The Shenyang Six Are Freed

Do you still remember their story, the arrest of Adrian Hong and the courageous LiNK activists, and the shame on our Consul General in Shenyang?  I  had given up all hope, but others did not, and their persistence  has been  repaid with six lives.   

WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 20 – Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) today announced that six North Korean refugees imprisoned by Chinese authorities last December were recently released from a prison in Shenyang. The six – which include two teenage boys, one woman in her early twenties, and three older women – were arrested in Beijing last December after seeking asylum at a foreign mission in China. They arrived in South Korea on July 19.

Three of LiNK’s field workers were also apprehended for aiding the six North Korean refugees, and imprisoned for ten days before being deported to the United States. LiNK actively operates a network of underground shelters for North Korean refugees in unfriendly nations.

The release of the six could mean a dramatic reversal of China’s policy of repatriating thousands of North Korean refugees and allowing them to resettle in third countries, consistent with the nation’s obligations under international law.

“We recognize the importance of the release of these refugees,” commented Hannah Song, Deputy Director of LiNK. “We hope this marks the beginning of a shift in Chinese policy, in tune with their international obligations under the UN Refugee Convention.”

It is estimated that the People’s Republic of China has repatriated tens of thousands of North Koreans in recent years. A small group of organizations works to rescue refugees in the underground in China.

“It is our hope that this will soon become the rule, rather than an exception,” continued Song. “In light of the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics, measures to protect the human rights of these refugees are long overdue.”

I think the LiNK people are probably too realistic to believe this really represents a change in Chinese policy.  I certainly don’t believe it does.  China found this particular case embarrassing and an irritant in its relations with the United States, which in turn came under pressure from LiNK and other activists.  It reasoned that letting six go after nine horrendous months in captivity would further the greater evil of pitching thousands more North Koreans  back into the furnace.  The Chinese were pressured by the State Department,  but first, the State Department itself had to be pressued to do what ought to come instinctively to those who represent our values abroad.  The Wall Street Journal comments:

Beyond the happy ending for these six, however, lies the larger tragedy of the tens of thousands — possibly hundreds of thousands — of North Korean refugees at risk in northeastern China. Here, the U.S. efforts fall short. There is much more it could be doing to turn an international spotlight on this imperiled population.

At the very least, Washington could speak out more forcefully against Beijing’s policy of tracking down and repatriating the refugees. That policy violates its obligations under the International Convention Regarding the Treatment of Refugees, to which it is a signatory. China won’t even permit the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees access.

Instead, the State Department worries about rocking the boat in Pyongyang and Beijing….

You can join or  contribute to LiNK here.

See also:

*   The Daily NK looks at the North Korean way of flood reconstruction.  They are also suggesting (as I did here)  that North Korea won’t hold a summit in Pyongyang unless the city is returned to its showpiece condition, such as it was.  I think propaganda is obviously a large part of why both of these unpopular Korean leaders want this summit.  For Kim Jong Il,  the idea is  to  have footage of Roh coming to his kingly throne to kowtow, as DJ did before him.  But with a severe shortage of serviceable equipment and a lot of broken roads and bridges in the way, Pyongyang may not be fixed by October.  Roh already looks cynical and manipulative for having called this summit.  Thanks to the perfect timing of the heavens, he may not even be able to close  his final  deal to exchange his country’s interests for a few votes.

*   I’m Shocked, Shocked, to See Discrimination Going On Here!   “In the recommendations, UNCERD expressed discomfort about a prevalent notion in Korean culture of ‘pure-bloodedness,’ saying, ‘The whole concept came very close to ideas of racial superiority.'”  Gee, ya think?  Needless to say, I’m always deeply divided whenever I’m in substantial agreement with the Global Nanny State. 

*   If we really want to put pressure on the ChiComs, I should take a hiatus from this blog and start one called DangerousChineseProducts.com.  It would have links to stories like this one, complete with pictures and lot numbers of the affected products.  As a parent, I’d honestly like to have one place to go to find this stuff out.  The Chinese leadership has to be pretty worried that manufacturers won’t want their  merchandise to say “Made in China.”  The absence of accountability always comes back to bite you.

*   Hey!   Nice meetin’ you got here!  

*   “We should pull out and let them have their civil war,” even if it means genocide, a possibility I had just raised.  That’s what a member of Congress, and of the Out of Iraq Caucus, told me and a small group of others yesterday.   It was  a breathtakingly irresponsible  statement coming from a member who voted to authorize the war, and who now wants to pull them out yesterday because (gasp) someone there shot at us (what? no cakewalk?).   A moment later, the member said that there absolutely would not be genocide, with a degree of confidence that I wish I could  share.  I’ve decided not to name the member (a) because I’m not sure he knew he was on-record with a blogger, and (b) out of respect for  his willingness to give so generously of his time to hear the views of those he didn’t agree with.  A cardinal rule of persuasion  is that you should never discourage people from listening to your views or migrating toward them.  Personally, I thought he was genuinely a likeable person.  Professionally, I’m sometimes often disturbed by the superficiality of knowledge of those who govern us (no doubt, he’s more fluent with other issues).  Still, I see less disagreement from the left that genocide would be the result of a leaving Iraq too soon, meaning that if you’re in the pull-them-out-yesterday camp, you have to be willing to accept what’s going to be on your TV screens later.  It will make Bosnia look like a rehearsal.