Australian journalist describes how he almost became a Chinese spy

AN AUSTRALIAN journalist has described how Chinese security officials offered him money for info over a lunch of spicy fish.

AN AUSTRALIAN journalist working in China has given an extraordinary account of being approached to become a Chinese spy “over a lunch of Sichuan fish, spicy tofu and stir-fried green beans”.

The article from Angus Grigg, the China correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, describes how Chinese security officials took him to lunch in 2013 and then suggested they were willing to give him money in exchange for information.

Initially the officials asked him to let them know when his newspaper was about to publish articles on Chinese cyber hacking or industrial espionage.

“If you let us know, we could share our bonuses with you,” they reportedly said.

A second approach was made just before Grigg was about to leave China to spend Christmas in Australia, with the two men asking to meet him urgently at a Shanghai hotel.

During tea where they handed over presents for his children, they asked Grigg to investigate whether there had been a substantial change in policy towards Beijing.

“When you return you can write a report and we will pay you for this,” one of the men reportedly said.

Realising he had given an ambiguous answer to the first request, Grigg wrote: “This time I flatly refused, saying I would be sitting on a beach in Byron Bay, not snooping for foreign policy morsels.”

Grigg, who has won two Walkley Awards for his journalism, described the approaches as “both hilarious and revealing”, and suggested they showed up China’s anxiety.

The article has prompted others to come forward saying they had had similar experiences.

Must read. I’ve had a similar experience. How many others did the Chinese security services try to recruit? https://t.co/EgXuHR2one

— Bonnie Glaser / 葛来仪 (@BonnieGlaser) December 22, 2017

Chinese officials in Shanghai were interested in trading information for money