Chinese diplomat asks Australia for protection
Sat Jun 4, 2005 8:56 AM ET

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A senior Chinese diplomat has sought Australian government protection for himself and his family, claiming he faces persecution if he goes home, Australian officials said on Saturday.

Analysts said Chen Yonglin's defection could muddy Canberra's relations with Beijing, its third-largest trading partner with annual exchanges now worth A$28.9 billion ($22.7 billion).

The Weekend Australian newspaper said Chen, 37-year-old consul for political affairs at China's consulate in Sydney, had applied for political asylum but officials had ruled this out.

It said Chen was now seeking a protection visa that would enable him, his wife Jin Ping, 38, and their six-year-old daughter to remain in Australia.

The newspaper said Chinese consular security staff were searching for Chen, who had walked out of the mission a week ago, saying he could no longer support China's persecution of dissidents.

"They are searching for me. I heard they are looking for me everywhere, especially in the Chinese community," it quoted him as saying.

"I feel very unsafe, so I seek protection."

A spokeswoman for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) told Reuters that the government knew of the matter but that it was a case for the Immigration Department.

"We are aware that an official from the Chinese consulate-general in Sydney has applied for a protection visa," the spokeswoman said.

CLOSER TRADE TIES SOUGHT

A spokeswoman for immigration officials said it was against policy to comment on individual cases for visas, but that if an application were filed, it would be given a fair hearing.

Chen's reported defection comes amid efforts by Australia to forge closer economic ties with China, which already spends billions of dollars annually on Australian iron ore, coal, wheat and other commodities.

Annual bilateral trade has quadrupled in the past decade, and the two countries are in early talks on a free trade agreement.

"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," international affairs analyst Keith Suter told Sky News television.

"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," Suter said.

In 1954, a senior Soviet diplomat in Australia, Vladimir Mikhailovich Petrov, defected along with his wife, Evdokia.

The defections led to an extensive inquiry into Soviet espionage in Australia. Moscow withdrew its embassy from Australia and expelled Australian diplomats.

According to the Weekend Australian, DFAT told Chen that his request for political asylum had been rejected but that he could apply for a protection visa.

Such a visa would entitle him to remain in Australia permanently.

The newspaper quoted Chen, who holds the rank of first secretary, as saying that he wanted to defect because he could no longer support his country's persecution of dissidents.

The diplomat was quoted as saying that he had been monitoring political dissidents, including members of the Falun Gong religious sect, over the past four years, but had not reported on them in protest against Beijing's policies.

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