The asylum application of a former Chinese diplomat who claims to be part of a 1,000-member spy network in Australia is being treated "as a matter of priority," Australia's immigration minister said yesterday.
Chen Yonglin (陳用林), 37, left his post as a consul for political affairs at China's consulate in Sydney last month and approached immigration officials seeking political asylum in Australia.
His initial application was rejected and he is now in hiding with his wife and daughter as the government considers an alternate request for a temporary visa normally reserved for refugees fleeing persecution.
Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said Chen's temporary visa application was lodged on June 3 and was being processed "in a normal manner, but as a priority."
"Far from dithering over Mr. Chen's protection visa application, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs is processing the application as a matter of priority," Vanstone said in a statement.
spy network
Chen's case made headlines earlier this month when he emerged from hiding to tell a pro-democracy rally in Sydney that he had been a member of a 1,000-member spy network tasked with monitoring Chinese dissident groups in Australia, including Falun Gong members and Taiwanese independence activists.
In a statement read before a Sydney rally attended by about 100 people yesterday, Chen encouraged his fellow citizens to "free themselves [from] the spirit bondage and the party chains" of Chinese communism.
"Now it's the time to smash and break the chains holding your body and soul, and embrace a life of freedom as I did walking out of shadows into a new life, no matter how difficult it is," Chen reportedly said in the statement read by Sonya Bryskine, international editor of the Epoch Times, an English-language newspaper supported by the Falun Gong spiritual movement.
`shake off fear'
"Democracy and human rights are what we Chinese need urgently," the statement said. "Let us be brave and join hands together to shake off all the fear, terror and grief laid upon us by the ruling communist regime in China."
Chen has repeatedly told the media he fears for his safety if he is forced to return to Australia.
He told the Nine television network's 60 Minutes program on Sunday that he could face up to 10 years in prison or the death penalty for disclosing government secrets.
"Serious punishment will be waiting for me," he said on the program.
China's ambassador to Australia, Fu Ying (傅瑩), has denied Chen's spy claims and said he would be not be harmed if he returned to Beijing.
The case comes at a sensitive time for Australia-China relations, but both governments have said Chen's asylum bid will not affect their economic or political relationship.
China is Australia's third largest trading partner, with trade worth about A$29 billion (US$22 billion) a year.
The two countries have just begun negotiations over a multibillion-dollar free-trade deal, and Australia is also set to begin delivering liquid natural gas to Guangdong Province next year as part of a long-term A$25 billion supply contract -- Canberra's largest export deal.
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