“Under the UN Refugee Convention and UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Chinese government may not forcibly repatriate refugees,” the South Korean government stated yesterday, suggesting a toughening of its previous ‘quiet diplomacy’ approach to the issue of repatriating defectors.
Meeting with reporters, a high Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade official added, “We have been working with China through bilateral talks to solve the refugee problem but it doesn’t seem to have worked. We need to strongly urge the Chinese government to stop the forced repatriation of refugees without their individual consent under the Refugee Convention and Convention against Torture, which they have signed.”
“This does not change the basic ‘quiet diplomacy’ nor break the framework of bilateral relations,” the source added, going on, “In the future we will continue with South Korea-China bilateral talks as well as a policy of appealing to both domestic Chinese and global public opinion”.
With regards to defectors currently in Chinese custody, the official went on, “The identity of ten of the refugees has been clarified but others have not been figured out. Among the ten so far identified, none have been repatriated.”
