‘I’ve agonised over this’: Suspected foreign interference victims break silence

Federal police told prominent critics of the Chinese Communist Party they were suspected targets of a foreign interference operation, warning them to avoid adopting a predictable daily routine to prevent putting themselves in danger.

Activist Drew Pavlou and journalist Vicky Xu told this masthead the Australian Federal Police (AFP) asked them not to speak to anyone about the investigation, but they had decided to go public out of frustration that no arrests had been made, or charges laid, since they were informed about the probe 10 months ago.

Prominent Australian critics of the Chinese Communist Party, Drew Pavlou and Vicky Xu.Credit: Lucy Stone/Eamon Gallagher

Details of the secretive foreign interference probe have come to light as Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrives in Adelaide for a four-day Australian visit, highlighting the significant difficulties that remain in the Australia-China relationship despite markedly improved trade ties.

Pavlou and Xu urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to raise concerns about foreign interference in his discussions with Li, a call backed by the federal opposition.

Pavlou, a University of Queensland student who ran for the Senate in the 2022 federal election on an anti-Beijing platform, said he was called in for a meeting at the AFP’s Brisbane offices last August.

“I was informed by three AFP officers that there was an ongoing investigation into foreign interference that had unearthed attempts by agents of foreign interference to find my address and where I live,” Pavlou wrote in a contemporaneous note provided to this masthead.

“Search warrants had been issued and searches had taken place, but no arrests … There would be a possibility that I would have to be a Crown witness in a foreign interference trial.”

He said he strongly suspected the operatives were seeking his address for a nefarious purpose. Pavlou, who lives with his parents, said: “I’ve agonised about whether to come forward on this. They said I shouldn’t tell a single soul, not even my mum.”

He said he had decided to speak publicly because he found it “mind-boggling” that no legal action had yet been taken against those involved in the operation.

Pavlou has conducted several high-profile and controversial protest actions against China, including at the Australian Open and Wimbledon tennis tournaments. In 2022, he was detained by British police after the Chinese embassy in London reported a bomb threat sent under his name. Pavlou insisted the email was a fake, and UK police later cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Pavlou said the AFP told him they had taken unidentified measures to disrupt the attempted foreign interference and that he did not require security protection as there was no ongoing threat to his safety.

He called for Albanese to raise foreign interference with Li. “The government should make clear this is a completely unacceptable breach of Australia’s sovereignty,” he said.

Xu, who wrote an influential 2020 report on Uyghurs being used for forced labour in China, said she received a call from the AFP in August while living in Germany.

The comedian and researcher said police told her they had identified persons of interest in a foreign interference investigation relating to her.

Xu said she travels regularly to help avoid becoming a target for harassment. Credit: Monica Pronk

“The AFP said do not go to the media about this because it may go to court,” she said. “I was told not to talk to anyone.”

Xu said police advised her not to regularly visit the same cafe and to switch between walking and running while in public to avoid becoming a target. She said she was baffled why no action was taken nor had she heard anything since from police about the matter.

Xu said she no longer felt safe living permanently in Australia after being followed and sent death threats following her work on repression in China.

“I travel constantly, I move every few months,” she said. “My theory is that if I move around a lot, it will push up the budget so much China will eventually give up on following me.”

While welcoming the improvement in trade relations between Australia and China, Xu said: “We must not forget that Australian sovereignty is the basis of everything, and the government has a duty to protect its citizens.”

An AFP spokesman said that “espionage and foreign interference represent a serious threat to Australian sovereignty and security and the integrity of our national institutions”.

“The AFP is a member of the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce, which is investigating a range of foreign interference matters,” the spokesman said. “It would be inappropriate to comment further on the status of those investigations.”

Under questioning from opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson, AFP Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett told Senate estimates hearings this month that police were conducting “an active and ongoing” foreign interference investigation that involved “a number of potential victims”.

AFP Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett.Credit: Joe Armao

“Yes, we have taken some overt action, but there are still aspects of the investigation that I can’t talk about in a public forum,” Barrett said.

While declining to discuss the possibility of charges being laid, Barrett said police had identified the concerning behaviour at an early stage. “I think that should give the community confidence that we are aware and that we are taking action,” she said.

Paterson said he was disappointed that landmark foreign interference laws had been used just twice since being passed in 2018, despite ASIO director-general Mike Burgess identifying espionage and foreign interference as Australia’s most serious national security threats.

“If there are no consequences there is no deterrence,” Paterson said. “No Australian citizen should have to change their behaviour because of fears they will be harassed by foreign agents.”

Paterson called on Albanese to raise concerns about foreign interference in his meetings with Li as well as the suspended death sentence handed to Chinese-Australian academic Yang Hengjun, state-sponsored cyberattacks and dangerous military encounters between China’s People’s Liberation Army and the Australian Defence Force.

In February, Melbourne businessman Di Sanh Duong was jailed for two years and nine months for trying to influence a federal politician on behalf of the Chinese government, becoming the first person to be jailed under the foreign interference laws.

Sydney businessman Alexander Csergo has pleaded not guilty after being charged last year with reckless foreign interference over a series of reports he wrote for two Chinese nationals about Australian defence arrangements, mining projects and other matters.

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