Heading To Canada, Freed Chinese Dissident Held By Thais

[seanwg]

Interesting Article....

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ernational/home

Heading to Canada, freed Chinese dissident held by Thais

GEOFFREY YORK

From Monday's Globe and Mail

BEIJING — Seventeen years after a recklessly courageous anti-Maoist gesture, Lu Decheng has served his prison time and paid his price. But even now, on the verge of freedom in Canada, he cannot escape the long arm of Chinese repression.

The veteran Chinese dissident, who fled to Thailand after spending nine years in a Chinese prison for splashing red paint on the famous Mao portrait in Tiananmen Square, has found himself unexpectedly blocked from refuge in Canada -- even with a Canadian visa in hand.

Canadian diplomats in Beijing confirmed this weekend that Ottawa has issued an immigrant visa to Mr. Lu, allowing him to settle permanently in Canada. But he remains in detention in Thailand, where he is closely watched by local authorities under Chinese pressure.

Mr. Lu's case could become an early test of the foreign policies of the Stephen Harper government in Ottawa, which has pledged to support human rights in China. Under the previous government, many Conservative MPs complained that the Liberals were ignoring human rights in their scramble for Chinese business deals.

Both the Prime Minister's Office and the office of Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay received requests for comment on the case yesterday. Mr. Harper's office didn't respond and Mr. MacKay's office referred questions to the Immigration Department, which isn't allowed to comment on individual cases.

NDP foreign affairs critic Alexa McDonough urged Ottawa to take action. "In opposition the Conservatives expressed concerns over Chinese human-rights violations, now in government they have an opportunity to prove those concerns were genuine," she said. "The federal government must convince the Chinese government to allow Mr. Decheng to come to Canada."

But the case might also trigger a new diplomatic clash between Beijing and Ottawa. For several years, China has been demanding the extradition of alleged smuggling kingpin Lai Changxing, who has sought refugee status in Canada. He remained in Canada while his case wound its way through the refugee process and court appeals, and Beijing has punished Canada by delaying a key agreement on tourism. If Canada accepts another man who is considered a fugitive from Chinese justice, it could provoke further conflicts between Canada and China.

Mr. Lu, a bus driver who joined the pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square in 1989, was one of three men jailed for hurling red paint on the Mao Zedong portrait. He was paroled from prison in 1998, but continued to face official persecution, including surveillance and phone tapping. His house was demolished and his minibus was confiscated, making it impossible for him to work.

In late 2004, Mr. Lu slipped across the border from China to Burma and then to Thailand. But during a meeting with Chinese pro-democracy activists at a Catholic church in Bangkok, he was arrested by Thai police -- with Chinese embassy officials joining the raid, according to one report.

He sought refugee status and eventually gained an immigrant visa from Canada early this month, with the help of Canadian sponsors. He expected to fly to Canada last week. But instead he remains in a Bangkok immigration detention centre, with Beijing demanding his deportation to China.

"China is a legal country and it does not have any so-called 'political refugees,' " the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "Lu Decheng left China in violation of Chinese laws. The Chinese government is requesting his extradition back to China in absolute accordance with international rules."

Radio Free Asia, which has closely followed Mr. Lu's case, reported on Friday that Beijing had applied pressure on the Thai government to prevent Mr. Lu from travelling to Canada. This was confirmed in an e-mail to one of the Canadian sponsors from the Canadian embassy in Bangkok, the report said.

"It's very likely that China could exert some influence on the Thai authorities," said Rukshan Fernando, a human-rights activist at the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development in Bangkok.

"China is a big power in the region, so anyone in the region would want to maintain good diplomatic relations with China," he said.

Mr. Lu, meanwhile, was humble about the cancellation of his move to Canada. "Something unexpected has happened," he told Radio Free Asia on Friday. "We will try to appeal to the higher-ups. I hope it will work. I feel guilty that I have caused trouble for everybody. I am grateful to everybody for their help."

Mr. Lu's sponsors in Canada are hoping that Canadian MPs and human-rights activists can petition Bangkok to allow Mr. Lu to be released.

Another dissident who threw paint on the Mao portrait on the same day in 1989 was finally released from prison last month after more than 16 years behind bars. The prisoner, Yu Dongyue, was reported to be incoherent and unable to communicate after being driven insane by years of beatings, torture and solitary confinement.

With a report from Michael Den Tandt in Ottawa

[LaoPo]

Sentenced 16 years in prison for throwing paint at Mao's portrait...

Human rights in China are far from human.....yet.

Thailand is in a difficult political situation. What to do with this man...?

LaoPo