Would-Be Chinese Defector Details Covert Campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan

Authored by nytimes.com and submitted by lotsofsweat
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“We had an inkling this was happening, but we have never had evidence or an insider’s account,” Adam Ni, a researcher at Macquarie University in Sydney who has been recently working in Taiwan, said in a telephone interview.

With the elections in Taiwan, for example, Mr. Wang described how the separate branches of China’s military divided up their labors.

Mr. Wang said intelligence efforts included creating more than 20 media and internet companies to launch “targeted attacks,” and spending roughly $200 million over an unspecified period to invest in television stations in Taiwan. His statement did not explain how such a large sum of money failed to be noticed or raise alarms.

The disclosures could also further sour relations between China and Australia, which recently passed a law seeking to rein in foreign interference after several wealthy Chinese businessmen tied to Beijing were accused of trying to manipulate Australian politics.

One of those businessmen, Huang Xiangmo , was a successful developer who had his Australian residency canceled in February. According to Mr. Wang’s statement, Mr. Huang led a group of Australian state and local lawmakers to visit Hong Kong, where they met with Mr. Wang’s boss, a man named Xiang Xin. Mr. Huang, who has previously rejected the claim that he has tried to interfere in Australian politics on behalf of Beijing, could not be reached for comment.

These kinds of connections between Australian lawmakers, Chinese wealth and officials whose Communist Party ties are masked by big business have put much of Australia on edge. Earlier this week, the former head of Australia’s main foreign intelligence agency described China’s espionage efforts as “insidious.”

Mr. Wang described himself as the son of a public servant, but little else is known about him, including his age and hometown. He could not be reached for comment. One clue from his statement is that he studied to be a painter, winning awards in Anhui Province in eastern China.

zambize on November 23rd, 2019 at 06:55 UTC »

Just waiting for another message from China to stop "messing with their internal affairs", it's their spy after all

iwanttheblanketback on November 23rd, 2019 at 04:17 UTC »

For those blocked by the paywall.

TranedTech on November 23rd, 2019 at 03:14 UTC »

I for one, am shocked.