Chinese spies sought to fund candidates for Australia’s center-left Labor Party in an upcoming federal election, but the plot was foiled by the Australian national security agency, multiple media outlets reported yesterday.
The plot was arranged by an unnamed businessman with strong Chinese connections who sought to fund candidates in New South Wales in exchange for influence in public office, the reports said.
It was detected and stopped by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the reports added, without giving details of the alleged plot such as timing or how it was thwarted.
A Chinese intelligence service was behind the plot, said the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, citing unnamed security sources.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp and broadsheet the Australian also ran reports about the alleged plot.
The reports come as national security looms as a major campaign issue in a federal election due by May. The ruling conservative Coalition is trailing in most polls and recently accused Labor of being the preferred party of China.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese said that he was confident none of his candidates was compromised because he had spoken to ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess “and he has reaffirmed that he has not raised concerns about any of my candidates.”
“I understand the government’s desperate for distractions at the moment, but I say to them that national security is too important to engage in game-playing,” he told reporters.
In a speech on Wednesday, Burgess had made a general reference to “multiple” foreign countries seeking to interfere with Australian governments and referred to one “puppeteer” who had acted on behalf of an unnamed government to identify and bankroll candidates who would act, without their knowledge, in the interests of the foreign power.
The puppeteer referred to by Burgess was acting on behalf of China, yesterday’s reports said.
An ASIO spokesperson referred to a transcript of Burgess’s speech and declined to comment further.
The Chinese embassy in Canberra did not respond to an e-mail requesting comment.
BEIJING FORUM: ‘So-called freedom of navigation advocated by certain countries outside the region challenges the norms of international relations,’ the minister said Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun (董軍) yesterday denounced “hegemonic logic and acts of bullying” during remarks at a Beijing forum that were full of thinly veiled references to the US. Organizers said that about 1,800 representatives from 100 countries, including political, military and academic leaders, were in Beijing for the Xiangshan Forum. The three-day event comes as China presents itself as a mediator of fraught global issues including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Addressing attendees at the opening ceremony, Dong warned of “new threats and challenges” now facing world peace. “While the themes of the times — peace and development —
Venezuela on Saturday organized a day of military training for civilians in response to the US deployment in the Caribbean, and amid new threats from US President Donald Trump. About a month ago, Washington deployed warships to international waters off Venezuela’s coast, backed by F-35 jets sent to Puerto Rico in what it calls an anti-drug and anti-terrorism operation. Venezuelan Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino Lopez has accused Washington of waging “undeclared war” in the Caribbean, after US strikes killed over a dozen alleged drug traffickers off his country’s coast. Caracas also accused the US of seeking regime change, and
BRIBERY ALLEGATIONS: A prosecutor said they considered the risk of Hak-ja Han tampering with evidence to be very high, which led them to seek the warrant South Korean prosecutors yesterday requested an arrest warrant for the leader of the Unification Church, Hak-ja Han, on allegations of bribery linked to the country’s former first lady and incitement to destroy evidence. The move came a day after the 82-year-old was questioned over her alleged role in bribing former first lady Kim Keon-hee and a lawmaker. Founded in 1954 by her late husband, Sun Myung Moon, the Unification Church has long been the subject of controversy and criticism, with its teachings centered on Moon’s role as the “second coming” and its mass weddings. Followers are derisively referred to as “Moonies.” However, the church’s
‘MURDER’: The US has not provided proof that boats it has struck were trafficking drugs, and a Venezuelan official said it was a crime against humanity that must be investigated Venezuela on Friday accused the US of waging an “undeclared war” in the Caribbean and called for a UN probe of US strikes that have killed more than a dozen alleged drug traffickers on boats over the past few weeks. Washington has deployed warships to international waters off Venezuela’s coast, backed by F-35s sent to Puerto Rico in what it calls an anti-drug operation. “It is an undeclared war, and you can already see how people, whether or not they are drug traffickers, have been executed in the Caribbean Sea. Executed without the right to a defense,” Venezuelan Minister of Defense Vladimir
RSS