13 July 2005 :
China voiced "resolute opposition" to Australia's decision to grant asylum to Chen Yonglin, a former Chinese diplomat, and dismissed his accusations that he faced execution if repatriated as "lies not worthy of response". Chen, 37, a former Chinese political affairs consul in Sydney, his wife and their daughter would be able to stay in Australia and work after receiving permanent protection visas on July 8."China resolutely opposes the Australian government's decision to give Chen a 'protection visa'," China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Chen lobbied for asylum in May after claiming China had up to 1,000 spies operating in Australia. The former diplomat also voiced fears he could have been jailed or executed if he returned to China, which he said had kidnapped critics and whisked them back inside its borders. Chen had said his role at the Chinese consulate was to spy on and persecute practitioners of Falun Gong, an amalgam of meditation and exercises that the Chinese government branded an evil cult after about 10,000 members surrounded the government leadership compound in Beijing in a 1999 protest.
(Sources: Reuters, 11/07/2005)
