Government hired spies to oversee Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest deal with China
The federal government hired spies to closely examine a deal reached between businessman Andrew 'Twiggy’ Forrest and China to secure 10 million COVID-19 test kits.
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Spies were consulted over Australian businessman Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest’s deal with China to secure 10 million COVID-19 test kits.
Health Minister Greg Hunt’s office confirmed high-level security advice was obtained on the privacy risks to Australians’ information in allowing the Chinese company to undertake the sensitive work, The Australian reports.
“The government sought and obtained advice from security agencies about appropriate installation and use of the new platforms, and will be implementing this through contractual arrangements,” his spokesman said.
According to the media outlet, the agencies included the Australian Signals Directorate protecting DNA data obtained from Australian samples.
It comes after Mr Forrest issued a public statement “to set the record straight” after he was accused of hijacking a government press conference when he invited a Chinese diplomat to speak.
Mr Forrest invited China’s Victorian Consul-General Long Zhou as a guest speaker at a press conference with Health Minister Greg Hunt on Wednesday, at a time when relations between the two countries are frayed over Australia’s call for an independent coronavirus probe.
In a statement issued on Friday night, Mr Forrest said Mr Hunt agreed to the guest speaker.
“As we go into the weekend, I would like to set the record straight,” he said.
“I have a long and collaborative relationship with many ministers, including Minister Hunt who knew that I wanted a representative of China to be at the event. When given the choice on the day, the Minister agreed the Consul General could speak.”
He continued by praising Mr Hunt as “a decisive leader” assuring the public “this was not a pressured environment.”
“The idea of the event being hijacked or ambushed is false. It was a gracious gesture of appreciation and friendship between our two nations, and to recognise and thank Beijing Genomics Institute for assisting Australia’s battle to combat the greatest threat to our country in decades,” Mr Forrest said.
It comes as a cancer funding announcement by Mr Hunt and Mr Forrest was cancelled following the reaction.
It is understood the two were due to visit Melbourne’s Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre on Thursday to announce a $67 million package to provide lifesaving treatment to kids with cancer.
But it was called off at late notice and a joint statement was released instead, in which Mr Hunt praised Mr Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation for their contribution.
“Our joint aim is to provide every Australian child with cancer with the best possible chance to recover and live a happy, healthy life,” Mr Hunt said.
Mr Forrest previously laughed off the controversy, saying it was “the biggest non-story ever”.
“I’m the most Australian person I know … I put Australia first,” he said.
“Take a chill pill.”
Mr Long is reportedly a former top cyber official for Beijing, The Australian reports.
Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman said Chinese diplomats had been “downright despicable and menacing” since Australia started pressing the case for an investigation.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the media conference had overshadowed the good work of the Forrests.
It comes as China is ramping up its PR war in its battle to deflect blame over the origins of the coronavirus.
Sydney Chinese consulate-general Gu Xiaoji opened up a new Twitter account and launched the foray into social media by claiming his account would share “accurate information on China” and the work of his office.
The consulate for the People’s Republic of China, based in Camperdown, used its first tweets to hose down concerns the virus may have escaped from a Wuhan lab.
“Wuhan laboratory has nothing to do with the origin of the novel coronavirus,” the office tweeted.
“China always develops friendly co-operation with other countries based on mutual respect and equal-footed treatment.
“With a view to sharing comprehensive and accurate information on China and the work of the Chinese Consulate General, as well as providing better services and more convenience to people in New South Wales, the Chinese Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Sydney has opened its official twitter account.”
A spokesperson for the Sydney consulate also issued a statement on its website claiming it was “impossible” the virus could have escaped from Chinese labs.
“The research facility is a biosafety level 4 laboratory that is able to deal with the world’s deadliest pathogens,” the spokesperson claimed. “About 30km from downtown Wuhan, it is impossible for a virus to leak from the P4 lab.”
‘COVID-19 STARTED IN CHINA’: PM
Scott Morrison insists it would be “absolutely nonsense” to suggest the coronavirus started anywhere other than China.
The prime minister is pushing ahead with calls for a global inquiry into the origins of the deadly disease despite diplomatic blowback from the Chinese government.
“I don’t think anybody is in any fantasy land about where it started — it started in China,” he told 2GB radio on Friday.
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“What the world over needs to know — and there’s a lot of support for this — is how did it start and what are the lessons to be learned.
“That needs to be done independently. And why do we want to know that? Because it could happen again.”
The prime minister also criticised mining magnate Andrew Forrest for questioning the origins of the virus and inviting a Chinese official to address a press conference without warning the minister first.
Mr Morrison thanked the billionaire for helping secure 10 million coronavirus testing kits from China.
“But when it comes to foreign affairs advice, I’ll take my foreign affairs advice from foreign affairs officials,” he said.
“When it comes to business advice, I’ll talk to business people. When it comes to health advice, I’ll talk to health people. I won’t ask them for history advice, either.
“That’s what I’ll do, I’ll talk to the experts in their fields.”
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has indicated the COVID-19 review is picking up steam.
“There is a very broad range of understanding that there is definitely a need for an independent and transparent review,” she told ABC radio.
“We have been very gratified by the engagement we’ve had in recent days and in the last week, with the prime minister’s calls and my own.”
Chinese ambassador Cheng Jingye has floated a consumer boycott of Australian products in retaliation to the review.
Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman said Chinese diplomats had been “downright despicable and menacing” since Australia started pressing the case for an investigation. But Senator Payne isn’t perturbed.
PUSH CONTINUES FOR PROBE DESPITE DIPLOMATIC BLOWBACK
Australia is pushing ahead with calls for a review into the origins of coronavirus despite it straining diplomatic relations with China.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has indicated the review is picking up steam.
“There is a very broad range of understanding that there is definitely a need for an independent and transparent review,” she told ABC radio.
“We have been very gratified by the engagement we’ve had in recent days and in the last week, with the prime minister’s calls and my own.”
Chinese ambassador Cheng Jingye has floated a consumer boycott of Australian products in retaliation to the review.
But Senator Payne isn’t perturbed.
“What we do need to do is to put that stake in the ground, to say we need to have an independent and transparent review,” she said.
Former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop says it’s time for calm and quiet diplomacy.
“So that we can understand more about this virus, how it got into human populations and whether decisions could have been taken that would have prevented its spread,” she told the ABC.
However, she said China had a responsibility to support an independent global investigation if it did not intend to carry out its own inquiry to help the rest of the world learn what happened.
Australian National University’s Andrew Carr warned attempts by Australia to rebuke China could distract from calls for an inquiry into COVID-19’s origins.
Dr Carr said the current spat was minor in the scheme of things but Australia shouldn’t let it slide.
A serious inquiry into coronavirus’ origins could help counter conspiracy theories and racist attacks.
But Australia was well positioned to manage how diplomats inside Australia are supposed to act, he said.
CHINA’S RESPONSE ‘INAPPROPRIATE’: TRADE MINISTER
It comes after Australia’s trade minister said it would be inappropriate for China to boycott local industries in response to the call for an inquiry.
China has threatened a boycott of education, tourism and agriculture in retaliation against Australia’s push for a global review into how the coronavirus pandemic began.
“It would be inappropriate,” Trade Minister Simon Birmingham told the ABC on Tuesday.
“Australia’s position is very clear that we believe it is entirely reasonable … for there to be a genuine inquiry and investigation into the cause of the loss of life of hundreds of thousands of people around the world.”
He later told Adelaide radio FIVEaa trade was already due to contract prior to threats of boycotting Australian beef and wine exports.
“I hope that we can rebuild those markets,” Senator Birmingham said.
“Our beef and our policy dispute, if there is one, is not with the people of China or the legitimate businesses of China.
“I hope that the government of China considers this position and that it is just not tenable to go out and surely say that there shouldn’t be some inquiry.”
Foreign Minister Marise Payne raised the idea of an international inquiry a week ago, calling for greater transparency on how COVID-19 originated and how it was subsequently handled.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton backed the call, telling Sky News on Sunday that it would provide reassurance into the future.
“We want more transparency within the communist party of China in the way they have dealt with this virus issue,” Mr Dutton told Sky News.
Labor’s Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong told the ABC she supported “an independent inquiry into the origin of the virus.”
Ms Wong said Australia needed to rethink its relationship with China as the nation became “much more assertive”.
“We need to rethink how it is that we approach the relationship while standing up for our sovereignty, our interests and our values,” Ms Wong told the ABC on Monday.
It comes as the EU denied bowing to Chinese pressure to water down a report on coronavirus disinformation to soften criticism of Beijing.
In a report on Monday (local time) The New York Times said that, under pressure from Beijing officials, the EU had delayed publication of a regular report on disinformation trends last week, and toned down the final version.
A spokesman for the EU’s diplomatic service, Peter Stano, insisted no changes had been made as a result of outside influence.
“I absolutely refute and dispute any indications or claims that in our reporting we are bowing to any kind of external pressure,” he told a regular media briefing in Brussels.
The New York Times said an early version of the report referred to China running “a global disinformation campaign to deflect blame for the outbreak of the pandemic and improve its international image”.
In another report, The Financial Times said China complained three times to the EU about the text including to the bloc’s ambassador in Beijing, Nicolas Chapuis.
The final published version does not refer to a “global disinformation campaign” though it does mention “a co-ordinated push by official Chinese sources” including state media to deflect blame for the pandemic.
It also details evidence of what it calls “covert Chinese operations” on social media.
Stano said that what the New York Times called an “initial” version of the report published on Friday was in fact a separate document intended only for internal use within the EU.
But the incident has triggered alarm in Brussels and the largest political bloc in the European parliament, the European People’s Party (EPP), has demanded an explanation from EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell.
“We are revolted by the reports revealing that the European External Action Service bowed under Chinese pressure and modified its findings about the Chinese disinformation campaign on COVID-19,” the EPP’s Sandra Kalniete said.
“It would be totally unacceptable if the EEAS, charged with providing the EU public with full and unbiased information and to defend Europe in this disinformation campaign, proved to be ready to backtrack on its findings and fall victim itself to foreign propaganda.”
In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang denied any Chinese involvement in disinformation.
“Spreading false information and mutual accusations in the current circumstances won’t help with the international co-operation in fighting the COVID-19,” Geng said.
– with staff writers, AAP
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