Protestant leader says dissidents exaggerate to win asylum
A senior leader of the mainland's official Protestant governing body yesterday accused Christian dissidents of using claims of religious persecution as an excuse to seek asylum.
Reverend Deng Fucun, vice-chairman of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee of the Protestant Churches of China, made the comment when asked about two mainland dissidents active in the underground church in Beijing seeking political asylum in Australia.
Gao Feng and Jin Cheng last month filed an application with the Australian immigration authorities after leaving China some time before June this year, according to Liu Qing , president of the New-York based Human Rights in China.
'I have not heard about these two persons,' Reverend Deng said. 'Many people seeking asylum are using religious persecution. How many of [their cases] are actually related to the religious cause?'
He was speaking after the opening ceremony of an exhibition on the Bible Ministry of the Churches in Hong Kong.
Mr Gao served a 30-month jail term in the late 1990s for disturbing social order in Beijing. He was involved in writing an article revealing the plight of laid-off workers and poverty-stricken families in Beijing.