Chinese national charged with foreign interference by AFP in Canberra as ASIO boss warns ‘we are watching'

Sky News AU

8 hours ago

A Chinese national has been charged with foreign interference by Australian Federal Police in Canberra.
According to the AFP, the Chinese national was covertly collecting information about the Canberra branch of the Buddhist association Guan Yin Citta.
While Buddhists are widely recognised in China, there is evidence of significant persecution and restrictions, particularly against Tibetan Buddhists.
AFP Assistant Commissioner for Counterterrorism and Special Investigations Stephen Nutt said the woman was arrested on Saturday and faces a maximum of 15 years imprisonment.
'Foreign interference is a serious crime that undermines democracy and social cohesion,' Assistant Commissioner Nutt said.
The AFP Assistant Commissioner said Australia was 'not immune' to espionage and did not expect this arrest to prevent further attempts to target diaspora communities living in Australia.
Assistant Commissioner Nutt said the 'best defence' was an increase in community awareness and reporting of suspicious activity.
'The AFP and our partners are working closely with diaspora communities and to help protect them from this criminality,' he said.
'At a time of permanent regional contest, offenders will attempt to spy on individuals, groups and institutions in Australia.'
Assistant Commissioner Nutt said the AFP was not dealing with the Chinese embassy as part of its investigation and flagged investigators were planning for more arrests.
The AFP second in command said the 'menacing' aspect of foreign interference was that it was 'unclear' how the information gathered by operatives would be used.
The arrest was made just two days after ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess delivered a chilling address concerning "unprecedented" foreign espionage which had cost Australia at least $12.5 billion in one year.
Mr Burgess said the kind of foreign interference alleged in this case was an 'appalling assault on Australian values, freedoms and sovereignty'.
'Anyone who thinks it is acceptable to monitor, intimidate and potentially repatriate members of our diaspora communities should never underestimate our capabilities and resolve,' he said.
'In this year's Annual Threat Assessment, I called out these types of activities and put perpetrators on notice by stating, 'we are watching, and we have zero tolerance.''
During his address, Mr Burgess said Australians would be 'genuinely shocked' by the number of countries which were attempting to steal Australia's secrets.
'The obvious candidates are very active – I've previously named China, Russia and Iran – but many other countries are also targeting anyone and anything that could give them a strategic or tactical advantage, including sensitive but unclassified information,' Mr Burgess said.