A Qantas employee who practises Falun Gong, was removed from her job after being deported from China. A representative of Falun Gong in Australia said she was likely targeted by Chinese spies. (Torsten Blackwood/Getty Images )

SYDNEY—A Qantas employee, removed from her job after being deported from China for practising Falun Gong, was likely targeted by Chinese spies, says a representative of Falun Gong in Australia.

Mr. John Deller, spokesman for the New South Wales Falun Dafa Association, said that Falun Gong practitioner Sheridan Genrich, a Qantas flight attendant, was stopped and interrogated before she was searched during a stopover in Beijing.

“They had already targeted her, so they must have known she was a Falun Gong practitioner,” he told The Epoch Times.

Ms. Genrich, whose case is before the Fair Work Tribunal, told the hearing that she was singled out from the rest of the crew, interrogated over her beliefs and told never to come back or there would be “serious consequences”, News Limited reported.

A flight attendant with Qantas since 2001 and, according to her Counsel, “with an excellent working record”, Ms. Genrich has since been removed from long haul flights and demoted to a lower-paying job.

Her detainment and subsequent deportation would have been a direct result of Chinese agents working in Australia, said Mr. Deller.

“The Chinese Consulate, and all their agency networks in Australia, monitor people who practise Falun Dafa, so it is quite easy for them to get information on people who practise and clearly they were targeting her,” he said.

According to News Limited, legal counsel for Ms. Genrich, Shane Prince told the Tribunal that Ms. Genrich wants to be reinstated on international routes and compensated for lost wages, claiming that Qantas has unfairly discriminated against her.

Ms. Genrich, whose case is before the Fair Work Tribunal. (Facebook photo)

Qantas is arguing that international crew must be able to travel anywhere and Ms. Genrich’s deportation now excludes her from being able to fulfill that requirement.

This is despite reports that there are exceptions, including a Taiwanese flight attendant who is exempt from flying on Qantas routes to China.

Qantas Counsel Rachel Bernasconi told the Tribunal that Ms. Genrich reportedly carried with her on the flight the book Zhuan Falun, which contains the teachings of Falun Gong, and The Epoch Times newspaper, known to be critical of the Chinese regime, News Limited reported.

Qantas asserts that Ms. Genrich should have known these were illegal in China and that it is stipulated in the Crew Manual that crew members cannot “convey” newspapers while on duty.

Ms. Genrich admitted having these in her luggage, but said the newspapers were gifts for friends who she thought would want to know what was going on outside China.

Falun Gong Not Illegal

Mr. Deller said that while it was widely known that Falun Gong and related material were banned by the Chinese Communist Party, it was incorrect to say Falun Gong and related material were illegal.

“Falun Gong is not illegal in China,” he said. “The Peoples Congress have to pass laws to make something illegal and they haven’t done that on Falun Gong.”

Mr. Deller said that within Chinese law and the Chinese constitution, people in China have the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression.

“It is actually the persecution of Falun Gong which is illegal,” he said.

Initiated in 1999 by then-leader Jiang Zemin, the persecution of Falun Gong continues under the present ruling Communist regime under an extrajudicial command structure known as the 610 office.

“This runs outside of government control, outside of the judicial system and outside all legal instruments of the Chinese government,” he said.

Australian Values Compromised

Mr. Deller said he was disappointed in Qantas for kowtowing to the Chinese Communist Party and particularly for not standing up for Australian values.

“She [Ms. Genrich] should have the right to maintain her job and live according to Australia’s principles and freedoms while visiting temporarily in a country as a Qantas employee,” he said.

Mr. Deller said Falun Gong was a traditional Chinese meditation and exercise with core beliefs of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance.

“Only in China are people persecuted for trying to be good people,” he said, adding: “In Taiwan, they have the same Chinese people, but Falun Gong is treasured as a valuable and true part of Chinese culture.”

Ms. Genrich’s case was heard by Fair Work Australia Commissioner Frank Raffaelli, who has reserved his decision on the case.