Supporters of Chinese officials seeking political asylum in Australia rallied in the country's major cities yesterday, saying Canberra would face international condemnation if it put trade issues ahead of human rights.
"The international spotlight is now shining brightly on the Australian government," Free China spokeswoman Kate Vereshaka told a demonstration of about 50 people in Melbourne. "Will they offer safety and protection in the name of humanity or will they just keep playing it safe?"
Diplomat Chen Yonglin (陳用林) fled his post at China's consulate in Sydney last month and last week alleged Beijing was operating a network of 1,000 spies across Australia.
Two other Chinese officials, policeman Hao Fengjun and an unnamed official who says he was involved in the Chinese security service that monitors the Falun Gong spiritual movement banned by Beijing, are also seeking to defect to Australia.
All three say their lives will be in jeopardy if forced back to their homeland.
The situation has provided a headache for Australian government officials, who are striving to expand political and trade ties with China.
Candice Molnar, a representative of the Epoch Times newspaper, which is linked to the Falun Gong, said Hao has sent a message of thanks to his supporters.
"Through the incidents recently I strongly feel the vast democracy and freedom in this beautiful land of Australia, I love it here -- I love everything here," he said in a letter read by Molnar.
Another protest of about 50 people was held in Sydney, with participants demanding government support for the defectors and criticizing government restrictions on Falun Gong demonstrations outside the Chinese embassy in Canberra.
Under the laws, Falun Gong practitioners are free to meditate but they are banned from playing amplified music or attaching banners to walls or vehicles.
Meanwhile, rebel government politicians said yesterday they were holding talks with Prime Minister John Howard in a bid to prevent an internal revolt over his administration's hardline policies on asylum seekers.
Judi Moylan, one of a group of more than 10 government MPs demanding the softening of mandatory detention for asylum seekers, said the talks were progressing positively.
The rebels are considering crossing the floor of parliament to vote against the government on the issue, a rare show of dissent in the conservative administration noted for its internal discipline.
Moylan said Howard had shown a willingness to compromise as talks continue over a long weekend in Australia ahead of a crunch meeting of government politicians on Tuesday.
"I think the most important thing is a willingness to consider the issue, particularly the release of families with children from detention, and I think we're making some very good progress on that front," she told ABC radio yesterday.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
RSS