Former “Chinese Gestapo”, 610 officer, Hao Fengjun, was granted a permanent protection visa by the Australian government last week.
He is the second high-profile Chinese defector to be granted protection, after former First Secretary of the Sydney Chinese Consulate, Chen Yonglin.
Mr. Hao came to Australia in February this year, in a tour group, and brought with him, what his lawyer, Bernard Collaery, described as, “a 256 megabyte memory stick that contains a treasure trove of secret and confidential documents from the 610 office.” He said it may take months to have all the documents translated.
Mr. Collaery, said his client received his visa last week, a day after appearing at a Senate inquiry.
"It took that kind of pressure ... to get protection in our country," Mr Collaery said.
Mr. Hao said that he wanted to thank the Australian people for their friendliness and support, and said he wanted to be a good Australian citizen, and to fight for freedom and human rights in Australia.
He has been asked why he defected, and he says the reason is, “I could not continue to work for the 610 office – it is against my principles – I am a policeman, my job is to catch criminals not to persecute innocent Falun Gong practitioners. It is very hard for me to see my countrymen suppressed by the Communist regime, and even harder for me to be forced to watch, personally, the brutality against Falun Gong practitioners.”
He said that it is very hard for westerners to understand what it is like to live under such a brutal dictatorship, to be brainwashed by state media, and to have no freedom of expression.
Mr. Hao, asked if he felt that the 9 Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party, that was published by The Epoch Times, would help in a peaceful transition to democracy in China, said, “In China it is very hard for people to get information from outside of China, or to learn the truth about the CCP, - I hope that more people can read the Nine Commentaries and renounce their membership. I think that the CCP will fight to the end – I hope that peaceful change can come about but I am not sure.”
Mr. Hao said that after reading the 9 Commentaries himself, and seeing the courage of Chen Yonglin, that had encouraged him to speak out publicly.
When asked if he felt safe now that he had the protection visa, Mr. Hao replied, “ a visa is a piece of paper, it does not guarantee protection against an evil regime like the CCP.”
Mr. Hao said that he would support Falun Gong practitioners and other dissidents in their fight for freedom of belief in China, and called on the Australian government to “not to forsake the defenceless people's human rights for trade."
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