacted a U.S. consulate in Australia about his situation, but was unable to comment further . . . Chen told a rally in Sydney to mark the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests on Saturday that Beijing saw him as a threat because he offered help to democracy groups and Falun Gong practitioners."

Australia denied his asylum request because the Chinese ambassador said that she was unaware of any legal action the Chinese government would take against Chen. Well, that's great. The citizens of the USSR had the right to freedom of speech, and we all know how well that worked out. Hopefully the United States will not be so ready to take China's semantics at face value. "[W]hen asked if she could guarantee he would not suffer any repercussions for his attempt to defect, Ambassador Fu said: 'Guarantee is not the word I would use because I will not be the person who will judge him.'" So he will be judged. That's interesting.

posted by The Sovereign Editor | 11:29 AM

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