Gladys Liu fails to dispel China links during on air interview

Melbourne Liberal MP Gladys Liu has refused to call China’s actions in the South China Sea “theft” and repeatedly claimed in a gaffe-prone interview she couldn’t remember being a member of organisations linked to the Chinese Communist Party.

Liberal MP Gladys Liu has refused to call China’s actions in the South China Sea “theft” in a gaffe-prone interview in which she repeatedly claimed she couldn’t remember being a member of organisations linked to the Chinese Communist Party.

Ms Liu last night admitted to telling 40 Chinese groups last year they should take their concerns to their local MP about Australia not being “friendlier” to China.

In a train wreck interview with Sky News host Andrew Bolt, the Hong Kong-born MP of Chisholm - the seat that covers suburbs including Box Hill, Blackburn, Nunawading and Burwood - was forced to fend off questions about her former membership of groups connected to China’s covert political influence operation.

Ms Liu was a council member of the Guangdong provincial chapter of the China Overseas Exchange Association between 2003 and 2015, according to a Chinese government online record list published by the ABC this week.

Asked about the organisation’s links to the United Front Work Department, she said she had “no first-hand knowledge” of the body which is infamous for pushing pro-Beijing views overseas including in Australia.

Liberal MP Gladys Liu refused to talk to journalists as she left the Sky studio in Parliament House in Canberra after she was interviewed. Picture Gary Ramage

“According to what I’ve seen in the news, it (the United Front Work Department) is something, maybe the Chinese government wanted to have some influence in some other countries, but as I said I have no first-hand knowledge of this organisation,” she said.

Ms Liu refused at least five times to call China’s actions in the South China sea “unlawful” or “theft”, resulting in Bolt suggesting she was “reluctant” to criticise Beijing.

As the trainwreck interview proceeded journalists gathered outside the Sky News studios as a member of the Prime Minister’s staff arrived to shepherd her from the scene.

Clutching her phone to her ear she refused to answer more questions as she departed.

Asked by Bolt about her honorary presidency of the Australia Jiangmen General Commercial Association, which has backed China’s controversial claims of the South China Sea, Ms Liu said: “As the honorary president of the organisation, they didn’t tell me everything that they do. In fact most of the time when you’re honorary president … what they do is they want to use your fame.

“Definitely there was no information for me what they do day-to-day and I have no knowledge of whether or not support the cause that you just mentioned.”

Scott Morrison and Gladys Liu in the House of Representatives Chamber. Picture Kym Smith

Questioned over the Court of Arbitration’s ruling in The Hague that China’s actions in the South China Sea have been unlawful, she said: “This is a matter for the Foreign Minister, I definitely would put Australia’s interests first and that’s what I’ve been doing.

“A lot of countries are trying to claim ownership, sovereignty, of the South China Sea, because of various reasons, and my position is with the Australian government.”

She said if China’s claims in the South China Sea affected “our trade or air” then she would not support it and she “always put Australia’s interests first”.

When Bolt asked Ms Liu about previously being honorary president of the United Chinese Commerce Association of Australia: “What is that organisation again? I don’t think I am.”

She then said she didn’t know the honorary permanent president of the same organisation, adding “maybe he’s known by an English name.”

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When questioned about her attendance at a forum in which 40 Chinese groups called on Australia to be friendlier to China, she said: “I think I was there … Yes, I suggested that to any one if they have any concerns to contact our local member of parliament”.

Some of the groups at the forum appear to have Communist Party of China links, including the Hubei Association of Australia and the Australian Hubei Chamber of Commerce, both chaired by Tom Zhou, a prominent figure in the recent Crown Casino scandal.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson on Tuesday said the Liberal Party had questions to answer over Ms Liu’s connections to Chinese organisations.

Following the interview, Labor senator Kimberley Kitching told Sky News Ms Liu was a “time bomb” for the Liberal Party.

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