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Diplomat-defector urges China's spies in Australia to quit

A former Chinese diplomat granted a visa to live in Australia yesterday urged locals engaged in spying for China to quit.

Chen Yonglin (陳用林) produced documents he said proved that Beijing had a network of spies operating in his adopted country.

Chen, who went into hiding after leaving his job at the Chinese consulate-general in Sydney on May 26, was last week granted a permanent resident visa to stay in the country.

agents and informers

The former political officer claimed after his defection that Beijing had 1,000 spies operating as "agents and informers" -- a claim rubbished by Chinese Ambassador Fu Ying (傅瑩).

To back his claim, Chen made public three consulate general documents relating to adherents of the Falun Gong spiritual movement he said showed the Chinese community in Australia was being spied on.

Beijing views Falun Gong as an evil sect and punishes its followers.

"In the Chinese community there are a lot of informants, of course," Chen told Australia's AAP news agency. "Today, I don't want to publicize all these names, I just want to warn these people to stop doing that. I want to tell these informants from the bottom of my heart, I look down upon them."

open floodgates

Fu last week urged Canberra not to let Chen stay and promised that no harm would come to him if he returned home. She warned Canberra that granting him a visa would open the floodgates to other applications.

"We have some Chinese who don't like China that much and want to profit from their own personal agenda," Fu said. "They would move to Switzerland, Australia and the USA. Mr. Chen is an example. He now appears to be hating China so much, but China offered him the best a young man can have."

Two other Chinese officials are bidding for protection visas that would allow them to make Australia their home. The defections come at the start of Canberra's negotiations towards a free trade agreement with China.

In his nine years as prime minister, critics allege John Howard has put trade ahead of human rights concerns in his dealings with Beijing. China is Australia's third largest trade partner, after Japan and the US, with annual trade worth A$28 billion (US$21 billion).

Chen seems determined to prove that securing a visa would not be enough to silence him. Before he was given his visa, he alleged that China was engaged in a campaign to influence Australian policies and break its military alliance with the US.

He said Canberra ignored human rights abuses in China and was even complicit in the persecution of local Falun Gong followers.
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