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Chinese spy who ‘infiltrated’ Hong Kong, Taiwan, defects to Australia, report says
- Wang ‘William’ Liqiang gives counter-espionage agency the names of senior military intelligence officers he says funded and conducted operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia
- Spy is now seeking asylum in Australia, saying he ‘will be dead’ if he returns home, according to media reports
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A Chinese spy has defected to Australia with a trove of intelligence on China’s political interference operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and elsewhere, according to media reports.
The Nine network newspapers said the defector, named as Wang “William” Liqiang, had given Australia’s counter-espionage agency the identities of China’s senior military intelligence officers in Hong Kong and provided details of how they funded and conducted operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia.
Wang said he was personally involved in infiltration and disruption operations in all three territories, according to the report, published in Nine’s The Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers.
He “revealed in granular detail” how Beijing covertly controls listed companies to fund intelligence operations, including the surveillance and profiling of dissidents and the co-opting of media organisations, the report said.
Wang is currently living in Sydney with his wife and infant son on a tourist visa and has requested political asylum, it said.
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