China’s influence Down Under

Beijing looks to Chinese Australians to serve its interests, just as it seeks to pressure those who agitate for democratic reform or human rights. 
The Australian

Bought by China: Andrew Robb

Beijing spokesman Sam Dastyari

Simon Zhou (L) and Huang Xiangmo (R): two Chinese foxes in charge of ALP henhouse

Last year, former trade minister Andrew Robb exited parliament and took up an $880,000 consultancy job with a Chinese billionaire aligned with the Communist Party. 

This is a “red-hot” issue, according to Bill Shorten.
It’s not suggested that Mr Robb breached the ministerial code of conduct but the arrangement is hardly calculated to restore confidence in the political class.
When it comes to questionable Chinese connections, Labor is the serious worry. 

In June last year, another Chinese billionaire, Huang Xiangmo, pulled a $400,000 pledge to Labor after its defence spokesman said Australia’s navy should challenge China’s contentious claims in the South China Sea, according to a Fairfax Media-ABC report. 

The next day, senator Sam Dastyari Mr Huang fronted a press conference for Chinese-language media with the senator contradicting ALP policy by declaring, “the South China Sea is China’s own affair”. (Huang says he expected “nothing in return” for his donations.) 

A week later, Labor announced that Simon Zhou, Huang’s political ally, would take a spot on Labor’s Senate ticket. 

At the press conference, Huang spoke to China’s state broadcaster, drawing a link between China’s rising power and efforts by overseas Chinese “to safeguard Chinese interests”. 

Huang is president of the pro-Beijing Australian Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China (ACPPRC).

The NSW Labor Party received at least $120,000 in donations from companies linked to Zhou. 

And the ACPPRC links with the NSW branch go deeper, as we report today.
We should make political donations more transparent with prompt online reports. 

Fair enough, too, for the government to review laws on espionage and foreign interference in our democratic process.
But policy changes are unlikely to end concerns about Chinese influence. 

Stridently nationalist, the one-party state looks to Chinese Australians to serve its interests (however offensive our citizens may find this expectation), just as it seeks to pressure those who agitate for democratic reform or human rights.

The indispensable task, then, is for the media to analyse pro-Beijing networks of influence as they take shape, and expose them to public scrutiny.