Daniel Andrews stands by China-linked staffer Nancy Yang

Daniel Andrews says he is ‘very confident’ his MPs’ offices haven’t been infiltrated by Chinese Communist Party operatives.

Nancy Yang, a long-serving Andrews government staffer, with the Premier Daniel Andrews.

Daniel Andrews says he is “very confident” his MPs’ offices have not been infiltrated by Chinese Communist Party operatives after The Australian revealed a long-serving Andrews government staffer with links to the highest levels of the CCP’s United Front Work Department has posted a series of articles and videos on social media suggesting coronavirus was created by the US and transported to China by the US Army.

Nancy Yang, a long-serving Andrews government staffer.

The social media posts from Nancy Yang, who has worked as an electorate officer for Andrews government MPs since 2013, come as Victoria seeks to defend its decision to sign up to China’s Belt and Road Initiative despite opposition from the federal government and the Department of Foreign ­Affairs and Trade.

Asked whether he was comfortable that neither his office nor the offices of his MPs had been infiltrated by CCP operatives, Mr Andrews said: “Yes, I am.”

Asked how he knew that, Mr Andrews said: “I'm very confident of that.”

“I think it’s a fair stretch, and if people want to make a more detailed claim than they have, well, they're free to do so,” Mr Andrews said.

“I’m very confident that that has not happened. Our staff work for the Victorian community, and if people want to suggest otherwise, well, the burden might well be on them to demonstrate how that is not true.

In March, Ms Yang, who previously worked as a visa officer for the Chinese consulate in Melbourne, posted an article on her Facebook page under the heading “Chinese official suggests US Army to blame for outbreak”, commenting: “U.S. owe an ­explanation.”

She subsequently posted YouTube clips entertaining conspir­acy theories about US respon­sibility for COVID-19, including one entitled: “The coronavirus CONSPIRACY – Did COVID-19 come from America?”

Posts endorsed by Nancy Yang which link the spread of voronavirus originating in America.

Ms Yang founded United Front-linked group the Melbourne Chinese Youth United Association in 2006, and served as its chair until 2016.

Alongside Premier Daniel Andrews’s senior adviser on China, Marty Mei, Ms Yang is also a committee member of the Chinese Community Council of Australia (Victoria) — described by China expert Clive Hamilton as the “foremost United Front ­organisation in Victoria”. The United Front Work Department is the Chinese Communist Party’s primary overseas influence and interference network.

In her role as MCYUA chair and during her time at the Chinese consulate, Ms Yang was an organiser for a rally at the Olympic Torch relay in 2008 that saw thousands of Chinese students from around Australia bussed to Canberra to engage in what Professor Hamilton described as a “rowdy, intimidating and at times violent” protest against Tibetans and their supporters.

The MCYUA has a “propaganda department” and seeks to “organise (members) to serve the motherland in various forms”.

In a blog post still online on Monday, Ms Yang wrote about meeting United Front head Liu Yangdong during a 2007 trip to Beijing to attend a “Returned Western Scholars Association” forum. She says she told reporters after the meeting: “No matter how long the shadow of the tree is, the roots will always be entrenched in the land; no matter where we are, we will always care about the motherland.”

Another post by Nancy Yang.

‘I’m not concerned about that at all’

Asked whether he was concerned that his government has a long term staff member with high level United Front links who organised protesters on behalf of the Chinese Embassy and has been posting conspiracy theories about the US being responsible for COVID-19, Mr Andrews said: “No, I’m not concerned about that at all.”

“The final part of your question though is, I don’t hold any conspiracy theories. They're not things that I sign up to,” Mr Andrews said.

“But I would just say to you that the staffer in question is a fine young person who's working very hard for her local community.

“Were all a bit more than a blog post or a tweet or a Facebook page.

“She works very hard for her community, but I don't agree with the view around conspiracies.’’

Asked whether his government had taken any precautions to ensure it did not have staff members with loyalties to foreign powers, Mr Andrews said he was confident that all his staff were working “in the best interests of Victorians”.

“If people want to make a claim contrary to that, well then fine, but it'll be on them to back that up because it's a pretty serious claim,” he said.

“I'm not quite sure what you're proposing, whether we do a whole round of checks and things ... That sort of approach, I would have thought that was more part and parcel with some of the some of the communities that you're criticising.”

Nancy Yang with Bill Shorten.

Nancy Yang with Julia Gillard.

Questions over China’s human rights record “hypothetical”

Asked if there was a threshold of human rights abuses by China that would prompt Victoria to pull out of the Belt and Road agreement, Mr Andrews said: “That’s a rather hypothetical question, and I'm not going to entertain what people might or might not do.”

“Let's be very clear about this: agreements with China, our biggest trading partner, our biggest customer, are all about jobs right here in Victoria, and I just want to deal with this issue: there was some commentary in the newspaper from someone who is fundamentally irrelevant (Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien), but I will make the point, because it can't go unchecked, that if a Chinese company invests in Victoria, apparently it’ll only be Chinese workers working on that project. That is simply wrong,” Mr Andrews said.

“The Metro Tunnel, numerous projects, they're employing tens of thousands of Victorian workers. That is simply a false statement, and one that should be called out.”

In its 2020 world report, Human Rights Watch found of China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims: “No other government is simultaneously detaining a million members of an ethnic minority for forced indoctrination and attacking anyone who dares to challenge its repression, and while other governments commit serious human rights violations, no other government flexes its political muscles with such vigour and determination to undermine the international human rights standards and institutions that could hold it to account.”

Asked whether he had concerns about China’s human rights record, Mr Andrews said: “Yes, and I've made those very clear.”

“What’s really important here is to hopefully acknowledge, as I have on many, many occasions, not everybody has acknowledged this but I certainly have: we don't agree with China on everything.

“But if you want a good trading relationship, if you want to send more Victorian-made products to China, to create jobs here in Victoria, then a good relationship on the things you can agree on is very, very important.

“It doesn't mean we agree on every issue. We don’t. For instance yesterday, and I think Friday, and earlier last week as well, on the question of Hong Kong, the position that the Australian government, the Canadian government and the UK Government have taken, I agree with 100 per cent.”