This was published 4 years ago
Australia considered foreign policy implications of move on Chinese journalists
By Anthony Galloway and Eryk Bagshaw
Australia considered the foreign policy consequences of raiding the properties of Chinese journalists before counter-espionage agency ASIO undertook the operation.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Foreign Minister Marise Payne and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade were all aware of the ASIO operation before it took place.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Prime Minister Scott Morrison considered the implications of ASIO raids on Chinese journalists.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The four journalists left the country after being questioned by ASIO in June, while two Chinese academics have had their visas revoked on national security grounds.
ASIO believes some of the six Chinese citizens may have been involved in an alleged plot to influence Australian politics through a WeChat group linked to the office of suspended NSW Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane.
Activities outside of the WeChat group are also of concern to ASIO, security sources confirmed.
Ministers on the national security committee of cabinet and DFAT were informed that ASIO was executing the warrants to question the Chinese journalists, which was standard practice.
One source said the government weighed up all the risks of the operation, including the foreign policy implications, but pointed out it was important to let ASIO do its job.
The journalists were not detained and no travel bans were placed on them.
The ASIO raids occurred on June 26 - a little over two months before Australian reporters Bill Birtles and Mike Smith were forced to leave China this week after they were questioned by authorities.
Based on the advice of ASIO, the two academics, Chen Hong and Li Jianjun, received negative security assessments and their visas were revoked by the Department of Home Affairs.
The director of the University of Technology's Australia-China Relations Institute, James Laurenceson, called on the Australian government to explain why the visas had been revoked.
Professor Chen has written extensively on the Australia-China relationship since the 1980s, in recent years his focus has turned from Australian literature to increasingly assertive pro-Chinese Communist Party commentary in Chinese state media. Professor Li translated progressive social realist Australian writers James Aldridge, Frank Hardy and Jack Lindsay for Chinese audiences.
"They aren’t like Huang Xiangmo. They are friends to scores of Australian academics, including me, who they have known for years," said Professor Laurenceson, referring to the prominent Chinese political donor who had his visa cancelled in 2019 on national security grounds.
"If the security agencies have started following Professor Li and Professor Chen over the past 12 months they may have formed one assessment but the problem is in this case there are plenty of mainstream academics who have known these guys for years," he said.
"Their assessment doesn't gel with our lived experienced of them."
Professor Laurenceson said after months of escalating tensions with Beijing, culminating in Birtles and Smith rushing out of the country after fears for their safety, he understood China was the main driver behind the fracturing of the Australia-China relationship.
"But sometimes Australia can do some unhelpful things as well," he said. "When it comes to Professor Li and Professor Chen there are genuine questions to be asked about whether we are making sensible decisions."
University of Sydney historian Sophie Loy-Wilson said on Thursday that Professor Chen had helped her with her research in the Shanghai Municipal Archives many times.
"Why has his visa been revoked? Why are we getting no answers on this?" she said.
Professor Chen said claims the WeChat group, named the FD group, or Fair Dinkum group, had been used as a means of influence were preposterous. He said the main purpose of the social media group was to share jokes and personal excursions.
"It is plain to any eye that nothing in the conversations and postings in that group has the remotest complicity of anything suspicious," he said in a statement.
Professor Chen, who has previously accused Australia of "maliciously exploiting and negatively exaggerating" China's role in the coronavirus pandemic, acknowledged he had made comments critical of Australia's China policy.
"However, any close and serious reading of my articles would easily reveal that my intention has been to eliminate misunderstanding, promote better understanding and improve the relationship," he said.
"I was shocked to receive an email notifying me of visa cancellation on security grounds. I absolutely refuse to accept this assessment, and believe a gross mistake has been made regarding my relationship with Australia."
correction
An earlier version of this article incorrectly suggested the two Chinese academics who had their visas cancelled had also been questioned by ASIO.