Chen Yonglin

The episode was compared to the Petrov Affair by such observers as Shadow Minister for Immigration Laurie Ferguson and trade unionist Bill Shorten.

Chen, who is from Ningbo, Zhejiang province, had been a university student in Beijing during the pro-democracy movement that ultimately led to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.

[citation needed] Factors contributing to the defection, according to Chen, are the torture and death of his father during the Cultural Revolution, witnessing the Tiananmen Massacre and the persecution against the Falun Gong imposed by the Chinese authorities.

On 5 June, the Chinese embassy released a statement claiming that Chen was due to return home and had invented allegations of wrongdoing in the hope that he would be allowed to stay.

During his interview on the ABC show Lateline, Han explained "I do know that the Communist Party of China sent people to collect intelligence information, including Chinese Embassy and Consulate staff.

The fifty-two-year-old defector has been denied political asylum and ruled ineligible to remain in Canada, because the federal Immigration and Refugee Board found him a "willing accomplice" in prior human rights abuses.

[5] China's ambassador in Canberra, Fu Ying, condemned Chen for "attacking his motherland" with "allegations and noise" for what she claimed was the sole purpose of living in a wealthier country.

[citation needed] Following the granting of protection visas to Chen and his family, he has met with Australian intelligence officials to discuss his earlier claims of a thousand-strong Chinese spy network.

The vice president of the federation, Sheng Wang, denied these claims and accused Chen of damaging the reputation of all Chinese Australians as well as undermining relations between China and Australia.

[9] On 16 August, Chen accused the Chinese government of sending a three-member assassination squad into Australia, claiming he was alerted to their presence by a close friend in the foreign ministry.

"[citation needed] In late September, Chen contended that the man in charge of China's spy network continued to operate out of the consulate-general in Sydney.