A Warning to Us All, Beware of Spies

A balloon is held at a press conference and rally in front of the America ChangLe Association highlighting Beijing's transnational repression, in New York City on Feb. 25, 2023. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

Commentary

Are Australian businesspeople being targeted by operatives of the CCP to provide sensitive information and data to the Chinese regime?

The question arises following the arrest of a Sydney businessman, Alexander Csergo, following a joint Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce (CFIT) investigation. He was charged with selling Australian defence and security secrets to foreign spies.

Csergo is the second person charged by the task force since national security laws were passed in 2018.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) alleged that an individual claiming to be from a think tank contacted Csergo via the LinkedIn social media platform while he was overseas and arranged for him to meet with two representatives.

The AFP said the two people who used the Anglicised names “Ken” and “Evelyn” offered him payment for information about Australian defence, economic, and national security arrangements as well as matters relating to other countries.

The man allegedly compiled reports for them and accepted the money in the form of envelopes of cash between February 2021 and April 14, 2023.

“[They] offered the man money to obtain information about Australian defence, economic, and national security arrangements, plus matters relating to other countries,” AFP Assistant Commissioner Krissy Barrett said.

A supplied image obtained on April 14, 2023, of an Australian man who has been arrested in Bondi and charged with one count of one count of Reckless Foreign Interference. AAP Image/Supplied by AFP

The New South Wales District Court was told Csergo would visit Australia with a “shopping list” of information requested by the foreign intelligence officers. It has been alleged that Csergo provided information about the AUKUS security agreement, lithium mining, and iron ore.

The offences are alleged to have taken place in Shanghai and Australia, including in cafes selected by the alleged foreign agents.

While Csergo’s lawyer claimed that it was merely a common business exchange and any information Csergo could access was publicly available, the court denied him bail on the grounds he was a flight risk.

His lawyer maintained Csergo’s innocence and said he would sue the Commonwealth.

He could be in danger from “people very interested in him not giving evidence against the Republic of China,” according to the magistrate.

An Australian was also charged in 2022 with planning to smuggle military equipment from the country.

The man was alleged to have partnered with a Chinese military intelligence operative.

Spying in the US

These cases follow incidents of alleged spying in other countries.

The Center for Strategic & International Studies lists 224 reported instances of Chinese espionage directed at the United States since 2000. The survey is based on publicly available information.

It does not include espionage against other countries, against U.S. firms or persons located in China, nor the many cases involving attempts to smuggle controlled items from the U.S. to China (usually munitions or controlled technologies) or the more than 1,200 cases of intellectual property theft lawsuits brought by U.S. companies against Chinese entities in either the U.S. or China.

Chinese workers in the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, in southern China's Guangdong province, on May 27, 2010. STR/AFP/GettyImages

“The focus is on the illicit acquisition of information by Chinese intelligence officers or their agents and on the increasing number of Chinese covert influence operations,” reports the Center.

While hacking has been the preferred mechanism for obtaining information, instances abound of the direct provision of data to Chinese agents.

University researchers have also been the subject of spying operations, with a number convicted of providing the sensitive information to overseas countries. Yet one highly publicised case was dropped when investigators concluded that the person concerned was simply engaged in typical academic collaboration.

Others have been charged with paying to obstruct investigations into Chinese companies and to undermine the judicial system.

Politicians have also been targeted in a number of countries.

FBI Director Christopher Wray claimed in early 2022 that Chinese spying had become so widespread that the agency was launching an average of two counterintelligence investigations a day to counter the activity.

The director of ASIO has warned of the increase in foreign intelligence operations in Australia.

The increasing incidence of spying and related activities is a warning to Australians to be aware of the risks.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.