In a startling revelation, former diplomat Chen Yonglin spoke of a woman kidnapped from New Zealand in 2005 and taken by ship back to China.
Chen said the woman, a permanent resident of New Zealand, was “valuable” to the Chinese authorities. He would not disclose her name or other personal details until he had spoken to the New Zealand police - “if they were interested”.
Chen, a diplomat at the Consulate-General in Sydney, defected in 2005 and has continued to release damning information of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) workings.
He has spoken of a network of 1000 spies operating in Australia for the communist regime and said they are also active in New Zealand.
During yesterday’s press conference Chen named organisations in New Zealand working as fronts for the Chinese Embassy.
He said the United Chinese Association of New Zealand was the “umbrella organisation being sponsored and set up by the Chinese Embassy here in New Zealand to control the Chinese people here.”
The New Zealand Council for Promotion of Peaceful Unification of China is another organisation whose headquarters are in China, said Chen. University groups such as UNCIS were also backed by the CCP and often held meetings at the Chinese Embassy, said Chen.
Their purpose, he said, was to use the Chinese community to monitor and gather information, and infiltrate the “five dissident groups”.
“The number one enemy of the Chinese regime is Falun Gong.” Following this group are democracy advocates, pro-independence for Taiwan activists, pro-independence of Tibet activists and Uighers.
He said the groups are part of a complex propaganda and influence strategy set up in 2002 to influence Oceania countries.
“The Chinese people are brainwashed to serve the Chinese Communist Party.”
New Zealanders are largely unaware of the extent of the human rights abuses occurring in China, as well as the level of penetration and influence of the CCP in New Zealand, Chen said.
“In New Zealand, there is very little awareness of the danger of communism. This is a regime with a history of killing.”
Chen said the New Zealand government has been praised by the CCP for not putting much pressure on them around human rights issues.
Talking about human rights with the CCP was “useless” he said, and questioned whether a free trade agreement was worth it or not to New Zealanders.
Chen Yonglin is in Wellington to help raise awareness of human rights abuses in China.
He will speak at Thursday’s rally organised by the Green Party, Amnesty International, Friends of Falun Gong and Friends of Tibet.
Chen will also support the march and rally on Friday, 20 July, organised by Falun Gong to mark eight years of persecution by the Chinese Communist Party.
