Free Republic

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - The Australian government said Friday it has granted a permanent visa to a diplomat who defected from Beijing's consulate in Sydney in May and claimed China has a vast network of spies in Australia. Kirk Coningham, a spokesman for Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone, confirmed Chen Yonglin, his wife and six-year-old daughter had been granted a permanent protection visa, most often given to people fleeing persecution in their homeland. Chen, who has been in hiding since fleeing China's Sydney Consulate, could not immediately be reached for comment. At several news conferences he has given since going...

CANBERRA (Reuters) - A Chinese diplomat pleading for political asylum in Australia has said he would rather die than go home, as Prime Minister John Howard tried on Thursday to calm concerns the asylum bid may harm Sino-Australian relations. Howard said an application for political asylum by Chen Yonglin, a 37-year-old political affairs consul at China's Sydney consulate, would not be influenced by Australia's booming trade and economic ties with China. "Let me simply say that, just as in relation to the U.S., we have steadfastly refused to mix trade with politics and strategy and national security. So it is...

A second Chinese defector has claimed Beijing is running a large spy network in Australia and other Western countries, including the United States, following a similar allegation by a high-ranking Chinese diplomat seeking asylum. The diplomat, Chen Yonglin, the first secretary at the Chinese Consulate-General in Sydney, left his post last month. Chen 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 and said he defected because he wanted to immigrate to Australia with his family. But a second Chinese...

CANBERRA (Reuters) - A Chinese diplomat who has sought political asylum in Australia and claims spies are hunting him for aiding pro-democracy groups has contacted a U.S. consulate about his situation, an official said on Tuesday. A spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy told Reuters that Chen Yonglin, a 37-year-old political affairs consul at China's consulate in Sydney, had contacted a U.S. consulate in Australia about his situation, but was unable to comment further. Local media reported on Tuesday that Chen had asked if he could defect to the United States. Chen, who has worked in Sydney for the past four...