2 China Envoys in San Francisco Seek Asylum

SAN FRANCISCO — Two Chinese diplomats were under FBI protection Sunday after they announced their intention to defect to the United States in protest of their government’s violent suppression of the student movement for democracy.

Hundreds of demonstrators at a candlelight vigil for the victims of the violence in China wept Saturday night when the two Chinese consular officials made their unexpected announcement.

“Many of my friends have lost their lives and we wanted to do something to show we support what they stood for,” one of the diplomats said to the crowd. “Compared to them, I am not brave at all. They are brave for standing up for democracy in the face of death or imprisonment.”

The two diplomats were identified by the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco as Zhou Liming, 26, vice consul for cultural affairs, and Zhang Limin, 25, a staff member at the consulate.

The crowd of 5,000 who gathered solemnly in front of San Francisco City Hall with candles and flashlights broke out into cheers when the two men spoke. Demonstrators said they hoped the two would be the first of many to seek political asylum.

In an emotional speech to the crowd, the consular officials said they could no longer support the Chinese government and would not lie to cover up their government’s policies.

“We are supposed to tell you that no one was injured or killed,” one diplomat said. “Why? Because we are diplomats. But we won’t fake it here. Before we are diplomats, we are Chinese and we are human beings. We are public servants--we are not slaves.”

Dinner at Consulate

Earlier Saturday, according to demonstrators who talked to the diplomats, the two officials had dinner at the consulate, then walked a short distance to a pay phone so they could notify the FBI that they planned to defect at the rally a few hours later.

At first, organizers of the rally were uncertain if the two were sincere or, perhaps, were planning to disrupt the vigil. They were finally allowed to speak to the crowd.

Their speech both stunned and moved the crowd of demonstrators, many of whom ran up and hugged the two diplomats.

“Everyone is surprised they showed up and that they would give up everything,” said Mary Kao, president of the Chinese Overseas Students Assn. at San Francisco State University. “Since they are the first ones, they might encourage others to do the same thing.”

After their speech, the pair were led into City Hall and were whisked away by FBI agents, who took them to an undisclosed location. The two diplomats have made no public comments since the rally.

An FBI spokesman in San Francisco said the diplomats’ appeal for political asylum is being sent to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service for review. David Ilchert, the INS district director in San Francisco, said he had no information on the diplomats’ cases and had not yet received a formal request for asylum.

Demonstrators who talked with the two diplomats during the rally said both men had been in the United States for about two years and were unmarried. Huang Jingsheng, a graduate student from Stanford University, said both men fear that family members in China might suffer repercussions from their defection.

Meanwhile, Chinese students in Los Angeles also were cheering good news on Sunday.

Just hours before the two diplomats announced their intention to defect on Saturday, UCLA graduate student Tong Boning stepped off a flight from China, where he had been detained and interrogated by members of the state Public Security Bureau.

Tong had returned to China on May 19 to observe the demonstrations and carry back $8,000 in donations raised by students from throughout Southern California. He was scheduled to return to America on June 5 but was detained at the airport in China and taken to a motel for interrogation.

For six days, his friends in Los Angeles anxiously awaited word on his fate. They believed he had been arrested or possibly even executed.

For the first time since returning to this country, Tong, a Chinese citizen, talked about his experiences over the last week.

He was surprisingly calm about an experience that had terrified his friends here.

“I thought as long as they didn’t kill me, it would be OK,” he said. “I didn’t care if they arrested me and put me in jail. It would not last long. A bright day would come eventually.”

Tong said he was taken from the airport in a white van and held in a simple room with two beds, two sofas and a television on the outskirts of Beijing.

Guarded at All Times

A pair of officers from the Public Security Bureau guarded him at all times, he said. During the day he was interrogated by officials who asked:

“Who sent you to China?”

“What did you do here?”

“What did you use the money for?”

Tong said he was asked the same questions repeatedly. At first, he admitted, he feared he might be executed.

He said he was not treated harshly during his detention. He saw no other students, although he could hear the child of a friend he was traveling with talking nearby.

Finally, on Saturday he was suddenly told to get ready to return to America. He boarded the plane and 15 hours later arrived at San Francisco International Airport.

“I just thought to myself, ‘Free at last,’ ” he said.

Dunn reported from Los Angeles and Basheda from San Francisco.