China is waging psychological warfare against Australia

Australia is subjected to Communist party campaign to undermine democracy
By Ben Doherty

Australian academic Clive Hamilton has accused the Chinese Communist party of undertaking a campaign of subversion, cyber intrusions, and harassment on the high seas. 

The Australian academic Clive Hamilton has told a US congressional committee China is waging a “campaign of psychological warfare” against Australia, as America’s most significant ally in the region, undermining democracy and cowing free speech.
Hamilton, vice-chancellor’s chair in public ethics at Charles Sturt University, is the author of Silent Invasion: China’s Influence in Australia, a book which was dumped by Allen & Unwin last year over fears of legal action by Beijing, before being published by Hardie Grant.
Hamilton appeared before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, chaired by US senator for Florida Marco Rubio overnight Australia time, in Washington DC.
He said Australia was currently being subjected to a Chinese Communist party-sponsored campaign of “subversion, cyber intrusions, and harassment on the high seas”.

Chinese government exerts influence across Australian society, MPs told
“Beijing knows that it cannot bully the United States – in the current environment the consequences would be unpredictable and probably counterproductive – so it is instead pressuring its allies,” Hamilton said.
“Last week the PLA Navy challenged three Australian warships sailing through the South China Sea, simply for being there. It has scaled up its threats of economic harm unless Australia changes its ‘anti-China’ path. This psychological warfare is only stage one, with real punishment to follow if needed.”
Hamilton told the committee that, since the publication of his book in February, he has had to go to “extensive measures” to secure his personal safety: suspected Chinese operatives, carrying a suspected “sniffer” phone to intercept communications, have been caught loitering outside and trying to get into his office; Chinese students have been confronted going through his unmarked pigeon hole; and his computers have been infected with malware. 

Now, when he speaks at public event Hamilton is provided security guards.
Author and academic Clive Hamilton.

Silent Invasion was about to be sent for typesetting by Allen & Unwin when it withdrew from publication in November last year citing “potential threats to the book and the company from possible action by Beijing”. 

In the wake of its dumping, other major publishers steered clear.
“Allen & Unwin’s decision to drop Silent Invasion citing fear of reprisals from Beijing was a spectacular vindication of the argument of the book,” Hamilton said. 

“No actual threats were made to the publisher, which in a way is more disturbing. The shadow cast by Beijing over Australia is now dark enough to frighten a respected publisher out of published a book critical of the Chinese Communist party.”
Hamilton said the withdrawal of the book had had a chilling effect on free discussion of China and its geopolitical influence, and that he had been told by China scholars they censored themselves in order not to jeopardise their visas to China for research, and so protect their careers.
Upon publication, China’s ministry of foreign affairs condemned the book as “slander” and “good for nothing”. 

The Chinese embassy in Canberra called the book “disinformation and racist bigotry” carrying a “malicious anti-China mentality”.
The book also divided China scholars. 

An open letter signed by more than 50 academics said there was no evidence China was seeking to export its style of government.

A counter-letter, signed by more than 40 academics, argued that: “Some of the CCP’s activities constitute unacceptable interference in Australian society and politics”.
“We strongly believe that an open debate on the activities of the Chinese Communist party in this country is essential to intellectual freedom, democratic rights and national security.”
After Allen & Unwin pulled out, Hamilton’s cause won wide support in the media and in public debate. 

Several parliamentarians suggested publishing the book in Hansard, as a demonstration of Australia’s commitment to free speech, while offering Hamilton the protection of parliamentary privilege.
But Hamilton said in the furore over his stalled work, Australia’s universities were silent, which he claims was as a result of concern that a show of support could jeopardise their lucrative flow of Chinese students.

“It is no exaggeration to say that Australian universities now tiptoe over eggshells to avoid any action that may offend party bosses in China,” he told the committee.
“Australian universities are now so closely tied into monetary flows and links with China that they have forgotten the founding principles of the western university.”
After Allen & Unwin pulled out, two independent publishers expressed an interest in picking up the book, before also pulling out. 

One of those was Melbourne University Press, whose board overruled the chief executive on publishing the book.
“Sources close to MUP have told me that a factor in the board’s decision was the anxiety of senior university executives about the potential impact of publication on the university’s lucrative revenue flows from Chinese students.”
Hamilton commended the “courage and commitment to free speech of Sandy Grant, the principal of Hardie Grant” for taking the book on.
In 1986, Grant was a publisher at Heinemann, which defied the UK government in publishing Peter Wright’s expose of MI5 and MI6, Spycatcher. 

In a high-profile court case over the book’s publication in Australia, Wright was represented by Malcolm Turnbull, now Australian prime minister.
Had Silent Invasion never been published, Hamilton said, it would have represented a comprehensive victory for the CCP.
Hamilton told the committee many people in Australia were concerned about China’s growing – and undisclosed – influence in the country.
“Many Australians have had an intimation that something is wrong … the scale and nature of the threat is one lay people need to understand.”
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China is an independent agency of the US government, established by Congress in 2000 to monitor human rights and rule of law developments in China.

Rogue nation: China subversion book to be published

BBC News
Prof Clive Hamilton says his book is critical of China.

A controversial book that details Chinese interference in Australian society will be released after finding a new publisher.
Australian author Prof Clive Hamilton said three publishers had declined to take on his book due to fears of legal "retaliation" from Beijing.
Last year one publisher, Allen & Unwin, withdrew plans to release it.
Publisher Hardie Grant said it would release the book, now titled Silent Invasion: China's Influence in Australia, after it had been rewritten to "minimise the legal risk".
Prof Hamilton told the BBC that he had earlier submitted the book to Australian lawmakers in a bid to have it published under parliamentary privilege.

Such a move would give it legal protection.
This was being seriously considered by a parliamentary committee, Fairfax Media reported.
However, Hardie Grant confirmed the book would be published in March.
Prof Hamilton said the book contained details about China's covert efforts to influence Australian politics and society.
He did not elaborate on those allegations, or what had been rewritten recently.
"I'm very grateful that Hardie Grant has the courage to stand up and say, 'we're not going to be bullied out of publishing this book', unlike other publishers," he said on Tuesday.
Last year, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull alluded to "disturbing reports about Chinese influence" in announcing new laws aimed at countering Chinese interference in Australian politics.

Rogue Nation: Beijing Hinders Free Speech Abroad

Through a campaign of fear and intimidation, Beijing is hindering free speech in the United States and in other Western countries.
China Digital Times

At The New York Times, Wang Dan, a former leader of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, looks at the growing reach of Chinese censors on American college campuses as Beijing attempts to export its political control beyond its borders. 

Chinese international students studying in the U.S. were discouraged from attending Wang’s forums on Chinese politics due to fear of reprisal.
[…O]ver the past three months, my efforts on American campuses have been stymied. 

The Chinese Communist Party is extending its surveillance of critics abroad, reaching into Western academic communities and silencing visiting Chinese students. 

Through a campaign of fear and intimidation, Beijing is hindering free speech in the United States and in other Western countries.
The Chinese government, and people sympathetic to it, encourage like-minded Chinese students and scholars in the West to report on Chinese students who participate in politically sensitive activities — like my salons, but also other public forums and protests against Beijing. 

Members of the China Students and Scholars Association, which has chapters at many American universities, maintain ties with the Chinese consulates and keep tabs on “unpatriotic” people and activities on campuses. 

Agents or sympathizers of the Chinese government show up at public events videotaping and snapping pictures of speakers, participants and organizers.
Chinese students who are seen with political dissidents like me or dare to publicly challenge Chinese government policies can be put on a blacklist. 

Their families in China can be threatened or punished.
When these students return to China, members of the public security bureau may “invite” them to “tea,” where they are interrogated and sometimes threatened. 

Their passport may not be renewed. 

One student told me that during one of his home visits to China he was pressured to spy on others in the United States. [Source]
Australia has also recently been confronted with Chinese government influence on its academic and publishing sectors. 

Publisher Allen & Unwin announced plans to postpone the release of Clive Hamilton’s book on Chinese influence in Australia for fear of possible legal action from Beijing. 

The book’s delay has sparked widespread criticism as the country grapples with its economic dependence on China and the consequent growth of Beijing’s interference in its domestic affairs. From Jacqueline Williams at The New York Times:
The decision this month to delay the book, “Silent Invasion: How China Is Turning Australia into a Puppet State,” has set off a national uproar, highlighting the tensions between Australia’s growing economic dependence on China and its fears of falling under the political control of the rising Asian superpower.
Critics have drawn parallels to decisions this year by high-profile academic publishers in Europe to withhold articles from readers in China that might anger the Communist Party.
But the case has struck a particularly sensitive nerve in Australia, where the book’s delay is the latest in a series of incidents that have raised concerns about what many here see as the threat from China to freedom of expression. [Source]
Allen & Unwin is not the only major Western publisher that has succumbed to pressure from Beijing to censor material critical of China. 

The book’s delay is the latest in a series of incidents that have raised concerns about Chinese attack on freedom of expression. 

Last month, scientific publishing company Springer Nature caved in to Chinese government request and blocked hundreds of articles on its Chinese website that touched on sensitive political topics. 

In August, Cambridge University Press withheld more than 300 articles from the Chinese website of China Quarterly, before reversing the decision in response to widespread criticism.
In Ghana, artist Bright Tetteh Ackwerh has published a series of cartoons criticizing Chinese influence in the country. 

He has continued to use art to speak out against controversial Chinese government activities in the country despite protests from Beijing. 

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu at Quartz reports:
In the image, Xi Jinping is pouring a sludge of brown water from a Ming dynasty vase into bowls held by Ghana’s president and the minister of natural resource. 

Next to Xi, China’s ambassador to Ghana happily clutches a gold bar.
The Chinese embassy was reportedly infuriated by the cartoon and issued a complaint to the Ghanaian government on media coverage of the arrests of several Chinese miners involved in illegal mining, which is known locally as “galamsey”. 

While Ghanaian miners were also arrested, much of the public’s focus has been on the Chinese. Ghana is the second largest gold producer in Africa after South Africa.
[…A]ckwerh, who cites Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei as one of his inspirations, wasn’t done. 

In August, he published another cartoon titled “Occupation,” where the presidents of Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal are arguing over a plate of jollof rice. 

It’s reference to the so-called jollof wars, a mostly fun debate between West African countries over who makes the best version of the dish.
[…] “I hope my example has given other artists the courage to also contribute to this and things like this. 

There are things we have the power to do that even governments can’t,” he said. [Source]
Meanwhile, more direct efforts to gain support for the Communist Party abroad have been stymied. 

A group of visiting Chinese scholars at the University of California, Davis disbanded a Chinese Communist Party branch that they set up at the university after realizing they may have violated U.S. laws. 

Nectar Gan and Zhuang Pinghui at South China Morning Post report:
Mu Xingsen, secretary of the party branch, confirmed its establishment when contacted by the South China Morning Post on Sunday but said it had already been dissolved.
“It is because we have later learned that this [establishing a party branch] does not comply with the local laws,” Mu said. 

“Of course we should respect the local laws when we’re here.”
The US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) requires all individuals and groups acting under the direction or control of a foreign government or political party to register with the Department of Justice in advance and regularly report their activities.
[…] The branch, which planned to meet every two weeks, had tasked its members with promoting the organisation to their colleagues or neighbours who were coming to the US, it said, and to absorb party members into the organisation. [Source]

The Chinese Ogre

Australian Furor Over Chinese Influence Follows Book’s Delay

By JACQUELINE WILLIAMS

An uproar followed an Australian publisher’s decision to postpone the release of a book by Clive Hamilton, who says Beijing is actively working to silence China’s critics.

SYDNEY, Australia — The book was already being promoted as an explosive exposé of Chinese influence infiltrating the highest levels of Australian politics and media. 

But then, months before it was set to hit bookstore shelves, its publisher postponed the release, saying it was worried about lawsuits.
The decision this month to delay the book, “Silent Invasion: How China Is Turning Australia into a Puppet State,” has set off a national uproar, highlighting the tensions between Australia’s growing economic dependence on China and its fears of falling under the political control of the rising Asian superpower.
Critics have drawn parallels to decisions this year by high-profile academic publishers in Europe to withhold articles from readers in China that might anger the Communist Party.
But the case has struck a particularly sensitive nerve in Australia, where the book’s delay is the latest in a series of incidents that have raised concerns about what many here see as the threat from China to freedom of expression.

“The decision by Allen & Unwin to stall publication of this book almost proves the point that there’s an undue level of Chinese influence in Australia,” said Prof. Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at Australian National University. Allen & Unwin is one of Australia’s largest publishers.
In the yet-unpublished book, the author, Clive Hamilton, a well-known intellectual and professor at Charles Sturt University in Australia, describes what he calls an orchestrated campaign by Beijing to influence Australia and silence China’s critics.
In one chapter, according to Mr. Hamilton, the book asserts that senior Australian journalists were taken on junkets to China in order to “shift their opinions” so they would present China in a more positive light.

Mr. Hamilton says the company that was set to publish his book expressed concerns about possible lawsuits by Beijing.

In another chapter, he said the book details what he calls links between Australian scientists and researchers at Chinese military universities, which he said had led to a transfer of scientific know-how to the People’s Liberation Army.
The book had been scheduled to be published in April, and Mr. Hamilton had already turned in a manuscript. 

But Allen & Unwin, based in Sydney, suddenly informed him on Nov. 2 that it wanted to postpone publishing because of legal concerns.
Mr. Hamilton responded by demanding the return of the publication rights, effectively canceling the book’s publication by Allen & Unwin. 

Mr. Hamilton says he will seek another publisher.
Mr. Hamilton said the decision had been made for fear of angering Beijing, and shows China’s ability to limit what information Australians can see — exactly the sort of influence that he said he warned about in his book.
“This is the first case, I believe, where a major Western publisher has decided to censor material critical of China in its home country,” Mr. Hamilton said in an interview. 

“Many people are deeply offended by this attack on free speech, and people see a basic value that defines Australia being undermined.”
In a statement, the publisher said it decided to hold off publishing the book, which would have been Mr. Hamilton’s ninth with the company, until “certain matters currently before the courts have been decided.”
It did not specify what those matters were.
“Clive was unwilling to delay publication and requested the return of his rights,” the statement said.
However, Mr. Hamilton has disclosed an email that he said was sent to him on Nov. 8 by Allen & Unwin’s chief executive, Robert Gorman. 

The email explained the decision to delay the book’s release: “April 2018 was too soon to publish the book and allow us to adequately guard against potential threats to the book and the company from possible action by Beijing.”
“Our lawyer pointed to recent legal attacks by Beijing’s agents of influence against mainstream Australian media organizations,” the email said.
The contents of the email have been widely reported by the local news media. 

When asked for comment, Allen & Unwin declined to confirm or deny its authenticity. 

Mr. Gorman has not gone public to deny the email’s authenticity.
Mr. Hamilton said the publisher was probably referring to two defamation cases that are currently in the courts aimed at two Australian media companies: the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, a major television company, and Fairfax Media, a newspaper publisher.
One of the suits was filed by Chau Chak Wing, a Chinese-Australian businessman who has been a major donor in Australian politics. 

Chinese fifth column: Chinese agent Chau Chak Wing.

Chau is seeking damages from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for a TV news report that the suit says damaged his personal and professional reputation.

That report, which was shown on a popular current affairs program, said the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the domestic spy agency, had warned political parties against accepting contributions from two ethnic Chinese, of whom one was Chau, because of ties to the Chinese government.
Chau has long said his campaign contributions are entirely "legal" and "unrelated" to the Chinese government.
The news report prompted a heated debate in Australia over how vulnerable its democratic political system is to foreign influence, especially from China.
The question of Chinese interference is a delicate one for Australia, an American ally that has embraced Beijing as its largest trade partner and welcomed Chinese investors, immigrants and students in large numbers.
“The book shows in great detail the problem of Chinese influence in Australia is much deeper than we thought,” said Mr. Hamilton, a prolific author who in 2009 received the Order of Australia, one of the country’s highest honors, for “service to public debate and policy development.” 

“I think some of the material I’ve uncovered have been a shock even to our intelligence agencies,” he said.
James Leibold, a professor of politics and Asian studies at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, said the decision to withhold such a book, especially one written by a noted author like Mr. Hamilton, underscored China’s growing ability to pressure publishers and other media companies.
Last month, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest academic publishers, came under criticism for self-censorship after it bowed to Chinese government requests to block hundreds of articles on its Chinese website that touched on delicate topics like Taiwan, Tibet and Chinese politics.
In August, another publisher, Cambridge University Press, admitted to removing some 300 articles from the Chinese website of China Quarterly, an academic journal, that mentioned issues like the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.
Experts say Allen & Unwin, the Australian publisher, has gone a step further by delaying access to a book to readers outside of China.
“Australia is a bellwether,” said Professor Medcalf of National Security College. 

“If dissent can be stifled here, then it can be stifled anywhere.”

Silent Invasion: How China Is Turning Australia into a Puppet State

Free speech fears after book critical of China is pulled from publication
By Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker

Australian publisher Allen & Unwin has ditched a book on Chinese Communist Party influence in Australian politics and academia, citing fear of legal action from the Chinese government or its proxies.
The publisher's chief executive, Robert Gorman, said last week that it would abandon publication of a completed manuscript by Clive Hamilton, a professor of public ethics at Charles Sturt University, called Silent Invasion: How China Is Turning Australia into a Puppet State.

Clive Hamilton's latest book pulled from publication: Australian publisher Allen & Unwin has ditched a Clive Hamilton book on Chinese Communist Party's influence in Australian politics and academia.

"We have no doubt that Silent Invasion is an extremely significant book," Mr Gorman wrote in a confidential email to Dr Hamilton on November 8.
But Mr Gorman said in the email, which has been obtained by Fairfax Media, that he was concerned about "potential threats to the book and the company from possible action by Beijing".
Author Clive Hamilton: ''The reason they've decided not to publish this book is the very reason the book needs to be published.'' 

He said the "most serious of these threats was the very high chance of a vexatious defamation action against Allen & Unwin, and possibly against you personally as well".
Allen & Unwin was "an obvious target" for "Beijing's agents of influence", Mr Gorman wrote.
While Australian publishers routinely deal with legal threats or court action from individuals named in books, it is exceptionally rare that a threat from a foreign power prevents or delays publication.
It raises serious questions about academic freedom and free speech in Australia.

The cover of the ditched book.

"I'm not aware of any other instance in Australian history where a foreign power has stopped publication of a book that criticises it," Dr Hamilton said.
"The reason they've decided not to publish this book is the very reason the book needs to be published."

Dr Hamilton has published eight previous books with Allen & Unwin. 

He was concerned that a perceived and vexatious threat, rather than an actual or justified legal action, had prompted the decision to ditch the book.
Allen & Unwin said on Sunday: "Allen & Unwin has published a number of books with Clive Hamilton, and has enormous respect for him and his work. After extensive legal advice we decided to delay publication of Clive's book Silent Invasion until certain matters currently before the courts have been decided. Clive was unwilling to delay publication and requested the return of his rights, as he is entitled to do. We continue to wish him the best of luck with the book."
Chinese dictator Xi Jinping. 

China's Australian embassy did not respond to efforts to seek comment.
The book by Dr Hamilton, who has published eight previous books with Allen & Unwin and has received an Order of Australia for his contribution to public debate, examines evidence that suggests various Chinese Communist Party agencies are seeking to extend Beijing's influence in Australia for strategic and political gains.Australia's Quisling: Former foreign minister Bob Carr
While such activity is carried out by other states, elements of Beijing's influence campaign are clandestine or highly opaque. 

According to media investigations and warnings from spy agency ASIO, these efforts are targeted at Australian politicians and academics.
In response, the Turnbull government has plans to legislate to counter Beijing-linked influence operations by introducing new offences prohibiting foreign interference.
Chinese agent Chau Chak Wing.

Mr Gorman said in his email to Dr Hamilton that the publisher's position "would be stronger once proposed legislation targeting Chinese influence in Australia passes through Parliament".
However, "it sounds as though this is now unlikely to happen until next year", he wrote.
Mr Gorman also wrote that the publisher believed the Chinese government is co-ordinating attacks on Australian media reports it believes critique or undermine its authoritarian regime.
"It seems that Beijing is currently focusing on larger targets. If pursued with malice, this kind of vexatious legal action from a 'whale' or a small Beijing agent mentioned in the book could result in the book being withdrawn from sale, and both you and Allen & Unwin being tied up in expensive legal action for months on end or longer," Mr Gorman warned Dr Hamilton.

A former senior national security official told Fairfax Media that the Chinese government sought to use Western legal systems to advance its interests.
Australia's defamation laws are notoriously weighted towards litigants, unlike the legal system in the US or Britain, which have greater free speech or public interest protections.
"The Chinese government seeks to use the West's legal systems against the West," the former official said.
Dr Hamilton said he rewrote the book to minimise legal risks, "but I can't stop an authoritarian foreign power exploiting our defamation laws to suppress criticism of it".
Chinese-born businessmen named in media reports and ASIO briefings, including millionaire Sydney property developer and political donor Huang Xiangmo, have dismissed allegations of undue influence as unfounded and unjust.
Chau Chak Wing, a big Chinese-Australian political donor, is suing Fairfax Media over two stories that included allegations that ASIO had warned political parties against dealing with him.
The Herald Sun recently printed a report based on a leaked federal parliamentary library paper that examines Huang's political donations and describes how he heads a Sydney-based lobbying organisation aligned with the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department.

Xi Jinping has described the United Front Work Department as Beijing's "magic weapon" to entrench and extend the Chinese Communist Party's influence in China and abroad. 

Dr Hamilton's book details its activities in Australia.

Huang, who has repeatedly dismissed claims of impropriety, has also helped set up and provide seed funding to a China research institute at the University of Technology Sydney, the Australian China Research Institute, which is directed by former foreign minister Bob Carr and economist James Laurenceson. 

The institute is also examined in Dr Hamilton's book.

Mr Laurenceson and Mr Carr have been dismissive of concerns around political donations linked to Chinese government-aligned businessmen such as Huang. 

Concerns about donations have been raised repeatedly by ASIO, and acknowledged by senior Labor and Coalition figures and former chief diplomat Peter Varghese.
Dr Hamilton's book includes a detailed examination of Bob Carr's advocacy for Australia to increase efforts to build relations with Beijing. 

It also examines concerns that Australian universities have failed to appreciate the risks of co-operating with researchers from the Beijing-controlled military and industrial research complex.

In August, Cambridge University Press was subject to intense criticism after it decided to censor the website of its China Quarterly journal to comply with Chinese demands. 

The articles to be censored detailed the Tiananmen Square massacre as well as Xi Jinping's leadership, but the British publisher backflipped after an international outcry.
"Cambridge University Press censored their publications for sale in China. It wouldn't dare censor criticism of the Chinese Communist Party in publications for sale in Britain. But that is precisely what has now happened in Australia," Dr Hamilton said.

Australia's New Master

Beijing pressured Australian publisher into canceling book release

Fox News

Clive Hamilton

One of Australia's major publishers has backtracked on releasing a book detailing Chinese influence in the country -- amid threats of retaliation from Beijing, the book's author says.
Clive Hamilton, a prominent Charles Sturt University professor, said Monday that publisher Allen & Unwin dropped his book “Silent Invasion” last week over fears of “retaliation from Beijing through a number of possible avenues including legal threats, orchestrated by Beijing,” Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.

“After extensive legal advice we decided to delay publication of Clive’s book ‘Silent Invasion’ until certain matters currently before the courts have been decided,” the publisher said in a statement.
Hamilton slammed the decision to stop the book from publishing just when it was about to hit the bookstores. 

“What we’re seeing … is the first instance where a major Western publisher has decided to censor material of the Chinese Communist Party in its home country,” Hamilton told the public broadcaster.
“This really is a watershed in the debate over China’s suppression of free speech,” he said, adding that “I think if we succumb to this in Australia then we have lost a big battle in trying to defend what we take to be fundamental rights and privileges and freedoms in this country.”
The book’s focus was the Chinese Communist Party’s activities in Australia and the claims made in the book have been vetted by the lawyers, according to the professor.
“The Chinese government’s campaign is far more extensive than ever previously understood. If you’re going to analyze how Beijing is influencing Australian society and politics you have to analyze that activity of individuals and name names, and that’s what I’ve done,” he told the Guardian Australia.
“It’s a factual book with 1,100 footnotes and it has been meticulously researched, but short of redacting 100 names from the book there’s always the possibility someone might launch a vexatious legal act against the publisher, in this case Allen & Unwin.”
The author remains convinced the book in its full form will still be released, but it remains unclear when or if another publisher will risk the possible legal threat from the communist regime.

Author vows book exposing Chinese fifth column will go ahead after publisher pulls out

Allen & Unwin had cancelled plans to print Clive Hamilton’s Silent Invasion over fear of legal action by the Chinese government
By Melissa Davey

Clive Hamilton’s book is an analysis of Chinese methods of asserting influence in Australia. 

Prominent Charles Sturt University author and ethicist Professor Clive Hamilton says his book exposing the Chinese Communist party’s activities in Australia will still be published, despite Allen & Unwin cancelling plans to print it at the 11th hour.
On Monday, Hamilton revealed legal advice that the Chinese government may sue for defamation had spooked Allen & Unwin. 

The book, called Silent Invasion, is a comprehensive analysis of the Chinese government’s methods of asserting influence in Australia – not only in media and politics, as had been previously reported, but in a range of others areas.
“Last week Allen & Unwin did express some legal concerns but despite that I thought they were resolved to publish it, so it was a complete shock,” Hamilton told Guardian Australia.
“The Chinese government’s campaign is far more extensive than ever previously understood. 

If you’re going to analyse how Beijing is influencing Australian society and politics you have to analyse that activity of individuals and name names, and that’s what I’ve done. It’s a factual book with 1,100 footnotes and it has been meticulously researched, but short of redacting 100 names from the book there’s always the possibility someone might launch a vexatious legal act against the publisher, in this case Allen & Unwin.”

Hamilton did not agree to heavy edits to the book to mitigate the potential for legal repercussion, which ultimately lead to the breakdown of the publishing deal. 

But he emphasised Allen & Unwin were not to blame and he held no ill-will towards the publishing giant.
An email from the publisher to Hamilton read that the most serious of the legal threats “was the very high chance of a vexatious defamation action against Allen & Unwin, and possibly against you personally as well”.
Hamilton said when Allen & Unwin signed the contract “even I didn’t understand the frightening extent of communist influence in Australia until I was well into researching and writing it”.
“I sat in my office many times throughout the process and said to myself, ‘oh my goodness – not there as well’. So the publisher was made very nervous when it read the manuscript and understood just how extensive and sinister this program of influence actually is. It’s way beyond what I expected and Allen & Unwin are not the bad guys here. The Communist party and its agents in Australia are.”
However, Hamilton was adamant the book would be published in its full form, although he did not say when or how. 

He described the ordeal as another example of censorship, and free speech being stifled at the hands of the Chinese government.
In recent months politicians have warned about Chinese influence. 

In October the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, told international students from China and affiliated with the Communist party that Australia “prides itself on its values of openness and upholding freedom of speech”.
And in the same month, the Labor foreign affairs spokesperson, Penny Wong, told a meeting at the Australian Institute of International Affairs in Canberra that Australia must “understand China, its motives and its mindsets” because “we don’t yet know how its pursuit of a more ambitious agenda will play out globally” nor “how China intends to condition its use of power”.
The Asio chief, Duncan Lewis, said in June following the airing of a Four Corners investigation into Chinese donations that he had become so worried about the influence of foreign donations that he organised meetings with the Coalition and Labor to warn them that some donors could compromise the major parties.