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Australia formally names China in foreign interference investigation
- A court document is the first official admission that the ongoing probe into an alleged plot to influence politician Moselmane centered on Beijing
- Meanwhile, John Zhang, who worked for the Labor lawmaker, has asked the High Court to quash the search warrants used to raid his home, business
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Australia has formally named China in a court document as the foreign state under investigation by police in the nation’s first foreign interference investigation.
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A document lodged in the High Court on September 1 by the Australian government lawyer is the first official acknowledgement that the ongoing investigation into an alleged plot to influence an Australian politician centered on China.
The Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation have refused to comment on whether a raid on the offices of a New South Wales state politician and his staffer on June 26 was related to China, although it was widely believed to be.
The court filing states the search warrant used by police “expressly identifies the foreign principal as the“Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)”.
John Zhang,，who worked for NSW Labor politician Shaoquett Moselmane, has asked the High Court to quash the search warrants used to raid his home, business and Moselmane’s parliament office.
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The government’s defence document, signed off by Australia’s lawyer general Stephen Donaghue, was lodged with the court the day after the government warned Australian journalists working in China to leave for safety reasons.
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