Downer can grant defector political asylum: lawyer

An immigration lawyer says Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer has the power to grant Chinese diplomat Chen Yonglin political asylum.

Mr Chen says the Immigration Department rejected his application for political asylum, advising him instead to apply for a protection visa.

He has been in hiding, fearing retributions from the Chinese Government, since he defected from his senior post at the Chinese Consulate in Sydney more than a week ago.

He claims his Government has up to 1,000 spies operating in Australia who have been kidnapping Chinese nationals.

A statement from China's consulate in Sydney says Mr Chen had reached the end of his four-year stint in Australia and has now "fabricated stories which are unfounded and purely fictitious" to try to stay here.

Immigration lawyer David Mann believes it is Mr Downer not the Immigration Department, who may hold the key to Mr Chen's case.

"There's a very rare visa under the Migration legislation called the Territorial Asylum Visa," he said.

"It's commonly known as political asylum and it's granted generally by the Minister, usually in fact the Foreign Minister.

"Now that shouldn't be confused with refugee status, it's different, but presumably for people who are in ... higher public positions for instance, politicians or diplomats who need protection in Australia.

"As far as I'm aware, there've only been a handful of visas granted on this basis in the last 45 years."

Immigration Minister Senator Amanda Vanstone says his application will be considered on its merits.

Mr Chen is expected to get legal advice today on his options to stay in Australia.

For 11 days Mr Chen has been on the run, moving constantly between Sydney, Wollongong and Gosford, rarely staying more than one night in the same place.

An adviser to Mr Chen says media coverage of his claims against the Chinese Government has made him feel "safer" despite being denied political asylum in Australia.

The Federation for a Democratic China has been working closely with Mr Chen and spokesman Chin Jin has told ABC Radio's AM program that Mr Chen is feeling better.

"After his public exposure and a lot of media coverage and being with us he feels a bit safer," he said.

"He feels okay now, he feels a bit safer than previous days."

Mr Chen has confessed to monitoring the Falun Gong movement in Australia but now says he sympathises with them.

Falun Gong member Kay Rubacek admits to being shocked by Mr Chen's public about-face.

"It's really one of the first to come out in a foreign country outside of China, so really it seems to be a real breakthrough on an international level, not just in Australia, because this has been happening all around the world for the past few years," she said.

"We've seen Mr Chen on many occasions over the past few years at the Chinese consulate and at specific Falun Gong activities, photographing or monitoring us on many occasions."

Mr Chen's claims come at a delicate time in Australia-China relations.

Negotiations for a multi-billion dollar trade deal are underway and there are also talks to sell Australian uranium to China.

Chin Jin is urging the Australian Government to keep the issues separate.

"I think Australia should look at the national interest and also look at the value of democracy," he said.