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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| China Already Repatriated N.Korean Defectors |
| 2012-02-24 |
| China has already sent back several of the North Korean defectors who were recently arrested there, despite pleas from Seoul and international human rights groups, sources said Thursday. The source said nine defectors who had crossed the Duman (or Tumen) River into China in early February were repatriated last weekend and have since been under investigation by security forces in Onsong, North Hamgyong Province. They were reportedly while traveling to Changchun from Yanji headed for South Korea. It is unclear how many defectors are facing repatriation as there is wide discrepancy between sources. According to defectors' group North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity, three defectors were arrested on a train bound for Changchun last Friday and repatriated on Monday. "Security forces and senior party officials are intimidating and threatening their families. Rumors are spreading that they will be executed to set an example," the group added. According to sources in China, about 200 defectors were caught by Chinese police and face repatriation. Lawmaker Says More N.Koreans Arrested in China Chinese police have arrested far more North Korean defectors than was previously known, Liberty Forward Party lawmaker Park Sun-young claimed Tuesday. Park has been vocal in recent days warning that China will repatriate the defectors. In a telephone interview with the Chosun Ilbo, Park said a total of 34 North Korean defectors were arrested in six groups since early February, and some of them face being sent back to the repressive country. She said the 19 were arrested on Feb. 8, five on Feb. 12, three on Feb. 13, four on Feb. 17, and three on Feb. 18. Intelligence reports say there are others, Park claimed, but she decided to delay disclosure because she had not confirmed the facts. Asked where her information came from, Park cited "a reliable source who has access to Chinese police." She added, "Based on this information, I was able to confirm their arrests by checking with family members who are already in South Korea." "I verified personal data of at least one member of each group of defectors who were arrested recently," she said. "I'm also trying to verify another piece of information I got on Monday that North Korean security forces raided the North Korean homes of the arrested defectors." Park said it is clearly possible for a single lawmaker to obtain information about arrested defectors and their personal data through various channels, "but the Foreign Ministry only says, 'We haven't grasped the situation yet' whenever defectors are arrested in China." She called on the government to do more to find out the real situation of North Korean defectors in China by using intelligence networks, rather than merely watching the reaction of the Chinese government. Park the same day started a hunger strike in front of the Chinese Embassy in Seoul in protest against China's attempt to repatriate the defectors. Seoul to Raise N.Korean Defector Issue at UNHRC The government has decided to raise the issue of North Korean defectors who face repatriation from China with the UN Human Rights Council when it meets at the end of this month. A government official said on Monday, "Since we have decided to take firm steps to prevent Beijing from repatriating North Korean defectors under UN treaties on the treatment of refugees and the prohibition of torture, we will raise the issue before the UN Human Rights Council." A Foreign Ministry official said, "According to new guidelines announced on Sunday, we are discussing at what level to bring up the matter at the UNHCR." The government will dispatch Choi Soo-young, the director of human rights and social affairs at the Foreign Ministry, to the UNHRC in Geneva this week. The government plans to seek measures to ensure the safety of North Korean defectors should they be sent back to the North. Also to be discussed is the inclusion of a clause in the North Korean Human Rights Resolution, adopted by the UNHCR every year, that would prohibit China from repatriating defectors from the North. A high-ranking government official said, "If no solution can be found through the UNHCR, then we will consider filing a complaint against China at the UN to raise international awareness of the issue." |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 It's important to remember stuff like this when doing business with China. The US and Britain did some things like this, in the 19th Century, when non-western lives were considered trivial compared to American lives. Now the Chinese are at that point. This is important to us if we are buying their stuff, because like we were at that point, "pure food and drugs", "safety" and such things are not real considerations compared to profits. If they sell us something that could poison thousands of Americans and we don't catch it before it does, their only concern will be the loss of business, not the death of Americans, to which they will be utterly indifferent. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2012-02-24 07:55 |
| #2 ION DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > CHINA EXPELS [2] JAPANESE SURVEY BOATS, from East China Sea. Read, TAIWAN. * SAME > US CAN SURRENDER EAST ASIA TO CHINA | GWYNNE DYER: CHINA SUPREMACY NEED NOT MEAN WAR WID US. [PRE-WW2 MUNICH CONFERENCE, HUGO CHAVEZ + ISLAND(S)-SINKING "US EARTHQUAKE/TECTONIC BOMBS" here]. Celine "Titanic" Dion + the Battleship Oklahoma. * SAME > [ChinaNews.cn] CHINA COULD LEASE HAINAN TO PAKISTAN FOR 50 YEARS IN RETURN FOR GILGIT. NOT-INDECENT Bilateral Proposal. THE TALIBAN ARE COMING, THE TALIBAN ARE COMING? i.e. Pak-sponsored Taliban + Al-Qaeda + Haqqannis, etal. in South China Sea/SE Asia = PHILIPPINES, SOPAC, GUAM-WESTPAC??? D *** NG IT, I THOUGHT IT WAS THE CHINESE WHOM WERE COMING! |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-02-24 01:23 |
| #1 China Already Repatriated N.Korean Defectors Well, that says it all, Don't it. Very unfriendly people. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2012-02-24 00:40 |