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NEW DELHI: Chen Siming, a Chinese political activist who remained stranded at Taiwan airport for days to evade arrest by Beijing, has been given asylum in Canada.
In July this year, Siming sensed he could land up in potential danger after he received a call from Chinese authorities for “psychiatric evaluation”. He went for the test before he returned home “sad, angry and afraid” and decided to flee his country.
The activist had been under the radar for raking up the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre on social media — Tiananmen is one of three “forbidden” Ts in China, including Taiwan and Tibet.
Later, Siming, a staunch critic of Xi’s regime, headed from Hunan province down to the southern border of Laos. He went past the Chinese border by land and crossed the Mekong River before entering Thailand in August.
Being unsure of his safety in Thailand and fearing his deportation, Siming flew to Taiwan, where he stayed at the Taoyuan International Airport for more than a week. He also applied to He applied for refugee status with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“I was able to successfully obtain political asylum in Canada,” he told The Guardian, thanking various human rights groups, as well as the governments of Taiwan, Canada and the United Nations refugee agency.
“The three parties handled my case quickly in the spirit of humanitarian care,” he added.
Earlier the activist had told The Guardian that he was “willing to wait for months” at the Taiwan airport to escape the “wrath of Chinese authorities”.
“I am willing to wait for months because I feel safe in Taiwan. I want to go to the United States. I think Taiwan is very safe and there are no security problems. Taiwan has democracy and liberty as its shelter, so Taiwan is safe for me personally. But security is not my first option in where I settle, I have a lot of work to do in the US,” he had told The Guardian before getting asylum.
Siming had sought asylum in Canada or the US, urging the Taiwanese government to not send me back to China.
Fellow dissident and political commentator, Baoshen Guo, who had been assisting Chen, told The Guardian that Chen was “very lucky to have been transferred so quickly”.
In July this year, Siming sensed he could land up in potential danger after he received a call from Chinese authorities for “psychiatric evaluation”. He went for the test before he returned home “sad, angry and afraid” and decided to flee his country.
The activist had been under the radar for raking up the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre on social media — Tiananmen is one of three “forbidden” Ts in China, including Taiwan and Tibet.
Later, Siming, a staunch critic of Xi’s regime, headed from Hunan province down to the southern border of Laos. He went past the Chinese border by land and crossed the Mekong River before entering Thailand in August.
Being unsure of his safety in Thailand and fearing his deportation, Siming flew to Taiwan, where he stayed at the Taoyuan International Airport for more than a week. He also applied to He applied for refugee status with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“I was able to successfully obtain political asylum in Canada,” he told The Guardian, thanking various human rights groups, as well as the governments of Taiwan, Canada and the United Nations refugee agency.
“The three parties handled my case quickly in the spirit of humanitarian care,” he added.
Earlier the activist had told The Guardian that he was “willing to wait for months” at the Taiwan airport to escape the “wrath of Chinese authorities”.
“I am willing to wait for months because I feel safe in Taiwan. I want to go to the United States. I think Taiwan is very safe and there are no security problems. Taiwan has democracy and liberty as its shelter, so Taiwan is safe for me personally. But security is not my first option in where I settle, I have a lot of work to do in the US,” he had told The Guardian before getting asylum.
Siming had sought asylum in Canada or the US, urging the Taiwanese government to not send me back to China.
Fellow dissident and political commentator, Baoshen Guo, who had been assisting Chen, told The Guardian that Chen was “very lucky to have been transferred so quickly”.
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