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Reuters

Chinese spies sought to fund candidates for Australia’s centre-left Labor opposition party in an upcoming federal election but the plot was foiled by the Australian national security agency, multiple media outlets reported on Friday.
The plot was arranged by an unnamed businessman with strong Chinese connections who sought to fund candidates in the state of New South Wales in exchange for influence in public office, said the reports.
But 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.
Scott Morrison’s ‘frozen’ WeChat account wasn’t hacked, say officials
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 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, said the reports on Friday.
An ASIO spokesperson referred Reuters to a transcript of Burgess’s speech and declined to comment further.
The Chinese embassy in Canberra did not respond to an email requesting comment.


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Australia

Australia foils China bid to fund Labor party’s federal election candidates, reports say

Australia thwarted an alleged China-linked plot to fund federal election candidates in New South Wales. File photo: AFP

Australian Labor party leader Anthony Albanese. Photo: EPA-EFE

Australia-China relations won’t change even if Labor Party wins power: opposition leader

Australia’s relations with China soured when the government announced in 2017 updated espionage laws that would outlaw covert foreign interference in politics. Photo: Shutterstock 

Australian opposition leader Anthony Albanese. Photo: EPA-EFE

China-Australia relations: who’s the mystery ‘Mr Ji from Fujian’ in Scott Morrison’s WeChat riddle?

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison. His account on the Chinese social media platform WeChat was recently taken over and renamed. The change was apparently made without the government’s knowledge. File photo: AP

A view of the new WeChat account which was formerly Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s official account. Photo: Social media screenshot, Reuters

The icon for the smartphone app WeChat. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s account was taken over and renamed recently, leading to lawmakers accusing China’s leaders of political interference. Photo: AP

News

Asia

Australasia

China

Australia’s spy agency ASIO thwarted a plot by an unnamed businessman with strong Chinese connections who sought to bankroll candidates in New South Wales
Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the ASIO chief ‘has reaffirmed that he has not raised concerns about any of the party candidates’


Australia’s spy agency ASIO thwarted a plot by an unnamed businessman with strong Chinese connections who sought to bankroll candidates in New South Wales.


China-Australia relations

Espionage

Asia elections

Anthony Albanese