Chinese Embassy denies 200 illegal nationals per day to vote for Chavez Frias

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

The Chinese Embassy in Caracas has reacted to Venezuelan newspaper allegations about illegal entry of Chinese nationals into Venezuela to help President Hugo Chavez Frias win the recall referendum.

Embassy press attache Zhang Tao says it's a lie that President Hugo Chavez Frias has ordered the entry of 200 Chinese nationals on a daily basis carrying illegally obtained Venezuelan passports.

"Such calumnies involving China in Venezuela's political panorama are damaging the excellent relations between our two nations ... we are convinced that the malicious presumptions will fail to achieve their objective."

The Embassy blames some Venezuelan newspapers that have been gone OTT highlighting cases of alleged corruption at the Caracas (Simon Bolivar) international airport at Maiquetia and Passport & Identification offices (Oni-Dex) throughout Venezuela, speculating political motives for the sudden surge of foreigners.  Tabloids have also played havoc with the legitimate fear of SARS entering Venezuela through illegal people trafficking, which has thrived since the 90s.

Lamenting the manipulation of the disease for political gains, the Embassy has confirmed its policy of rejecting illegal migration of its citizens. The majority of legal and illegal Chinese nationals in Venezuela are from Hong Kong and cases of granting legal documents for high cash payments to Venezuelan immigration officials have been amply uncovered and substantiated by the media.