Yuan Sheng

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Yuan Sheng (Simplified Chinese: 袁胜; Traditional Chinese: 袁勝; pinyin: Yúan Sheng, born 1967) is a Chinese captain for China Eastern Airlines. He is a native of China's Shandong Province. In 2006, while a member of the flight crew on a trip to Los Angeles, he made the decision to seek political asylum in the United States, claiming he faced persecution in China because of his beliefs in the Falun Gong spiritual movement.

[edit] Bid for Asylum

On 9 August 2006 he was scheduled to be a member of the cockpit crew of China Eastern flight MU583, a regularly scheduled international service operating from Shanghai's Pudong Airport to Los Angeles International Airport on an Airbus 340-600 widebody jet. During routine preflight checks, he noticed one of the ground crew had an accent from Shandong Province, and he struck up a conversation with him. Yuan allegedly talked about The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, a book-length editorial series banned in the PRC which purportedly offers an alternative exposition of the Party's history in China, and which authorship has been linked to Falun Gong practitioners. Yuan also tried to persuade the ground crewmember to leave the Chinese Communist Party.[1]

Subsequently, the ground crewmember reported this conversation to airport security police, who attempted to detain Yuan for further questioning. However, as the flight was imminently scheduled to leave, and the airline could not find a replacement, the police relented and let Yuan board the plane to join the rest of his crew. However, they warned Yuan that they would continue to pursue the matter when he returned from the United States.

The following day, around noon local time, Yuan declared his intention to seek political asylum in the United States, fearing persecution if he were to return to China. [2]

[edit] Family

According to published news reports, Yuan left behind a wife and 12-year old daughter in Shanghai. Their fate was not immediately clear.