Police suspect drug overdose behind Bo Zhao death as ‘spy’ mystery deepens

Police think Bo ‘Nick’ Zhao died of an overdose, with no suggestion he met with foul play.

Luxury car dealer Bo 'Nick' Zhao.

A Melbourne luxury car dealer whose mysterious death is at the centre of an alleged international spy scandal died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, police believe.

The Australian understands police think Bo “Nick” Zhao died of an overdose, accidental or deliberate, with no suggestion he met with foul play over an alleged ­attempt to insert a Chinese agent of influence into federal parliament. Zhao was found dead in a Melbourne motel room in March after allegedly telling ASIO he had been approached by a wealthy Chinese businessman with an offer to run for the federal seat of Chisholm, ­ostensibly as a Chinese agent.

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The circumstances of his death have led to speculation he may have met with foul play.

Privately, police say the death was not considered suspicious and the coronial process currently under way is no more than a ­bureaucratic requirement.

The news came as Chinese and Korean-language experts questioned the bona fides of self-­proclaimed Chinese spy turned defector Wang Liqiang, a 27-year-old asylum-seeker who claims to have been at the heart of some of Beijing’s most sensitive espionage operations.

Mr Wang, who appeared in a series of stories in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, as well as on 60 Minutes, claimed to have infiltrated the Hong Kong student movement, been involved in the kidnapping of Hong Kong booksellers to the mainland and to have travelled to Taiwan to undermine democratic elections.

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ASIO issued a rare public statement, saying it was aware of the claims and was investigating.

The Chinese government has called Mr Wang a criminal, saying he was wanted in China for fraud offences. Mr Wang has denied the claims. Attempts to reach him on Tuesday were ­unsuccessful.

Macquarie University China researcher Adam Ni expressed scepticism about Mr Wang’s story, saying he appeared not to know the names of key Chinese institutions. “He mentions the PLA Joint Staff four times,’’ Mr Ni said. “He gets it wrong three times.

He said the error was significant as the Chinese PLA General Staff Department, as it was known before January 2016, was central in directing China’s intelligence ­efforts. It is now the Central Military Commission Joint Staff Department. “He’s clearly someone who doesn’t have a basic understanding of one of the most ­important PLA organisations, supposedly the organisation that the company he works for sits under,’’ Mr Ni said. “Based on ­information in the public domain, his claims and credibility should be seen with scepticism.’’

Mr Ni said at most Mr Wang, who is claiming refugee ­status, was on the “periphery’’ of intelligence work.

Two Korean-language experts also cast doubt on an apparent ­element of Mr Wang’s story, saying there were discrepancies in a fake passport he said his Chinese spy handlers issued him this year.

Mr Wang said he was given the passport to travel to Taiwan to meddle in their elections. An image of the passport was carried in media reports.

Both experts said the English name on the passport, “Gang Wang”, differed from the Korean-language spelling “Cho Kyung Mee’’, a female name.

“There’s a clear mismatch ­between the English spelling of the name and the Korean name,” the Australian National University’s Korean Studies Visiting Fellow Leonid Petrov said. “It’s either a very sloppy job or a deliberate plan to get rid of the person. Whoever was given this passport would be stopped at the border.”

Gi-Hyun Shin, a Korean linguist at the University of NSW, agreed: “The chances are very high this name would be a female name. You wouldn’t give it to your son.’’