A group of Australia-based academics who study China yesterday said that well-documented reports show actions by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) amounted to “unacceptable interference” in Australia’s society and politics, entering a debate dividing their community.
The Australian government wants to impose laws that criminalize foreign political interference after Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull late last year said that foreign powers were making “unprecedented and increasingly sophisticated attempts to influence the political process.”
He cited “disturbing reports about Chinese influence.”
Beijing denies the suggestions.
In a submission to a parliamentary review of the proposed law, the academics suggested that the CCP’s action has the “potential to harm Australia’s interests and sovereignty.”
The submission did not provide specific examples of the reports it referred to in its submission.
Critics have accused some universities in Australia of curtailing their China research because they receive funding from donors said to have ties to Beijing.
A prominent Australian opposition lawmaker resigned from parliament in December last year after a series of allegations about his links to Chinese-aligned interests in the country.
On Monday last week, a separate group of academics said in a letter to the parliament review that China was not trying to influence Australian politics, suggesting instead that the Australian government was fueling a “racialized narrative of a vast official Chinese conspiracy” that did not exist.
The submissions by the two groups were signed, in some cases, by employees of the same university.
“Within a department you have people with different views on one topic,” said Adam Ni (倪凌超), a China researcher at Australian National University’s (ANU) Strategic and Defence Studies Centre and signatory to the submission this week.
Three ANU employees had signed the letter.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that Beijing had no intention of interfering in Australia’s internal affairs, or of using political funding to gain influence.
In December, the CCP’s official People’s Daily described Australian media reports of Chinese interference as racist and baseless.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese