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Posted on 06/15/2005 11:07:03 PM PDT by Destro
Chinese defector says U.S. turned him away
By Raymond Bonner The New York Times
TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2005
SYDNEY The Chinese diplomat who defected here two weeks ago had sought political asylum at the United States Embassy, and was summarily turned away, the defector, Chen Yonglin, said in an interview on Monday.
Chen, a career diplomat whose father was killed during the Cultural Revolution, said he called the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, the Australian capital, and followed up with a fax, after his asylum claim had been abruptly rebuffed by Australian officials, an action that has created a political storm here.
In an interview, Chen, who walked out of the Chinese Consulate in Sydney on May 26, spoke about his decision to defect, which he said was not a precipitous action, but the culmination of a growing dissatisfaction with his government's policies since the Tiananmen Square killings.
His decision was supported by his wife, Jin Ping, a lawyer, who said during the interview that she had been forced to work in a rural area where she witnessed forced sterilizations and abortions.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
If this is true, somebody's head should roll. But that won't happen.
Unless, of course, you come to the conclusion that he's going to spend his time running agents and "monitoring the opposition" whilst he enjoys his new life in the US.
Hopefully US diplomats are smarter than mainstream media reporters and realised that it was extremely unlikely that Chen would be sent back, and so didn't grant him asylum because they knew that:
(A) there was no real need to do so at that time.
(B) stealing an ally's defector is rather bad manners.
Taking him if the Australian government had said no, would be one thing.
Taking him while the Australian government was reviewing his case, would be quite another.
Miroslav Medved... Elian Gonzalez...
No, they didn't.
The Australian government just hasn't decided what type of entry to give him yet.
Whether to grant political asylum, or a temporary protection visa (possibly to eventually become residency and ultimately citizenship), or permanent protection, etc.
They have said he won't be sent back against his will - they just significant intelligence information, he will be handled differently from if he just can't go back because it's too dangerous for him to return.
If this is about "free" trade, then we have our priorities completely backwards. Observing the current illegal immigration situation here in the U.S. -- where we are allowing floods of people to illegally come here -- and then this situation where a political defector from Red China is being left in the wind (I haven't seen even a mention of any type of cursory debriefing, though I haven't followed this situation that closely), this just doesn't add up.
any possibilities ? and what are the chances that this defector could be a mole (double-agent) planted by the PRC
The Aussies are considering this possibilty, Im sure
must have been met by a clinton appointee.
I don't think that's the problem. Even if he were (and of course there is a reasonable chance that he is), you still don't handle the situation this way. If he is a plant, then that still doesn't make him useless by any means, just he needs to be handled with a bit more care.
Even if Chen is just a kook (and I personally don't think so at this point), our behavior is not helping our case with any future defectors seeking asylum. You can be sure that the political classes are watching this situation in China, and when they see how this guy is being treated, it is not going to encourage further defections.
So what you see as American diplomats being clever I see as cowardace in the face of potential Chinese wrath.
Zero possibility -
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