Canberra said to break law in China defector case

SYDNEY - Australia's government is coming under mounting criticism for the way it handled requests for political asylum by a Chinese diplomat, and two politicians leaders have said officials broke the law.

The diplomat, Chen Yonglin, 37, who defected last month after working as a political affairs consul in Sydney, is in hiding because he fears for his safety and that of his family if returned to China.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd yesterday added his voice to a growing chorus of accusations that Australian officials contravened the law by telephoning Chinese authorities in response to Chen's request for asylum.

Immigration Minister Amanda Vancestone has said staff in her department called the Chinese consulate in Sydney when Chen made his first approach.

Australia's Migration Act prohibits disclosing the identity of an asylum seeker to a foreign country.

"The law is very clear. It says it is unauthorised, it is unlawful," Rudd said.

Bob Brown, leader of the minor party, the Greens, made a similar claim.

"That in itself (the telephone calls) appears to have been an illegal thing for the government to do in this country," Brown said on Channel 10's Meet the Press on Sunday morning.

The statements follow accusations by supporters of Chen, including members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, questioning the legality of the Australian government's reaction to Chen's request for asylum.

The accusations deepen a controversy over whether the Australian government is putting trade with China - Australia's third-largest trading partner - ahead of human rights.

Australian members of the Falun Gong movement, which mixes meditation with Buddhism, Chinese mysticism and exercises, have also launched legal action against Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer alleging that his department has unfairly treated their freedom of expression.

The group says Department of Foreign Affairs restrictions on demonstrations outside the Chinese embassy are illegal.

China branded Falun Gong as an evil cult after 10,000 members surrounded the leadership's Beijing compound in a surprise dawn protest in 1999. Fearing that the spiritual movement could present an organised challenge to its authority, the Communist Party has cracked down on Falun Gong over the past few years.

Chen is now applying to the Immigration Department for a more common protection visa, which is granted to asylum seekers under the UN Refugees Convention, after Downer discouraged the diplomat's application for political asylum.

Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said on Sunday that Chen was not at risk of being sent back to China while his application for a temporary protection visa is being considered.

But Chen's decision to make his political asylum bid public a week ago at a Sydney rally would not help his application to stay in Australia, Ruddock said.

"You can't advance your claim by commentary after you've made it," he said.

Chen is one of three Chinese officials claiming asylum in Australia. One other is Hao Fengjun, who says he had worked as a state security officer for the Chinese security service known as 610. The third has not been named.

- REUTERS