On August 9, Mr. Yuan Sheng, a pilot for Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines, with 18 years of flying experience, announced to the world that he had parted from his crew and was seeking political asylum. The media paid immediate attention to his case. On August 10, Yuan Sheng made a statement in New York declaring: "This is a forced painful personal decision about personal faith and freedom of speech. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is frightened of the book titled Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party (Nine Commentaries) and of Chinese people withdrawing from the CCP. Talking about the Nine Commentaries is currently the most sensitive and dangerous topic in China. I now realize how dangerous my situation was, and have decided not to go back."
When reporting the reason why Yuan left his crew, one of the Chinese media claimed, "There must be other reasons involved here. Seeking political asylum for being a (persecuted) Falun Gong practitioner is nothing but an excuse. He must have financial problems, or he may be involved in internal corruption, etc."
On August 11, a reporter from The Epoch Times called the Department of Propaganda and the Department of Security of China Eastern Airlines, in Pudong to inquire about the incident. All responded, "We don't know [anything about the situation]."
The reporter got in touch with the General Manager of the Department of Aviation of China Eastern Airlines, Guan Weidong. Guan said that they have come to know about the incident, but that right now the situation is not clearly understood. They are still in the process of investigating and internally discussing the matter.
When the reporter asked, "How does Yuan Sheng behave in his daily life? What kind of a person is he?" Guan responded, "He is a very nice person with good moral values, he is very honest and tolerant, well-behaved. He doesn't lie."
When the reporter continued and asked, "One of the media claimed that he escaped abroad because of corruption. What do you think about this?" He immediately refuted, "This is nonsense. He has no power. How could he be corrupted?"
The reporter also contacted two of Yuan's colleagues. They both stated that "the situation is still not clear." They both expressed that Yuan is a very nice person, very kind and honest.
"He is very kind, always nice to friends and colleagues. He works hard and is very dedicated to his work. He has a good safe flying record. He has never been involved in any accident."
When being asked about the possibility of corruption, they said: "He is not even a leader, and he has no power at all. How can he be corrupted? Where does corruption come in?"
His colleague, Mr Zhang stated at the end, "No matter what, I still hope that he will be safe. No matter what choice he makes, I hope everything will go well with him."
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