China is using Australia's Chinese community to influence local elections, Taiwanese official claims - and the Albanese government knows it
In a column published by The Daily Telegraph, Sky News host James Morrow revealed that during a visit to Taiwan, Deputy Minister Yu-chung Shen of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council alleged that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been working through diaspora networks in Australia to interfere in domestic politics.
'One high level official at Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council - Deputy Minister Yu-chung Shen of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council - told this masthead that yes, Beijing tries to use local agents in the overseas Chinese community in Australia to influence local elections,' Morrow wrote.
'This was no hearsay, he said, but instead was confirmed to him in briefings with Australian foreign affairs officials.'
Yu-chung Shen, speaking through a translator, told Morrow that he had been briefed directly by Australian officials about the challenges Australia faces regarding electoral interference.
'Mainland Chinese governments are using or dependent on local cooperatives to divide the society,' Shen told Morrow.
He added: 'We got to know more about (this issue) during our meeting with Australian officials regarding the difficulties they are facing (with) the elections in Australia.'
Morrow's revelations come as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese prepares to visit Beijing later this week, where he is expected to receive a high-profile welcome from Chinese President Xi Jinping.
However, Morrow questions what price that hospitality may carry, warning that Australia's 'stabilised' relationship with China may amount to Canberra turning a blind eye to Beijing's aggressive tactics across the Indo-Pacific - including direct interference in Australian democracy.
He criticised what he sees as the Albanese government's reluctance to address China's covert political activities at home, noting how previous concerns raised by political opponents have been met with accusations of racism or dismissed entirely.
'In Australia, of course, Chinese influence campaigns are the threat that dare not speak their name,' he wrote.
Morrow referenced the controversy surrounding Liberal senator Jane Hume's remarks about 'Chinese spies' during the last federal election, noting how Labor seized on the issue to shift the conversation away from foreign interference.
He also accused the Albanese government of treating foreign policy as an extension of domestic politics, and warned that their attempt to walk a diplomatic tightrope between Beijing and Washington could backfire, especially with a Trump-led US administration.
'This is dangerous business, and readers can be sure this is being noticed in Washington,' Morrow wrote.
'With everyone fearing that the world is in the midst of another 1930s-style crisis, it's worth remembering that Neville Chamberlain came back from Munich promising peace in our time.
'Those with long memories should remember how that went, should Albanese come home proclaiming 'stability!''
The Home Affairs Department and the Foreign Affairs Department have both been contacted for comment.
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