May be China tried to recruit him.
Second defecting Chinese official backs claims of 1,000 spies in
Australia
A second Chinese official hoping to defect to Australia has backed
statements made by an asylum-seeking diplomat that Beijing has
hundreds of spies in the country.
Chinese business people and students as well as embassy and
consulate officials are engaged in espionage in Australia, former
security official Hao Feng Jun said in a television interview late
Tuesday.
China has denied the claim, which was first made by defecting
diplomat Chen Yonglin, former first secretary at the Chinese
consulate-general in Sydney, on the weekend.
Chen, who abandoned his diplomatic post about two weeks ago and
requested political asylum in Australia, said "some thousand"
Chinese spies and informants were operating in the country.
The diplomat has requested political asylum, saying he faces
persecution at home for having aided Chinese pro-democracy
activists and other dissidents in Australia.
Australian authorities initially rejected Chen's plea for asylum,
but officials this week said they were considering a temporary
protection visa for the fugitive diplomat.
Officials here have refused to comment on Chen's spying
allegations, which were angrily rejected late Tuesday by a Chinese
foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing.
"The rumors spread by Chen Yonglin are total slander and hopefully
you will not take it in easily," said the spokesman, Liu
Jianchao.
But Chen's allegations were backed up by Hao, who presented himself
as a former Chinese security official who travelled to Australia as
a tourist in February and has also requested political
asylum.
"I worked in the police office in the security bureau and I believe
that what Mr. Chen says is true," Hao said through a
translator.
"They send out businessmen and students out to overseas countries
as spies," he said.
Hao, 32, said Chinese spies infiltrated the Falungong meditation
movement and other groups overseas and sent back information to
China.
"They'd send all this intelligence information through from
Australia, from North America, Canada and other countries and are
reported back to the National Security Bureau, but also the Public
Security Bureau. They'd sent back lots of information," he
said.
Hao said he was formerly a police officer attached to a specialist
security unit in northern Tianjin province monitoring Falungong, a
group China has termed an evil cult, and had witnessed the torture
of its practitioners.
He said he was prompted to speak out after hearing about Chen, who
has been living in hiding with his wife and six-year-old daughter
since leaving his job on May 26.
Australia's handling of the Chen case is being closely watched by
the political opposition and refugee rights groups concerned that
Canberra could place its burgeoning trade relations with China
ahead of human rights.
Prime Minister John Howard launched multi-billion dollar free trade
negotiations with China during a trip to Beijing in April and
Australia is also keen to expand resource exports to China's
booming economy.
Chen, 37, said on the weekend that he had asked for political
asylum after becoming disillusioned with his work monitoring
dissident groups but that his application was rejected by officials
who did not even interview him.
The Chinese consulate-general has refuted Chen's claims, saying he
has made up the stories so he can stay in Australia where he has
lived for the past four years.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Wednesday said that Chen had
not formally applied for political asylum and was now being
considered for a protection visa which would allow him to stay in
the country.