Beijing accused of espionage

OTTAWA — A Toronto woman says she was shocked and annoyed to see her personal information in a secret report to Chinese officials.

Jillian Ye, a database consultant in suburban Scarborough, found herself at the centre of a storm yesterday over allegations of Chinese espionage in Canada.

The 39-year-old Ye, a longtime practitioner of Falun Gong, was the subject of a September 2004 report to security officials in China, where many say followers of the ancient meditative practice have been persecuted.

The federal Conservatives and a national group representing Falun Gong devotees expressed concern about Ye’s case yesterday, citing it as a prime example of Chinese government interference in Canadian affairs. They accused the Liberals of failing to firmly voice Canada’s opposition to harassment and spying by Beijing.

The leaked report, slated for circulation to government security bureaus throughout China, contains information about Ye’s plans to start a communications firm as well as details of her recent purchase of a New York residence for her parents.

It was addressed to a Deputy Minister Liu with instructions to distribute the contents to the Central Cult Prevention and Management Leadership Committee Office, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and various security offices.

“Clearly, absolutely, my rights are violated,” Ye said.

As a Falun Gong activist since 1995, Ye expected she and fellow practitioners in Canada were being monitored. “However, to this extent — this kind of detail — it’s a bit shocking.”

The report was obtained by the Epoch Times, an independent newspaper based in New York that publishes Chinese, English and French editions in Canada.

The Times made a copy of the report available to CP.

It was among about eight such documents received by the Times from Hao Fengjun, a former security officer in Tianjin, China, who is claiming asylum in Australia.

Chinese officials deny Hao’s charges of government spying, saying he is simply trying to bolster his efforts to win asylum.

Read Another Article

‘End of the world’
Cruise, Holmes raise profile of Scientology

Related News Articles Topic(s): Falun Gong Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com Falun Gong Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog