Chinese spy ring in Australia?
Second Chinese official in a week to announce a bid for asylum backs claims that Beijing has more than 1,000 spies in the country.
Claims by Chinese officials that Beijing runs an extensive spy ring in Australia have captured headlines worldwide and could prove to be a sticky issue at an important time for relations between the two countries.
Just days after diplomat Chen Yonglin announced he had applied for asylum in Australia, a second Chinese official Tuesday
announced his bid for refuge and backed Mr. Chen's claims that China has 1,000 spies operating in the country, reports the
BBC.
The Age of Melbourne, Australia reports that Hao Fengjun "claimed he was the man in charge of collating and analyzing information gathered by Chinese spies in Australia."
Voice of America reports that Mr. Hao claims his "primary responsibility was monitoring the activities of the Falun Gong meditation movement and [Hao] claims to have
seen members of the group tortured."
The Age also reports that he said
he has direct evidence of China's persecution of minority groups and gave it to Australia's immigration department months ago. Hao says the top-secret documents detailing the activities of Chinese spies in Australia was
ignored by the immigration department, reports
The Australian.
Chen, who quit his work as first secretary at the Chinese consulate-general in Sydney on May 26, says he faces persecution if he goes back to China. He has said he quit because he could no longer support China's crackdowns on dissidents. Chen reportedly has gone into hiding.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao
denied Chen's claims on Tuesday. "The rumours spread by [Chen] are total slander and hopefully you will not take it in easily," he said. China insists he will be treated fairly if he returns to Beijing.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says Chen's case will be
decided on its own merits. "Whipping up controversy of this is not going to make a contribution one way or another to this application - the application just has to be considered on its merits on the facts of the case," he said. But he notes that asylum is rare. "It [political asylum] has only been granted twice that I know of in Australian history," Downer said.
Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said: "We think the prima facie case is out there for [Chen] to be entitled to the Government's protection."
Claims that the government was slow to respond to fresh evidence of Chinese spy activity has become a major political issue in Australia. The
Daily Telegraph reports that "new evidence shows [Chen] appealed in writing for political asylum last month,
directly contradicting federal government claims it received no such application."
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reports that the Greens party have
released the original letter from [Chen] in which he asks for political asylum. Greens Senator Bob Brown says the letter clearly states Chen's request.
Chen says: 'I now seek political asylum from the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia.' ... What part of the sentence does Mr. Downer not understand? That's a very clear request for political asylum from a senior diplomat who has defected.
"The asylum bids come at a delicate time, as Australia and China are trying to deepen economic and political ties," reports
BBC.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that reaching a free-trade agreement with China is a "
top national priority" for Australia. The
Monitor also points out that "Australian Prime Minister John Howard appears to be on the verge of signing a nonaggression pact with other East Asian nations."
The move, once unthinkable for [Howard], is a prerequisite for an invitation to attend the East Asia Summit, a weighty new regional group that meets in Malaysia this December. Howard, a strong ally of President Bush, had previously dismissed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, or TAC, which commits members not to attack each other, as an outdated concept. ...
Analysts say that the East Asia summit - touted as the main trading rival to the US and EU - supercedes the ASEAN regional forum, which deals with security issues, and APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation).
The
Monitor cites Hugh White, professor of strategic studies at the Australian National University in Canberra, as saying that Australia getting involved in a group led by China that does not include the US is very significant.
Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock indicated the nation's intelligence agencies are
looking into the spy allegations.
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