Australia probes 'deeply disturbing' allegations of Chinese political interference

[snoop1130]

Australia probes 'deeply disturbing' allegations of Chinese political interference

By Sonali Paul

 

FILE PHOTO: Tourists walk around the forecourt of Australia's Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, October 16, 2017. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo

 

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia’s domestic spy agency is investigating whether China tried to install an agent in federal parliament in what Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday called “deeply disturbing” allegations.

 

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) said it had launched an investigation before the alleged plot was reported by Australia’s “60 Minutes” program and affiliated newspapers on Sunday.

 

The reports said a suspected Chinese espionage ring had offered “a seven figure sum” to pay for a Melbourne luxury car dealer, Bo “Nick” Zhao, to run for a seat in Australia’s federal parliament.

 

“The reporting on Nine’s ‘60 Minutes’ contains allegations that ASIO takes seriously,” ASIO Director-General of Security Mike Burgess said in the statement on Sunday.

 

“Australians can be reassured that ASIO was previously aware of matters that have been reported today, and has been actively investigating them.”

 

Officials at China’s embassy in Canberra were not immediately available for comment.

 

“I find the allegations deeply disturbing and troubling,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra, adding the government had beefed up Australia’s laws and security agencies to counter foreign interference.

 

“Australia is not naive to the threats that it faces more broadly,” he added, without commenting on the specific allegations.

 

Resource-rich Australia’s ties with its most important trading partner China have deteriorated in recent years, amid accusations that Beijing is meddling in domestic affairs.

 

The government has set up a counter-foreign interference coordinator and given the intelligence and security agencies additional resources to protect Australians and the nation’s institutions, a government spokesman said.

 

Car dealer Zhao told ASIO about the alleged approach from another Melbourne businessman about a year ago, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper said in the joint report with “60 Minutes” and The Age newspaper, citing Zhao’s associates and Western security sources.

 

Zhao was found dead in March in a Melbourne motel room and police have been unable to conclude how he died, the newspaper said.

 

ASIO’s Burgess said he would not comment further and the death was subject to a coronial inquiry.

 

“Hostile foreign intelligence activity continues to pose a real threat to our nation and its security. ASIO will continue to confront and counter foreign interference and espionage in Australia,” he said.

 

The latest allegations came a day after media reported that a Chinese defector, who said he was an intelligence operative, told ASIO how China had funded and conducted political interference in Taiwan, Australia and Hong Kong.

 

The man, Wang Liqiang, is seeking asylum in Australia with his wife and young son.

 

Morrison said his asylum claim would be assessed on its merits, based on any “reasonable fear of persecution in their home country”.

 

Responding to the media reports, Chinese police said the “so-called China spy” was a 26-year-old convicted fraudster from the eastern province of Fujian.

 

Wang’s account sparked an angry reaction in the influential state-owned tabloid Global Times on Monday, which said: “Chinese people would intuitively know that Wang sounds like an opportunistic liar, probably a swindler.”

 

The newspaper said someone of Wang’s age would have been “in a training or intern programme” if they were in the national security department. It added that it was very rare for a person in China’s national security establishment to have a child at such a young age.

 

“If Australia’s intelligence agency really believed Wang, it would have taken secret counter-espionage actions instead of letting the media expose it,” the Global Times said.

 

ASIO has not commented on any counter-espionage actions it may have taken in response to Wang’s claims.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-11-25

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[atyclb]

not "russian" ?  hmm, guess that narrative is already taken

[bristolboy]

9 minutes ago, atyclb said:

not "russian" ?  hmm, guess that narrative is already taken

So, it looks like you think that clandestine chinese interference in Australia is no more real than russian clandestine interference in the USA is.

[Baerboxer]

5 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

So, it looks like you think that clandestine chinese interference in Australia is no more real than russian clandestine interference in the USA is.

 

It's probably as real as US, UK, EU, French, German, Japanese etc interference. They are all at it. Naive to believe otherwise. 

 

Wonder where the Aussies are interfering?

[Expat Brad]

All this American bloody anti China propaganda <deleted> is doing what it was aimed at..... DESTABILIZATION of not just China but the world for their own hunger for complete rule over the world for economic gain!!!

No wonder there is negative sentiment towards Westerner's not just in China but, SEA on the whole, where Chinese ties go back way further than Western ones!!!

[atyclb]

1 hour ago, bristolboy said:

2 hours ago, atyclb said:

not "russian" ?  hmm, guess that narrative is already taken

So, it looks like you think that clandestine chinese interference in Australia is no more real than russian clandestine interference in the USA is.

 

my approach is to watch and wait and see what evidence is produced and the legal conclusions reached. i am not a hysterical little girl.

[Redline]

1 hour ago, Baerboxer said:

 

It's probably as real as US, UK, EU, French, German, Japanese etc interference. They are all at it. Naive to believe otherwise. 

 

Wonder where the Aussies are interfering?

Apparently you are afraid to make your own decisions preferring communism and and authoritarian leaders-another sheep that needs to be guided 

[Redline]

5 minutes ago, atyclb said:

 

my approach is to watch and wait and see what evidence is produced and the legal conclusions reached. i am not a hysterical little girl.

Really?

[Redline]

59 minutes ago, Expat Brad said:

All this American bloody anti China propaganda <deleted> is doing what it was aimed at..... DESTABILIZATION of not just China but the world for their own hunger for complete rule over the world for economic gain!!!

No wonder there is negative sentiment towards Westerner's not just in China but, SEA on the whole, where Chinese ties go back way further than Western ones!!!

???? history is history-a lot has changed-embrace the evolution, not propaganda-SEA?  Communism is outdated- besides, China is authoritarian now

[GreasyFingers]

Was it not only last year that the parliament had been infiltrated by several people with dual citizenship. One or two were from New Zealand, who you would never trust.

[atyclb]

12 minutes ago, Redline said:

18 minutes ago, atyclb said:

my approach is to watch and wait and see what evidence is produced and the legal conclusions reached. i am not a hysterical little girl.

Really?

 

 

well at least since last time i checked my trousers

[bristolboy]

1 hour ago, atyclb said:

 

my approach is to watch and wait and see what evidence is produced and the legal conclusions reached. i am not a hysterical little girl.

You haven't reach conclusions? And yet you write

"not "russian" ?  hmm, guess that narrative is already taken"

In other words you're calling them both fiction. Otherwise why would the "narrative" even matter?

So you may not be "a hysterical little girl" but you don't seem to be a particularly clear thinking one either.

 

[CharlieH]

Reported Troll comment removed.

[CharlieH]

Off topic/flame post removed.