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Analysis | High stakes as Australia tests foreign interference laws, with China in its sights

  • Raids on properties connected to Beijing-friendly state MP Shaoquett Moselmane and his former staffer John Zhang have focused scrutiny on the legislation
  • The outcome will either solidify allegations of Chinese interference in Australian politics, or fuel accusations of Sinophobia

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New South Wales state MP Shaoquett Moselmane says he is not a suspect in a police investigation into unnamed people advancing China’s goals in Australia, days after his home and office were searched by police. Photo: AP
Australia’s anti-foreign interference laws are being tested for the first time, two years after their passage amid warnings of “unprecedented” espionage, amid a probe that has seen authorities raid the homes and offices of a China-friendly state MP and his former staffer.

Searches by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) last week on properties connected to New South Wales Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane and his former staffer John Zhang have focused scrutiny on Canberra’s sweeping counter-intelligence legislation introduced in 2018 amid fears of interference by Beijing.

I do see this as a watershed case
Feng Chongyi, University of Technology

While authorities have declined to comment publicly, Moselmane’s office is at the centre of inquiries by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) into whether the MP or his staff have been targeted by covert influence operations on behalf of Beijing, according to reports in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, citing anonymous sources.

The stakes are high, in Australia and beyond. A successful prosecution and conviction would add rare legal weight to allegations of Chinese interference in Australian politics and society after years of claims in media and academia, and bolster concerns around the world about Beijing’s growing influence. It would also inevitably place further strain on the increasingly fraught relationship between Canberra and Beijing.
Equally, a failure by authorities to produce sufficient evidence of undue interference would add fuel to accusations that Australia’s concerns about Chinese influence and national sovereignty have at times tipped into the realm of paranoia and Sinophobia.

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“I do see this as a watershed case,” said Feng Chongyi, an associate professor at the University of Technology, Sydney, who was briefly detained and interrogated during a visit to China in 2017. “I tend to believe that ASIO and AFP have some solid evidence. Otherwise this action would do serious damage to their reputation. Of course this case will be watched closely around the world, particularly by China.”

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