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.
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