‘Information warfare’: China blasts AUKUS security crackdown

Beijing lashed out at Australia amid a crackdown on human rights abuses and security threats, as AUKUS pilots united to combat Chinese air power.

Beijing accused the United States of waging “information warfare” and slammed Australia’s “abuse of state power” after a crackdown on Chinese spy balloons and surveillance cameras.

It comes as the two AUKUS allies held joint Air Force drills alongside pilots from the pact’s third ally, the United Kingdom; where British ministers separately called for the arrest of a Communist Party official, accused of overseeing the Muslim genocide in Xinjiang, who was scheduled for a “propaganda coup” visit to London.

Just a day after praising Australia as fundamental to global peace, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning lashed out at plans by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles to purge Chinese-made surveillance cameras from government buildings.

Richard Marles, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“We oppose erroneous practices of overstretching the concept of national security and abusing state power to discriminate against and suppress Chinese companies,” Ms Ning said.

“We hope the Australian side will provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for the normal operation of Chinese companies and do more things that could contribute to mutual trust and co-operation between our two countries.”

Australia’s defence ministry will remove Chinese-made cameras from its offices over spying concerns, the country’s Minister for Defence Richard announced yesterday.

Mr Marles said the Defence Ministry would remove Chinese-made cameras from its offices over spying concerns after opposition Senator James Paterson revealed 913 cameras, access control systems and intercoms were made by Chinese-state-owned companies Hikvision and Dahua.

The companies were also complicit in the ongoing genocide of the Uyghur Muslims in western China through their powerful facial recognition technology, Mr Paterson added.

The governor overseeing the region Xinjiang, Erkin Tuniyaz, caused an uproar in the United Kingdom after it was revealed he planned to visit London next week on a diplomatic passport and meet with Foreign Office officials.

Chair of the UK’s Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Alicia Kearns, said there was “no legitimate reason to allow this man” into the country.

“(The) only meetings with him should be in a courtroom,” Kearns said.

As politicians sparred over the diplomatic fallout from China’s human rights abuses and security threats, AUKUS Air Force pilots this week carried out joint drills to prepare for combat operations against Chinese fighter jets and air defences.

F-35Bs from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron-211 in joint operations with the RAF and RAAF. Picture: US Air Force

Operation Red Flag”, described as a “major coalition military exercise, took place at the Nellis Air Force Base this week amid the backdrop of the downing of a Chinese spy balloon that transited the continental United States.

The Royal Australian Air Force’s EA-18G Growlers, a version of the F/A-18F Super Hornet which entered service in 2017, joined the US Marine Corps F-35B Lightning IIs, and the Royal Air Force’s RGR4 Typhoons.

Colonel Jared Hutchinson, 414th Combat Training Squadron commander., said the drills were part of an effort to simulate advanced combat against their Chinese counterparts.

“(China is) just the pacing challenge that we train to so that we’re ready … We think that if we’re ready for China, we’re ready for anybody,” Hutchinson told Reuters.

The focus on the threat from China comes amid increased tensions over the country’s fleet of spy balloons spanning five continents, with China deflecting criticism to the United States as “the number one country in surveillance and reconnaissance”

The moment a US fighter jet shoots down suspected Chinese spy balloon. Picture: Angela Mosley

Chinese spy balloon retrieved from the Atlantic after being shot down. Picture: Supplied

“It has long-running intelligence programs across the globe. US aircraft and warships frequently conduct close-in reconnaissance around China, which seriously threatens China’s national security,” said Ms Ning, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.’

She added that China “deplores” the US “overreacting” with force in shooting the balloon, adding that the US needs to end its “provocations”.

“I am not aware of any ‘fleet of balloons’. That narrative is probably part of the information and public opinion warfare the US has waged on China,” she said

“As to who is the world’s number one country of spying, eavesdropping and surveillance, that is plainly visible to the international community.”