Chinese-Australian billionaire’s defamation victory against ABC and Fairfax inflames debate over Beijing’s influence
- Even after Chau Chak Wing was awarded US$450,000 for wrongly being labelled a lobbyist for China, media reports continued to question his loyalty
- The media’s pursuit of Chau shows how politicised the debate about foreign interference in Australia has become, analysts say
The Australian Federal Court ruled earlier this month that he had been defamed and granted him a payout of A$590,000 (US$450,000), while the producers of the defamatory programme, the ABC and Fairfax Media, were ordered to pay his costs, marking another major victory in court against similar allegations.
In the past two years, Chau has won A$280,000 in damages from Fairfax and has received smaller settlements from other outlets.
This time, the court found that the Four Corners programme Power & Influence had defamed Chau on four counts, including the allegation that he had paid a US$200,000 bribe to United Nations official John Ashe to advance China’s interest at the United Nations.
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However, it rejected two of Chau’s claims – that the programme had portrayed him as a spy and that he had paid Sheri Yan, who was jailed in 2016 for conspiring to bribe Ashe, to help him to infiltrate the Australian government on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.