AAP: Consider diplomat's claim: Labor MP
June 04, 2005 OPPOSITION immigration spokesman Laurie Ferguson sympathises with the Chinese
diplomat seeking asylum in Australia and says his case should be looked at. Security staff are looking for Chen Yonglin, 37, the consul for political
affairs at the Chinese consulate-general in Sydney, who walked out of the
mission a week ago. Mr. Chen is understood to be in hiding with his wife Jin Ping, 38, and their
six-year-old daughter. He told The Weekend Australian newspaper he wanted to defect because he could
no longer support his country's persecution of dissidents. "China is a not a western democracy," Mr. Ferguson said. "Obviously whether it's ethnic minorities in western China or Falun Gong
or people who seek a more open society there are issues there and obviously his
case should be looked at. "I don't want to prejudge it because I don't know the person or his
exact claims, but certainly we all know that there are issues with regards to
human rights in China." Mr. Ferguson said there seemed to be more grounds to consider Mr. Chen for a
protection visa than for people from other countries. "We shouldn't assume it's a weak claim and it should be looked at by the
department," he said.
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