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Diplomat's claim supported by 2nd Chinese defector

A second Chinese defector has backed claims by a diplomat who left his job at China's consulate in Sydney that Beijing is running a large spy network in Australia and other Western countries.

The diplomat, Chen Yonglin, walked away from his post as the first secretary at the Chinese Consulate-General last month to seek political asylum in Australia. Chen, 37, claimed China had 1,000 spies in Australia involved in illegal activities including abducting Chinese nationals and smuggling them back to China.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has dismissed Chen's claims as slander.

But a second Chinese official seeking asylum in Australia, Hao Fengjun, 32, supported Chen's claim of a Chinese spy network in Australia in an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp television late Tuesday.

"I worked in the police office in the security bureau and I believe what Mr. Chen says is true," Hao told the ABC through an interpreter.

Hao, who traveled to Australia as a tourist in February and sought asylum, told reporters yesterday in the southern city of Melbourne he was responsible for collating and analyzing information gathered by Chinese spies in Australia and other countries, including the US and Canada.

His translator and friend Serene Luo said Hao copied 200 documents from his computer and smuggled them into Australia as evidence for immigration officials.

"He brought lots of the secret documents indicating how the public security department in China ... persecute Falun Gong and other religious groups," she said.

An immigration department spokeswoman refused to make any comment on Hao's case, citing privacy laws.

The government has yet to rule on the asylum applications of either Chen or Hao, coming at a sensitive time for Australia as it negotiates a free trade agreement with China.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Chen's application would be judged on its merit.

Trade Minister Mark Vaile predicted the asylum applications would not affect the trade negotiations.

Australia-China Business Council Chairman Warwick Smith said Australian businesses dealing with China agreed that burgeoning trade would not suffer.

"It's probably fair to say that the trade relationship is an extremely strong one and I don't believe that these matters will in any way impinge upon the development of that trade," Smith told the ABC.

Defense Minister Robert Hill said Chen's asylum claim was not even mentioned during his discussions with senior Chinese officials in Beijing.

"We don't comment on intelligence matters, but I think the fact that the issue hasn't been raised with me in China indicates that the Chinese side believes that Australia is dealing with the issue in an appropriate way," Hill told reporters.

Asked if the allegations of a spy ring should be investigated, Hill replied: "We never comment on intelligence matters."

The opposition Labor Party has called for a government briefing on the spy claims and for the government to reveal how many Chinese officials were seeking asylum in Australia.

Defections of high-level Chinese officials are relatively rare, analysts say, but they have been the source of valuable intelligence about the communist regime and an embarrassment to Beijing.

Absolute numbers of defectors at Chen's level aren't known -- partly because both China and the country that offers shelter to defectors often keep them secret.

Australia's domestic spy agency, ASIO, has reportedly set up a new counter-terrorism unit to improve its ability to track foreign agents. The government has refused to confirm the unit's existence.

The new counterespionage unit will focus heavily on Chinese spies, whose numbers have increased significantly in Australia over the past 10 years, the Australian newspaper reported last week.
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