
Defecting Chinese spy offers information trove to Australian government - i_am_proteus
https://www.theage.com.au/national/defecting-chinese-spy-offers-information-trove-to-australian-government-20191122-p53d1l.html
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ilamont
_“Our work on Taiwan was the most important work of ours – the infiltration
into media, temples and grassroots organisations,” said Wang.

Mr Wang said his operation successfully meddled in the “nine-in-one” elections
in Taiwan in 2018, leading to victories for pro-Beijing candidates. In May, he
was given a fake South Korean passport and ordered to commence an operation on
the ground in Taipei to influence the 2020 presidential elections with the aim
of bringing down President Tsai Ing-wen._

The story I'd like to see published is how China is using local social
networks in Taiwan -- Facebook, Line, etc. -- to gain further leverage.

Also, regarding this quote:

 _However, on Friday, former ASIO boss Duncan Lewis said the Chinese
government was seeking to "take over" Australia's political system through its
"insidious" foreign interference operations._

The interesting thing here is Lewis waited until after he retired to name
China. From the linked article in that quote:

 _Mr Lewis was the director-general of security for five years as head of
ASIO, the intelligence agency whose primary job is to guard against foreign
interference.

He did not single out China during his term in office. When he spoke of malign
state actors posing an "existential" threat to Australia, it was a generic
reference to foreign governments.

But in the post-retirement interview, he said while it was not only China that
preoccupied the Australian authorities, it was "overwhelmingly" China._

Why did the Australian government tread so lightly when it came to naming
China? The U.S., U.K., Taiwan, and other countries make no secret about the
countries they consider to be the most aggressive when it comes to espionage.
What does Australia have to lose by calling out China? Is it all about access
to export markets and tourism, or is something else going on?

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pnako
China is the largest trade partner, buying commodities, property, higher-
education degrees, etc. [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-15/australia-
china-two-w...](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-15/australia-china-two-
way-trade/10716678)

