Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said he will not back away from standing up for his country’s interests following criticism from Beijing over earlier comments made about reports of Chinese interference in Australia’s affairs.
Speaking to journalists on Saturday, Turnbull rejected criticism from China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang who said Friday that the Australian leader was pandering to “irresponsible reports by some Australian media.”
A day earlier Turnbull said he had taken seriously media reports of Chinese meddling in Australian politics and the broader community.
“We are strongly dissatisfied with those remarks and [have] lodged stern representations with the Australian side,” said Geng.
In response to Geng’s comments, Turnbull said he would “stand up” for Australians.
“And we stand up and so we say, the Australian people stand up,” he said.
The ongoing media reports have resulted in the federal government introducing tougher foreign interference laws which also upset Beijing.
Defense analyst Malcolm Davis from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute told the ABC that Beijing was attempting to bully Australia by complaining about any references to its meddling in domestic politics.
“They are trying to intimidate us and what we have to understand is the reports of Chinese infiltration and attempts to maneuver and manipulate Australian politics and Australian political debate are legitimate,” said Davis.
“The Chinese are seeking to interfere in our political process.”
He said that Beijing is seeking a strategic advantage over the U.S.
“Ultimately, their goal is to have Australia become more pro-China, less pro-U.S., align with Beijing and distance itself from the United States and ultimately end the alliance,” Davis said.
“Everyone understands what China is about, the difference is now we are starting to fight back against them.”
“It’s about meddling with another country’s election and yes, it is treated very seriously,” he said.
“The Americans raise it with me all the time because it’s also directly related to any potential shift by their closest ally towards China.”
Hockey said that the situation in Australia is being watched “very closely” by the U.S. administration.
Sam Dastyari
At the center of much of the recent reporting on China’s interference in Australian issues has been centered on Australian Labor Party (ALP) senator Sam Dastyari. Over the past several weeks there have been widespread media coverage on Dastyari’s support of certain Beijing polices and his links with a Beijing-linked Chinese billionaire.Dastyari reportedly pressured Plibersek on multiple occasions during 2015 not to meet Professor Joseph Cheng Yu-shek – a Chinese democracy activist – because it would upset people in the “Chinese community.” Despite the pressure, Plibersek did meet Cheng during her Hong Kong visit.
Over the past several weeks, the federal government has called on Dastyari to resign. Initially such calls were made after media reports surfaced on how Dastyari allegedly warned Chinese Communist Party-linked Huang Xiangmo that his phone was likely being tapped by intelligence services, including those of the U.S. government.
The senator also received negative press over a 2016 speech when he publicly backed Beijing’s aggressive moves in the South China Sea. His comments, made while standing next to Huang, were contradictory to that of his party’s and the Australian government’s policy on the issue.
The relationship between Dastyari and Huang were exposed earlier in the year as part of an in-depth investigation carried out by Fairfax and the ABC that revealed the extent of Chinese Communist Party interference in Australia’s political system and within the Chinese-Australian community.
Among other the more recent reports on the issue include how the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) believes that 10 recent political candidates for local and state governments have links to Chinese intelligence agencies.
