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
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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