POLITICAL ASYLUM INQUIRY FROM CHINESE CITIZEN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIJING 023712 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/09/2031 TAGS: PHUM CH SUBJECT: POLITICAL ASYLUM INQUIRY FROM CHINESE CITIZEN REF: BEIJING 21217 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Daniel Shields. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) A Chinese national male approached the Embassy on November 8 and said he wanted to request political asylum on the grounds that he had been unable to find employment since 1999 because of his political beliefs. In accordance with the procedures in 2 FAM 228 and relevant Department guidance, poloff and assistant regional security officer (ARSO) interviewed the man, after which they explained that the Embassy is not authorized to grant or in any way promise asylum. The man departed the Embassy without incident. End Summary. ¶2. (C) A Chinese national male approached the Embassy on the afternoon of November 8 requesting to speak with an Embassy representative about "political asylum." Poloff and ARSO interviewed the subject in person outside the Embassy compound. The subject stated his name to be TANG Min, DPOB February 29, 1971, Guizhou, China, though he possessed no identification documents. The individual said he is currently unemployed, and has been since 1999. ¶3. (C) The subject said he wanted to "request political asylum" because he had not been able to find employment due to his political beliefs, which he described as being, "anti-communist, anti-socialist, and pro-capitalist, pro-freedom." Because of these beliefs and his status as a "dissident," the man claimed that no one in China would hire him, despite his repeatedly having submitted job applications to various companies. ¶4. (C) The subject said he had been arrested in 2003 after having sought asylum at the Algerian Embassy. When the Algerian Embassy refused his request, Chinese police took him away and detained him for eight months, releasing him sometime in 2004. He said he had not had any difficulty with the police since then, as he does not state publicly his political views, but he claimed the police constantly follow him. Subject claimed he has no affiliation with the Communist Party or any other political party in China. ¶5. (C) When asked whether he had run afoul of the authorities for having publicly stated his political beliefs, subject again denied having ever publicly expressed his political views. Rather, subject launched into an agitated discussion about how he had become famous throughout China for having distributed "monosyllabic, disyllabic, and polysyllabic words" that had spread among the Chinese public nationwide. This had made him a "well-known figure" and contributed to his status as a "dissident," he stated. ¶6. (C) Prior to coming to the Embassy on the afternoon of November 8, the subject claimed to have entered the compound of a "French School" in Beijing on the evening of November 7 in an attempt to apply for asylum, but no one was there. He then went to the Hungarian Embassy, where he spent the evening waiting outside the Hungarian Chancery. When Hungarian Embassy personnel arrived in the morning of November 8, they reportedly promptly refused his request for asylum. He therefore made his way to the American Embassy to request political asylum. ¶7. (C) In accordance with 2 FAM 228 and relevant Department guidance, poloff and ARSO explained that the Embassy is not authorized to grant or in any way promise asylum. Upon hearing this news, subject immediately departed the vicinity of the Embassy compound without incident. Randt