TAIWAN INSIDE STORY ON PRC NATIONAL JIA JIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L AIT TAIPEI 003742 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR CA/VO/F/P, EAP/CM, PRM, DRL/ASY, DRL/IRF E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2031 TAGS: PHUM PINR PREL HK CH NZ TW SUBJECT: TAIWAN INSIDE STORY ON PRC NATIONAL JIA JIA REF: HONG KONG 4284 Classified By: Deputy Director Robert S. Wang, Reason(s): 1.4 (B/D). ¶1. (C) Summary: PRC national Jia Jia entered Taiwan from Thailand on October 22, as part of a 26-member Chinese tour group. Jia separated from the group after passing through Customs, and afterward, met with two Taiwanese professors, both outspoken advocates of Falun Gong. Jia surrendered himself to the Taiwan Visitors Association on October 25. In police custody, Jia identified himself as the Secretary General of the Shanxi Province Science and Technology Association, but denied being a member of the Chinese Communist Party or the Falun Gong. He claimed to be a democracy advocate interested in taking Taiwan's democratic lessons back to the PRC. Claiming to fear persecution if returned to China, Jia requested political asylum. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) played down public discussion of Jia's asylum request to avoid creating difficulties for him in the PRC. MAC also disseminated a politically neutral "cover story" that Jia's decision to split from his tour group had been caused by depression. Taiwan denied Jia's asylum request because he could not prove he had or would suffer any form of persecution in the PRC. Taiwan offered Jia two options: to return to Thailand or to travel to Hong Kong. Jia chose Hong Kong, expecting the aid of sympathetic Falun Gong practitioners there. MAC told AIT that the New Zealand representative in Hong Kong had agreed to issue Jia a visa, but the request was ultimately denied. As of 7:00 p.m., November 2, Taipei time, Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners are hoping to secure travel for Jia to Thailand, where he will try to petition for refugee status. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Legal Affairs Director Jeff Yang (Jia-jun) told AIT on November 2 that local press reporting of PRC national Jia Jia's case told only part of the story. According to Yang, Jia entered Taiwan from Thailand on October 22, as part of a Chinese tour group from Shanxi and Henan provinces. Jia's tour group was scheduled to stay in Taiwan October 22-28. Jia split from the group after clearing Customs at Taoyuan International Airport. He was on his own for two days, during which time he met with two well-known Falun Gong advocates, National Taiwan University (NTU) professors Chang Ching-hsi and Ming Chu-cheng. Jia turned himself in to the Taiwan Visitors Association (Taiwan's tourism bureau) on October 25. ¶3. (C) MAC's Yang told AIT that during the initial interview by the Ministry of Justice Investigative Bureau (MJIB),Jia readily identified himself as Secretary General of the Shanxi Province Science and Technology Association, and offered supporting documentation. However, Jia denied being a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and denied any affiliation with Falun Gong. Jia told investigators he wished to understand and experience Taiwan's democracy first hand, and to share that experience with others in China. Jia also advocated the establishment of a "Chinese Democratic Confederation." Although Jia admitted he had not yet begun pro-democracy activities in China, he asserted that he would do so in the future when the "time was right." Jia requested political asylum in Taiwan because he feared he would suffer persecution upon his return to the PRC. (Note: The local press reported that Jia had initially claimed to be a democracy activist, and a member of Falun Gong, and that he had sought asylum to avoid persecution by PRC authorities. Papers later reported that Jia then denied Falun Gong membership, and claimed that his decision to separate from the tour group had been motivated by depression over a recent split with his wife. End note.) ¶4. (C) Yang and MAC Department of Information and Liaison Section Chief Cheng Wei-ching explained to AIT the "marital difficulties" story, although rooted in fact, was essentially a "cover story" publicized by MAC in an effort to de-politicize Jia's case. Jia would probably face some kind of investigation if he were to ultimately required to return to China, Yang told AIT. The "marital difficulties" story was intended to enable Jia to plead emotional distress as the cause of his erratic behavior and controversial statements while in Taiwan. Jia would have been much worse off facing the Chinese authorities without this kind of "plausible deniability," Yang continued, and the Taiwan authorities wanted to preserve his ability to return to China, should he so desire. ¶5. (C) Yang told AIT that Taiwan authorities denied Jia's asylum requst. They found Jia's case atypical in that he held a privileged position in the PRC and had been permitted to travel freely to Taiwan by the PRC authorities. Jia, moreover, admitted that he was not actually a political dissident yet, and was only planning to become one in the future, and he could not prove that he had been or would be the victim of politically-motivated persecution. Yang told AIT that Jia was laboring under the misconception that as a PRC citizen, he would automatically be eligible for asylum or refugee status once he made it to Taiwan, and therefore was unprepared to meet his "burden of proof." ¶6. (C) Once his asylum request was denied, Taiwan authorities offered Jia two options: to return to Thailand to pursue a refugee claim there with UNHCR, or to go to Hong Kong. Jia chose Hong Kong, where he expected help from sympathetic Falun Gong practitioners there. Yang explained that NTU professors Chang and Ming were willing to help Jia because he shared their hatred of the CCP, and had publicly urged its members to quit. Chang and Ming were responsible for energizing the Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong, who ultimately helped Jia secure a seven-day stay in Hong Kong. ¶7. (C) Yang told AIT that Jia did in fact suffer an emotional breakdown at the airport on the morning of October 25, when he was scheduled to fly to Hong Kong, as had been reported in the press. According to Yang, Jia was afraid of "facing the unknown" in Hong Kong, where he feared he might be detained by Chinese authorities. After he recovered his composure, Jia flew to Hong Kong on the afternoon of October ¶25. Yang said the Taiwan government has received no communication from the PRC on Jia's case, and has not been pressured by Beijing in any way. ¶8. (C) MAC told AIT that, at the behest of the Taiwan representative office in Hong Kong, the New Zealand representative there had agreed to issue Jia a visa. Taiwan authorities had agreed to pay for Jia's flight to New Zealand, which would have transited Taiwan. Unfortunately, the New Zealand visa request was denied. According to Yang, as of November 2, 7:00 p.m. Taiwan time, Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners are hoping to secure for Jia a direct flight to Thailand, where he may try to petition for refugee status. WANG