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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (684729)	6/5/2005 12:50:51 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 769670

Well said!

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (684729)	6/5/2005 9:02:39 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

China envoy alleges spy network Sunday, June 5, 2005 Posted: 7:48 PM EDT (2348 GMT) SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- A senior Chinese diplomat on the run in Australia claims China has a network of about 1,000 agents in the country who have been involved in kidnappings of dissidents. The diplomat, Chen Yonglin, said his work in Australia included monitoring the activities of dissident Chinese groups, including Falun Gong practitioners and supporters of Tibet, Taiwan and Uighur separatists in western China. Chen, 37, consul for political affairs at the consulate-general in Sydney, left his post on May 26 and has sought political asylum from the Australian Government for himself, his wife Jin Ping and their six-year-old daughter Chen Fangrong. Chen made his claims in a letter made public by Australian media and in an address to a pro-democracy rally in Sydney on Saturday marking the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing on June 4, 1989. The Chinese embassy says Chen's accusations are "fabrications" and that he simply wants to live in Australia rather than returning to Beijing. An embassy statement issued on Sunday night said: "To achieve the aim of staying in Australia, Chen Yonglin fabricated stories which are unfounded and purely fictitious." Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said immigration officials were assessing Chen's appeal for a special "protection visa" and were weighing up whether he would now face persecution if he was forced to return to China. In interviews with Australian newspapers and television, Chen said his initial request for political asylum had been refused within 24 hours by Australian immigration officials, who encouraged him to return to his post at the Chinese consulate. He said the Australian officials had alerted his superiors, prompting him to flee Sydney last week. But on Saturday, he appeared at a Sydney rally to mark the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests. "I feel very unsafe," Chen told the rally, according to The Associated Press. "In 16 years, the Chinese government has done nothing for political reform. People have no political freedom, no human rights." Chen said he had worked at the Sydney consulate for four years, during which time he monitored dissident activities in Australia. A Falun Gong spokeswoman, Kay Rubacek, told Australian television she was shocked by Chen's move. She said Chen in the past had taken photographs of peaceful protests outside the consulate in Sydney. Chen's case comes at a delicate time for the Australian government, which is seeking to negotiate a free trade agreement with China and has hosted numerous high-level visits from China recently. The last was by Wu Bangguo, chairman of the National People's Congress, who toured Australia last month. Australian exports to China have mushroomed in recent years, particularly in the commodities sector, where coal, iron ore and other metals are much in demand to feed China's booming economy. China is now Australia's third largest trade partner, and two-way trade is running at about $23 billion a year. Last week, The Australian newspaper reported that the country's domestic spy agency ASIO had set up a new counter-espionage unit to boost its surveillance of Chinese and Russian spies looking to steal Australian technology secrets. The newspaper said government sources believed Chinese agents in Australia now outnumbered Russian agents. It quoted the sources as saying spies used diplomatic cover and also were posing as business people and professionals. China has 40 registered diplomats in Australia, compared with just 11 for Russia.

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (684729)	6/6/2005 7:22:21 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Buddhist worker beheaded in Thai Muslim south 06 Jun 2005 07:38:46 GMT Source: Reuters BANGKOK, June 6 (Reuters) - A Buddhist has been beheaded in Muslim-majority southern Thailand, police said on Monday, the fourth decapitation of a Buddhist since violence erupted in the region 18 months ago. Police found the body of the 59-year-old rubber plantation employee at his hut in Yaha district of Yala province late on Sunday. "We believe it must have been the work of those militants," a police officer said by telephone, declining to give further details of the incident in the largely Malay-speaking region, where more than 700 people have died in the violence. No group has claimed responsibility for the violence. The Muslim-majority region has a century-long history of violent separatism from Bangkok. The first Buddhist rubber tapper was decapitated in May last year. His killers left a note saying they had acted in revenge for the arrest of innocent Muslims. In November, two Buddhist men were beheaded in revenge for the deaths of 85 Muslim protesters in army custody, most of them by suffocation a month earlier. Three policemen and two civilians were wounded on Monday when a 5 kg (11 lbs) bomb hidden in a motorcycle and triggered by a mobile phone went off in a park in the nearby tourist town of Sungai Kolok as people were exercising. Late on Sunday, militants blew up a power transmitter, blacking out the city of Yaha, police said. The government in the mostly Buddhist country has imposed martial law in parts of the provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, which all border Malaysia, at the same time as offering lavish development aid and regional assistance. However, neither the iron first or olive branch approach seems to have made any impact. Shootings, bombings and arson attacks mainly against official, Buddhist targets have become daily occurrences. alertnet.org