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| Down Under |
| Keep trade out of Chinese diplomat case, says Labor |
| 2005-06-05 |
| The Federal Opposition says Australia's trade relationship with China should not be a barrier to the granting of a protection visa to a Sydney-based Chinese diplomat. Chen Yunglin was the political affairs attache for the China Consulate General for four years. Mr Chen says he fears he will be jailed if he is sent back to China. Opposition immigration spokesman Laurie Ferguson says China will be unhappy about the claims, but he does not believe Mr Chen's case will affect Australian trade negotiations. "The Chinese Government is aware that we're party to international conventions," he said. "We've got a regime for processing people; if people have valid claims they're accepted." The Foreign Affairs Department has confirmed that a Chinese consular official has applied for a protection visa, but would not comment further. Greens leader Bob Brown says the Federal Government must offer protection to Mr Chen. A spokesman for the Immigration Minister says Mr Chen's application will be undergo regular procedures, but Senator Brown says the Government should give Mr Chen special treatment. "Giving him ordinary processing here is simply inadequate," he said. "This is a diplomat who has spoken up in Australia and is alleging crimes against Australia. He must be given special assistance, special protection and special treatment." Australian Workers Union national secretary Bill Shorten says he is sceptical of the Government's reasons for not fast-tracking Mr Chen's application. "If Labor was in government and they were moving as slowly as the Federal Government's reported to be, that would be because obviously the Labor Party's run by secret Communists," he said. "The real issue here is that it's capitalism which is intruding upon the treatment of Mr Chen. The obvious question here is if he has some information, why on earth don't we want to hear it?" |
| Posted by:Spavirt Pheng6042 |
| #2 Its more Labour is trying to manufacture an issue. A regular feature of Oz news is the illegal immigrants who deserve special treatment - sick kid, old grandmother, son who plays footie, daughter who plays violin, etc. etc. The Howard governments position has been 'we have a set of rules and they apply to everyone' so I understand their reluctance to intervene after the bureuacrats have rejected the mans claim for asylum. I would be astonished if the Howard government didn't grant the protection visa (after the politicians do intervene). |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-06-05 07:12 |
| #1 My gosh ... if he's legit, the opposition that tried to tumble Howard actually gets it! (Well, on a surface reading -- do they?) |
| Posted by: Edward Yee 2005-06-05 00:53 |