‘Beijing agent’ Bo ‘‘Nick” Zhao was low-profile Lib, party says

The man at the centre of claims China wanted to install one of its agents in federal parliament was a low-profile Liberal member.

One-time Liberal Party member Bo ‘Nick Zhao’. Picture: 60 minutes

The man at the centre of claims that China wanted to install one of its agents in federal parliament was a low-profile Liberal Party member who had shown no ambition of becoming an MP, sources familiar with his activities say.

Bo ‘‘Nick” Zhao joined the Highbury branch of the Victorian Liberal Party before the 2016 federal election but held no positions and later disappeared from view amid personal problems.

READ MORE: Allegations of China’s alleged interference bid ‘deeply disturbing’

It is understood Mr Zhao, 32, made himself known to people in his new branch but did not agitate to enter parliament, attending at least one gathering with his wife and daughter. He was found dead, reportedly in hotel room in Glen Waverley in Melbourne’s southeast, in March.

About 2016 and under personal strain, Mr Zhao ceased showing up to party events, sources said.

“He was missing in action,” a senior Liberal told The Australian.

“He was a nice fellow with a wife and daughter. He was on the fringes. He just never gave me the impression he ever intended to be active or build a profile.”

Other senior Liberals contacted by The Australian had heard nothing of Mr Zhao and were sceptical he had functioned at all within the organisation.

It is believed that sitting member Gladys Liu does not recall ever meeting Mr Zhao, who lived in the nearby seat of Higgins and not Chisholm.

It is normal for ambitious future political candidates to immerse themselves in the party to win support in any preselection, needing the backing of the local rank and file to win preselection ballots.

Chisholm is a seat popular with Chinese Australians and sources said it was possible Mr Zhao could have flown under the radar because of the large number of ethnically Chinese people who attended fundraisers.

One of the most senior Liberals in the electorate, with knowledge of the membership lists, said: “We’d never heard of him.”

It was reported that a Chinese espionage ring had offered to pay $1m for a political campaign to get Mr Zhao elected in Chisholm.

Chisholm was won by then Liberal Julia Banks in 2016. A cash injection of $1m into any campaign would be bolstered by whatever funding was raised on the ground.

A former luxury car dealer, Mr Zhao reportedly told ASIO of the alleged plot last year. After he was found dead in a suburban motel room, it’s understood there was nothing in the death that led the homicide squad to begin an investigation, although the matter remains with the coroner.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said investigators would not elaborate on circumstances surrounding Mr Zhao’s death. “Local police prepared a report for the coroner in relation to the death of a 31-year-old man in Glen Waverley on March 3, 2019,” she said. “It would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”

Efforts to speak to his family were unsuccessful. A woman who answered a phone number used by a family member denied knowing him. The Glen Iris home where he had lived has new residents. They said they did not know what happened to the previous owners.

According to filings with ASIC, at least five companies, mostly in the automotive sector, in which Mr Zhao was involved were either under administration or being struck off.

Just weeks before his death, a third mortgage was registered to the Glen Iris home.

The earliest signs of his financial troubles appeared in 2017 when Volkswagen Group Australia announced it would seek to introduce new management to Werribee Volkswagen after coming to the conclusion that Mr Zhao was not considered “a fit person to hold our franchise”.