’Denigration and smear’: China denies interfering with PM’s WeChat

The Chinese government has denied involvement in the takeover of the Prime Minister’s WeChat account, accusing Australia of “unfounded denigration and smear”.

The Chinese Government has denied accusations of “interference” in Australian politics following a takeover of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s WeChat account as “unfounded denigration and smear”.

Asked about the allegations levelled at the Chinese Communist Party by several Australian MPs, Beijing’s spokesman for the ministry foreign affairs Zhao Lijian denied any involvement.

“I am not aware of the relevant situation you mentioned and suggest that you refer your question to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his team running the account,” he told media during a daily press conference.

“The accusation of China interference is nothing but unfounded denigration and smear. We do not and have no interest in interfering in other countries.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has denied his government’s involvement in the WeChat takeover. Picture: Kyodo News via Getty Images

Claims the Prime Minister’s WeChat account was “legally” sold to a Chinese company by the local businessman who helped set up the page have been rejected by Australia.

The debunking comes after The Daily Telegraph revealed Mr Morrison’s account on the social media site had been hijacked in an apparent move by Beijing to “censor” the PM.

In response, Chinese-Australian Liberal MP Gladys Liu announced she would boycott the platform until it provided an explanation for the “interference.”

“In an election year especially, this sort of interference in our political processes is unacceptable and this matter should be taken extremely seriously by all Australian politicians,” she said.

Liberal MP Gladys Liu will stop using her WeChat accounts until the company explains why Prime Minister Scott Morrison is locked out of his. Picture: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Last night, Chinese tech company Tencent — the owner of WeChat — issued a statement denying any involvement in the takeover of Mr Morrison’s account, which was rebranded under the name “Australian Chinese new life”.

“Based on our information, this appears to be a dispute over account ownership — the account in question was originally registered by a (Chinese) individual and was subsequently transferred to its current operator, a technology services company,” a Tencent spokeswoman said.

But senior government sources said the prime minister’s office had confirmed the Chinese local who registered Mr Morrison’s account — a common practice used to circumvent restrictions placed on WeChat users based outside of China — made no such legal transfer.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison's WeChat account had about 76,000 followers. Picture: WeChat

The account’s name was changed to “Australia China new life”. The Chinese Communist Party-controlled platform has ignored all requests to fix the situation. Picture: WeChat

The source said the government had secured assurances from the man that he did not authorise any other company or individual to take over the account.

Records show Fuzhou 985 Information Technology Co acquired Mr Morrison’s WeChat account on October 28, some three months after the local Chinese agency engaged to operate it for the government was first unable to log in.

Fuzhou 985 legal representative Huang Aipeng told SBS last night he purchased the account from another Chinese businessman last year. “My purchase of this account has nothing to do with the government, and it is purely a legal business transaction,” he said.

Though WeChat is owned by Tencent, it is known to be heavily monitored by the Chinese Communist Party.

Originally published as ’Denigration and smear’: China denies interfering with PM’s WeChat