Australian universities ‘helping China to spy’ in massive global operation, Four Corners reveals

Aussie universities are now closely tied with Chinese entities linked to the Communist Party’s global espionage and military tech efforts.

An explosive investigation has revealed direct links between Australian universities and Chinese groups associated with the Communist Party’s global spying and defence efforts.

ABC program Four Corners, in conjunction with Background Briefing, has detailed the murky relationships between a number of Beijing-backed and owned entities and major tertiary institutions, raising national security concerns.

One of the entities is Global Tone Communication, known as GTCOM, which is a data-mining company majority owned by the Chinese Government, the ABC reports.

GTCOM has a memorandum of understanding with the University of New South Wales to test its sophisticated technology.

According to the ABC, the company claims its capabilities include mining data in 65 languages at a rate of 16,000 words a second.

But China analyst Samantha Hoffman told Four Corners that it’s “very clear” GTCOM is focusing on the power of the data they’re collecting and how it can assist the Communist Party’s “social credit system, intelligence collection and efforts related to (the) military”.

A Four Corners investigation will expose concerning links between a number of Australian unis and Chinese entities linked to the Communist Party. Picture: Getty Images

“They describe their activity as cross-language big data collection,” Dr Hoffman said.

“And so essentially what they’re doing is they’re collecting bulk data globally, and then turning that into information that supports multiple different products. According to their own claims, the data they’re collecting supports state security, and so immediately that raises red flags.”

Four Corners heard from a number of security figures who are concerned about China’s links with Australian tertiary institutions and what they describe as a major espionage operation run via tech companies.

GTCOM also collaborates with telecommunications giant Huawei, which the Australian Government formally excluded from work on the country’s 5G mobile network due to security concerns.

“The university … is keen to pursue greater transparency as well as increased (Australian) Government collaboration … to ensure its operations are always in line with the national interest,” A UNSW spokesperson told the ABC.

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The program will raise concerns about Australian research programs that may have assisted in mass public surveillance efforts in China. Picture: AFP

Another company that GTCOM works with is Haiyun Data.

Haiyun’s technology has reportedly been used as part of surveillance activities against the Uyghur Muslim minority in China.

An estimated 1.5 million Uyghurs are currently held in detention camps — which Beijing describes as “extremist re-education programs” — in the country’s Xinjiang province.

A growing chorus of international condemnation of Beijing’s persecution of the group has failed to land an impact, nor has an independent inquiry chaired in London that in June concluded a large-scale and involuntary organ harvesting operation was taking place.

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An estimated 1.5 million Uyghurs are being in Chinese prisons.

Haiyun Data told Chinese media in January that it operates an artificial intelligence laboratory at the University of Technology Sydney. UTS denies the claim, the ABC said.

However, a spokesperson told Four Corners that it operates a research project in conjunction with the company, the purpose of which is handwriting recognition.

Alastair MacGibbon, who used to lead up the Australian Cyber Security Centre at the Australian Signals Directorate, told the ABC universities were playing in dangerous territory.

“If it’s a firm that’s backed by a regime … and it’s engaging in what could be developments that help suppress people, then that’s a dangerous thing,” Mr MacGibbon told the program.

A police officer wearing a pair of smartglasses with a facial recognition technology equipped. Picture: AFP

Four Corners examined another UTS deal with the company China Electronics Technology Corporation, or CETC, which is believed to have been involved in the mass surveillance of Uyghurs.

The arrangement, made in 2017, saw CETC fund a number of research projects at the university, one of which was public security video analysis.

UTS denied its deal contributed to monitoring efforts in China.

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China’s foreign activities are increasingly under a spotlight. Picture: AP

The program identified a number of companies and organisations that Australian universities have been involved with, which are on US blacklists due to human rights abuses or security concerns.

One of them is China’s National University of Defence Technology, which has collaborated with Australian National University in Canberra on “dozens” of studies, the ABC reported.

Education Minister Dan Tehan said foreign interference is at “unprecedented levels”.

“There’s been cyber intrusions which have occurred in the last three to four years, which should be a wake-up call to Australia.

“And it’s a wake-up call to our university sector, and it’s a wake-up call to our business sector, a wake-up call to our government.”

Four Corners also examined the enormous reliance on Chinese students by Australian universities and the creeping power of groups on campuses that have direct links with the Chinese Embassy.

The episode of Four Corners can be seen on iView