Australia-China relations have picked up, but how to prevent wealthy Chinese businessmen from getting involved in the Australian government through political and business relations has become a new test.

(AFP)

[Central News Agency] The news of China's interference in the Vancouver mayoral election has been raging, and there have also been reports of Chinese dignitaries entering the political circle to exert influence in Australia.

Now that Australia-China relations are warming up, how Australia can avoid becoming a "large-scale democratic testing ground" for manipulating public opinion without losing economic and trade interests will test the new government.

Australian Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil pointed out in a public speech in February that overseas governments were trying to win over elected Australian politicians and take photos of protesters.

Although O'Neill did not name China, research shows that between 2000 and 2016, Australia's political donations from China accounted for 79.3% of the total.

In recent years, the Australian media has repeatedly exposed incidents in which Beijing attempts to influence the direction of the Australian government and public opinion. This is also an indisputable fact.

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The most obvious case is that in 2017, former Australian Senator Sam Dastyari sadly announced his resignation due to his involvement in accepting political donations from wealthy Chinese businessmen.

Two years later, the former secretary-general of the Labor Party of New South Wales in Australia also stepped down because the party accepted donations from the same wealthy businessman exceeding the legal limit.

The money behind these two fallen politicians is Huang Xiangmo (also known as Huang Changran, Changran Huang).

He arrived in Australia in 2011 and within five years he became an important donor to the two major political camps of the Liberal National Party (Coalition) and the Labor Party (Labor).

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) estimated last year that Huang Xiangmo donated about 1.9 million Australian dollars (about NT$38.98 million) to different parties from 2012 to 2015.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) even referred to Huang Xiangmo as an "agent of China's interference in Australian politics".

In addition, Wang Liqiang, who claimed to be a "communist spy" and surrendered to the Australian government, told the media at the end of 2019 that Huang Xiangmo flew to Taiwan in 2015 to perform a United Front mission and met with Taiwanese politicians under the auspices of Taiwanese businessmen.

The "Sydney Morning Herald" (Sydney Morning Herald) reported in 2021 that Huang Xiangmo was elected as a member of Hong Kong's "election committee", showing his close relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.

Hong Kong's "Electoral Commission" is a "powerful organization" that China continues to suppress Hong Kong's struggle for democracy; its members must pass the review of the Chinese security department and must be pro-Beijing in terms of political stance.

Huang Xiangmo's connections are amazing, and his daughter's wedding banquet was full of crowds, which shows that high-level Australian political parties attended.

Apparently, he did not only reach out to the political field. He also spent money to establish the Australia China Relations Institute (Australia China Relations Institute), invited former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr to be the dean, and entertained at least 28 Australian journalists to visit China.

Subsequent reports by these reporters did not praise China's modernization, support the "Belt and Road" initiative, or call for refraining from publicly criticizing China's South China Sea policy.

The involvement of wealthy Chinese businessmen in Australian politics or the trend of public opinion is probably just a microcosm of Beijing's efforts to reach out to the local mainstream political and business circles through the overseas Chinese community.

According to official data in 2021, about 1.39 million Australian residents consider themselves to be of Chinese descent, accounting for 5.5% of the total population.

New York Times Sydney bureau chief Damien Cave described Australia as a laboratory for China to test how to manipulate disputes and expand its influence in democratic trading partners.

However, Australia is not without vigilance. Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull stated in 2017 that he wanted to prevent external forces from influencing domestic affairs. Sentences for officials who leaked secrets.

Former Australian Attorney General Christian Porter pointed out that many former Australian politicians have withdrawn from Chinese-owned or Chinese-related organizations, which proves that the new system has worked.

The Australian government also invoked the new law for the first time in 2019, rejecting Huang Xiangmo's naturalization application and canceling his permanent residency, which further exacerbated the existing tension between Australia and China.

Relations with China have markedly warmed since Australia's Labor government took power last year, with Beijing beginning to remove trade barriers to Australian agricultural products.

Although the new government claims that it intends to "eradicate" foreign interference actions against politicians, academics, and community leaders, how to stick to the red line of value while taking into account economic and trade interests in the future, embrace pluralistic and open politics while resisting Chinese interference and infiltration will be real. test.