Chinese pilot seeks political asylum in U.S.
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Chinese pilot seeks political asylum in U.S.
http://www.sgvtribune.com/search/ci_4160013
Chinese pilot seeks political asylum in U.S.
By Fred Ortega Staff Writer - San Gabriel Valley Tribune
EL MONTE - A Chinese airline pilot is seeking political asylum in the United States, fearing he will be imprisoned - and perhaps even killed - for his religious beliefs if he returns to his homeland.
Sheng Yuan, 39, of Shanghai, announced during a hastily organized news conference Wednesday that he would not be returning to China on his regularly scheduled flight today. The conference was held at the Asian American Association building in El Monte by local human rights activists assisting Yuan in his plight.
Yuan, a follower of the Falun Gong religion outlawed by the Communist Chinese government, claims he was confronted by members of Shanghai's Pudong Airport police as he and fellow crew members prepared to take off on China Eastern Airlines Flight MU 583 on Tuesday. The flight, bound for Los Angeles, was already fully loaded with 300 passengers and awaiting tower orders to begin its 11-hour, trans- Pacific trip.
"I had talked to an airport worker about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, and the fact that over 12 million people had renounced their membership in the Communist party, and the worker had reported this conversation to the airport police," Yuan, speaking through a translator, said. He added he is an 18-year pilot who has logged 12,400 hours flying for China Eastern, mostly on Airbus A-340s like the one he was boarding Tuesday.
After a long and heated discussion, Yuan said his three fellow flight crew members convinced the police that they could not safely make the long flight without him and the plane was allowed to take off. But not before the police supervisor had written down Yuan's return date, address and other information."
He said he would let me go this time, but that they would talk about my statements when I came back," Yuan said.
The police supervisor's move to allow Yuan to leave and "talk" about what he told his co-worker when he returned was ominous, said human rights activist Pinchao Jiang, who was jailed for three years after being involved as a student protester in the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown."
After Tiananmen, the authorities started a series of countrywide arrests despite their assurances that those involved in the protests would not be persecuted," said Jiang, adding he was one of more than 20 students in his town of Wolong who were taken into custody. "This is the samecase as in Tiananmen. Although the police said they would not detain him upon his return, just to talk, they will be much harsher and send him to prison, as they did with us."
Calls seeking comment from the Chinese Consulate and the U.S. State Department were not returned.
Jail may be the least of Yuan's worries, said You Fu Li, chairman of the Falun Gong Association of West Los Angeles."
We know of at least 3,000 Falun Gong practitioners in China that have been persecuted to death," Li said, adding that the true number could be much higher.
Another local Falun Gong practitioner, Daniel Wong, went a step further by accusing Chinese authorities of deliberately killing prisoners detained for their Falun Gong beliefs and harvesting their organs, which are then sold to other Chinese and foreign recipients."
Lots of hospitals in China advertise that they can find organs for patients - hearts, livers, kidneys or corneas - within a week, and it is very hard normally to get a match so quickly" through voluntary organ donations, said Wong, 34, a Caltech computer technician from Pasadena.
Allegations of organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners detailed in a July report by a Canadian lawyer and former parliament member were vehemently denied by the Chinese Embassy in Washington in an official statement. The U.S. State Department has since demanded the Chinese government investigate the claims in the report.
Yuan, who also said he had heard of the alleged organ harvesting, said he now fears for his wife and teenage daughter, who are in Shanghai."
I have talked to my wife and she has expressed concern about her safety and what the authorities will do to her and my daughter," Yuan said, adding that in the past families of Falun Gong practitioners have lost their jobs or ability to go to school."
In the worst case, they could be detained themselves," he said.
Chinese pilot seeks political asylum in U.S.
By Fred Ortega Staff Writer - San Gabriel Valley Tribune
EL MONTE - A Chinese airline pilot is seeking political asylum in the United States, fearing he will be imprisoned - and perhaps even killed - for his religious beliefs if he returns to his homeland.
Sheng Yuan, 39, of Shanghai, announced during a hastily organized news conference Wednesday that he would not be returning to China on his regularly scheduled flight today. The conference was held at the Asian American Association building in El Monte by local human rights activists assisting Yuan in his plight.
Yuan, a follower of the Falun Gong religion outlawed by the Communist Chinese government, claims he was confronted by members of Shanghai's Pudong Airport police as he and fellow crew members prepared to take off on China Eastern Airlines Flight MU 583 on Tuesday. The flight, bound for Los Angeles, was already fully loaded with 300 passengers and awaiting tower orders to begin its 11-hour, trans- Pacific trip.
"I had talked to an airport worker about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, and the fact that over 12 million people had renounced their membership in the Communist party, and the worker had reported this conversation to the airport police," Yuan, speaking through a translator, said. He added he is an 18-year pilot who has logged 12,400 hours flying for China Eastern, mostly on Airbus A-340s like the one he was boarding Tuesday.
After a long and heated discussion, Yuan said his three fellow flight crew members convinced the police that they could not safely make the long flight without him and the plane was allowed to take off. But not before the police supervisor had written down Yuan's return date, address and other information."
He said he would let me go this time, but that they would talk about my statements when I came back," Yuan said.
The police supervisor's move to allow Yuan to leave and "talk" about what he told his co-worker when he returned was ominous, said human rights activist Pinchao Jiang, who was jailed for three years after being involved as a student protester in the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown."
After Tiananmen, the authorities started a series of countrywide arrests despite their assurances that those involved in the protests would not be persecuted," said Jiang, adding he was one of more than 20 students in his town of Wolong who were taken into custody. "This is the samecase as in Tiananmen. Although the police said they would not detain him upon his return, just to talk, they will be much harsher and send him to prison, as they did with us."
Calls seeking comment from the Chinese Consulate and the U.S. State Department were not returned.
Jail may be the least of Yuan's worries, said You Fu Li, chairman of the Falun Gong Association of West Los Angeles."
We know of at least 3,000 Falun Gong practitioners in China that have been persecuted to death," Li said, adding that the true number could be much higher.
Another local Falun Gong practitioner, Daniel Wong, went a step further by accusing Chinese authorities of deliberately killing prisoners detained for their Falun Gong beliefs and harvesting their organs, which are then sold to other Chinese and foreign recipients."
Lots of hospitals in China advertise that they can find organs for patients - hearts, livers, kidneys or corneas - within a week, and it is very hard normally to get a match so quickly" through voluntary organ donations, said Wong, 34, a Caltech computer technician from Pasadena.
Allegations of organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners detailed in a July report by a Canadian lawyer and former parliament member were vehemently denied by the Chinese Embassy in Washington in an official statement. The U.S. State Department has since demanded the Chinese government investigate the claims in the report.
Yuan, who also said he had heard of the alleged organ harvesting, said he now fears for his wife and teenage daughter, who are in Shanghai."
I have talked to my wife and she has expressed concern about her safety and what the authorities will do to her and my daughter," Yuan said, adding that in the past families of Falun Gong practitioners have lost their jobs or ability to go to school."
In the worst case, they could be detained themselves," he said.
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Falun Gong has a large following in Sydney, with both Australians and Chinese residents. However, they do not discuss the religion with "outsiders" but do stage silent protests against the Mainland China oppression of their belief. Sad world.
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I know a few people in the US that practice Falun Gong and I've done some research myself. From what I understand, their practice is based on the principles of "Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance." Here's the web address if you want to find out more: www.falundafa.org
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I think pilots in China are paid better than the average Chinese citizens. The airline jobs (pilots & flight attendants) are still considered "glamorous jobs" and well paid jobs in China. He decided to seek political asylum in the US because if he returns to China, most likely he'll be sent to the labor camp to be tortured and persecuted. At best, he'll be released in a few years if he writes a "repentance letter" to give up his practice. At worst, he could lose his life or have his organ harvested for profit by the Chinese government. It was not an easy decision for him to leave his wife and daughter (I think this is all mentioned in the article).
Last edited by Luv319; 29th Aug 2006 at 22:13.
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I think pilots in China are paid better than the average person. The airline jobs (pilots & flight attendants) are still considered "glamorous jobs" and well paid jobs in China. He decided to seek political asylum in the US because if he returns to China, most likely he'll be sent to the labor camp to be tortured and persecuted. At best, he'll be released in a few years if he writes a "repentance letter" to give up his practice. At worst, he could lose his life or have his organ harvested for profit by the Chinese government. It was not an easy decision for him to leave his wife and daughter (I think this is all mentioned in the article).
Right now is easy for a chinese to study or work in a foreign country. I am sure he can too, if he want.
Here is the real reason -- he want to change his job, don't want to pay back the bond(6 million RMB for cap, 3 mill. for FO):
http://www.chinahospitalitynews.com/...lot-resources/
Pretty sure they are the same guy from eastern airlines in Shanghai.
Common, don't give me the political, religion or human rights bullsh*t. Today's chinese are more capitalism than US.
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Right now is easy for a chinese to study or work in a foreign country. I am sure he can too, if he want.
Here is the real reason -- he want to change his job, don't want to pay back the bond(6 million RMB for cap, 3 mill. for FO):
http://www.chinahospitalitynews.com/...lot-resources/
Pretty sure they are the same guy from eastern airlines in Shanghai.
Common, don't give me the political, religion or human rights bullsh*t. Today's chinese are more capitalism than US.
I don't know this Chinese pilot personally, so I don't know his real motive. But one thing I know for sure is that the Chinese Communist Party is aggressively persecuting Falun Gong practitioners and harvesting their organs for profit. And if I were the Chinese pilot, I would not go back to China either (regardless of the amount of money I make).
My knowledge of the persecution is based on the following facts:
1. On July 6, 2006, international human rights lawyer Mr. David Matas and former Member of Parliament Mr. David Kilgour released their investigative report and confirmed that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is harvesting organ of live Falun Gong practitioners.
http://investigation.go.saveinter.net/
2. Two friends of mine. One, a US crew member (also a Falun Gong practitioner), went to Beijing in 2001 and took pictures of Falun Gong practitioners being beaten by policemen in Tienanmen Square. The police saw her, took her camera, and jailed her for 8 days. She was lucky she was released. The other, a Caucasian college student (also a Falun Gong practitioner) was also jailed for protesting peacefully in Tiananmen Square against the persecution of Falun Gong. The Chinese Communist would not dare to do much harm to non-Chinese Falun Gong practitioners for fear of political backlash. But they are brutal when it comes to Chinese practitcing Falun Gong.
3. News on the persecution on Falun Gong
http://fofg.org/index.php
4. Sterling Campbell (David Bowie's drummer and a Falun Gong practitioner) was recently featured in a Rolling Stone article regarding his experience in Beijing in November of 2003, when he was arrested and detained by the Chinese police with other western Falun Gong practitioners when entering Tiananmen Square during a demonstration.
http://fofg.org/persecution/persecut...php?doc_id=674
5. Torture Methods Used in Persecution (as told by the Falun Gong practitioners who were released or escaped from detention, labor camp, brainwashing center, etc.)
http://clearwisdom.net/emh/134/
6. Reports of Chinese authorities removing organs from executed prisoners in China, without the consent of the prisoners or their families, are not new. US Department of State's Report:
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/rm/2001/3792.htm
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I work for a US carrier, and I sympathize this Chinese Pilot. The reason I replied your post with those information is because I truly doubt the Chinese pilot is seeking asylum in the US to find a higher paying job. Some things are more important than $.
Last edited by Luv319; 29th Aug 2006 at 22:12.
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Just found out that there are seven other Chinese pilots that were persecuted as well, one was tortured to death...
"At Least Seven Falun Gong Practitioners Who are Pilots Suffer Persecution - Liu Ping Tortured to Death (Photos)"
http://clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2006/9/7/77750.html
"At Least Seven Falun Gong Practitioners Who are Pilots Suffer Persecution - Liu Ping Tortured to Death (Photos)"
http://clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2006/9/7/77750.html
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it is simply untrue I have to sadly tell you . the reasons are
1. with his position and aircraft currently flying. The payment is nearly 450k RMB per years which is 15-20 times the average yearly income in shanghai (around 25k to 30k in 2004).He is living a comfortable life as far as I know with big places to live and a car.and there will be a pay raise in a short future for captains like him which will bring his payment to 500k at least,and he knew that b4 leaving.
2.would you leave your wife and child behind,if you were "planning" to leave your current job deliberately for a better pay?Well, his wife and child are still in shanghai now.
3. the possiblity for him to make it back to a captain in US ? almost zero. don't mention the down scene in US aviation industry, lots of local experienced guys are jobless.and his English competence doesn't look good to me. and I dont think he could live on it if he was on his own(he needed a interpreter on that press conference).If he change direction to look for other job other than being a pilot, it could take a very very long time for him to make the live standard back to that before he left. yes there is a pilot shortage in China, and pilots are looking for higher pay in private owned new starup. But in his case, it is the last reason I probably would bring up with the understanding of what situation he was in.
1. with his position and aircraft currently flying. The payment is nearly 450k RMB per years which is 15-20 times the average yearly income in shanghai (around 25k to 30k in 2004).He is living a comfortable life as far as I know with big places to live and a car.and there will be a pay raise in a short future for captains like him which will bring his payment to 500k at least,and he knew that b4 leaving.
2.would you leave your wife and child behind,if you were "planning" to leave your current job deliberately for a better pay?Well, his wife and child are still in shanghai now.
3. the possiblity for him to make it back to a captain in US ? almost zero. don't mention the down scene in US aviation industry, lots of local experienced guys are jobless.and his English competence doesn't look good to me. and I dont think he could live on it if he was on his own(he needed a interpreter on that press conference).If he change direction to look for other job other than being a pilot, it could take a very very long time for him to make the live standard back to that before he left. yes there is a pilot shortage in China, and pilots are looking for higher pay in private owned new starup. But in his case, it is the last reason I probably would bring up with the understanding of what situation he was in.
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Thanks for the update luv319. I would have thought that China would change after 20 million murdered during the cultural revolution. Also, 1 and a half million dead Tibetans in the recent past and still counting. This is good info for those considering working there.
Hope that the poor guy gets some help in the States.
Hope that the poor guy gets some help in the States.
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Organized religion will soon short circuit globalization and trigger the downfall of modern civilization. The Chinese would be well to do if they would set a precedent and ban all religions.
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You tell me.
[quote=ZSSSZSPD;2870527]
... 450k RMB per years ... for captains...
... yes there is a pilot shortage in China, and pilots are looking for higher pay in private owned new starup... [quote]
You just read my mind, and I am sure there is higher pay in US than private owned new starup in China.
and as the advantage for him to forgetting who he is and used the bullsh*t excuse -- he did not to pay back the bond either(6 mill. for capt. and 3 mill for FO.)
And in the case of leave wife and kid??? Well, after few years in US, get the green card... You tell me what happens next.
... 450k RMB per years ... for captains...
... yes there is a pilot shortage in China, and pilots are looking for higher pay in private owned new starup... [quote]
You just read my mind, and I am sure there is higher pay in US than private owned new starup in China.
and as the advantage for him to forgetting who he is and used the bullsh*t excuse -- he did not to pay back the bond either(6 mill. for capt. and 3 mill for FO.)
And in the case of leave wife and kid??? Well, after few years in US, get the green card... You tell me what happens next.
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DJUICE
Hey djuice, you seem to represent the policy section of the Chinese Commie Party!!! (ccp)...OR....a big chip against a Chinese pilot trying to better his conditions ?? (competition???)
Hey djuice, you seem to represent the policy section of the Chinese Commie Party!!! (ccp)...OR....a big chip against a Chinese pilot trying to better his conditions ?? (competition???)
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2. Leave the bond(6 mill. for capt, 3 mill for FO)
3. Green card after few years ->family reunion or find a new wife
You tell me.
Many of them are using same histories to stay'in Europe, but now most of them are back in China to do business with their new nationalities.
I am just so tired to hear these bullsh*t stories.
and about the competition. Well, since I lives in Scandinavian, I guess not.
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[quote=djuice;2883951][quote=ZSSSZSPD;2870527]
... 450k RMB per years ... for captains...
... yes there is a pilot shortage in China, and pilots are looking for higher pay in private owned new starup...
You just read my mind, and I am sure there is higher pay in US than private owned new starup in China.
and as the advantage for him to forgetting who he is and used the bullsh*t excuse -- he did not to pay back the bond either(6 mill. for capt. and 3 mill for FO.)
And in the case of leave wife and kid??? Well, after few years in US, get the green card... You tell me what happens next.
...Assuming he will get to be a captain or even be a pilot at the US. With the current state of the aviation industry in the US, the chances of him having a higher pay in the US is slim. As luv319 pointed out, not everything in this world doesn't has a price.
Before we forget, his government is after him too. And his wifey and kid with their greencard? Who knows, most probably they'll be the one's questioned next.
... 450k RMB per years ... for captains...
... yes there is a pilot shortage in China, and pilots are looking for higher pay in private owned new starup...
You just read my mind, and I am sure there is higher pay in US than private owned new starup in China.
and as the advantage for him to forgetting who he is and used the bullsh*t excuse -- he did not to pay back the bond either(6 mill. for capt. and 3 mill for FO.)
And in the case of leave wife and kid??? Well, after few years in US, get the green card... You tell me what happens next.
Before we forget, his government is after him too. And his wifey and kid with their greencard? Who knows, most probably they'll be the one's questioned next.
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According to the Chinese pilot's (Yuan Sheng) statement, he was making more than $3,600 US dollars per month in China. $3,600 US dollar provides a comfortable living in China.
Even if he spoke perfect English, he would have to start from the bottom at a US airline. A junior FO for a US commuter jet (using Mesaba's pay scale) is $23/hour, and that number is before Mesaba's bankruptcy
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/dis.../mesabapilots/
There are still many furloughed pilots in the US. Yuan Sheng's chances of finding a pilot job in the US does not good.
Yuan Sheng's statement:
http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-8-11/44846.html
Even if he spoke perfect English, he would have to start from the bottom at a US airline. A junior FO for a US commuter jet (using Mesaba's pay scale) is $23/hour, and that number is before Mesaba's bankruptcy
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/dis.../mesabapilots/
There are still many furloughed pilots in the US. Yuan Sheng's chances of finding a pilot job in the US does not good.
Yuan Sheng's statement:
http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-8-11/44846.html