{"id":1254890,"date":"2023-10-09T03:13:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T03:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/china\/chen-canada-10082023231047.html"},"modified":"2023-10-09T03:13:00","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T03:13:00","slug":"chinese-activist-gets-political-asylum-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/10\/09\/chinese-activist-gets-political-asylum-in-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese activist gets political asylum in Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n
Chinese dissident Chen Siming, who refused to board a flight to China while transiting through Taiwan, has been granted political asylum in Canada.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In an exclusive interview with Radio Free Asia after arriving in Vancouver on Oct. 5, Chen said he hopes to adapt to life in Canada as soon as possible and find a job to make a living. If he takes good care of himself, he said he will be more powerful to help the pro-democracy movement and overthrow the power of the Chinese Communist Party.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \"After I got out of the airport [in Vancouver], I was very happy, my heart was at peace, and I was in the free world,\" said Chen, an outspoken activist who recently published an open letter commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen massacre \u2013 a banned topic in China.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Hunan province native fled from China in July to Laos, despite a travel ban imposed on him. He arrived in Laos just as the Chinese human rights lawyer Lu Siwei was detained by the local authorities, and was subsequently repatriated to China. A fearful Chen therefore headed to Bangkok, but remained concerned he would be arrested by Thai authorities who have previously sent Chinese political refugees back. So he bought a flight ticket for the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, routed through the democratic island of <\/span>Taiwan<\/span><\/a> on Sept. 22.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chen remained under the care of Taiwan\u2019s Immigration Department for more than 10 days at the airport in Taipei. A few days after arriving in Taoyuan airport, Taiwan's New School for Democracy sent someone to check on his daily living needs and help him apply for a temporary entry permit as he awaited asylum in a third country. <\/span><\/p>\n At the same time, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees contacted him to help find a country that would officially accept him. Chen said he received backing from U.S. and Canada-based activists such as Sheng Xue, Jie Lijian and Wang Dan, which helped him arrive in Canada in a record 14 days.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n While Chen felt uncertain about the future when staying in Taiwan, he was not worried. \"The first is not to be deported to mainland China, and the second is not to be deported to Thailand. It doesn't matter if the [waiting] time is longer. In Taiwan, I feel very safe, even in prison, let alone the immigration office.\"<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n China\u2019s long arm in Southeast Asia<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n