Self-confessed spy defector ‘fraudster’: China
‘Media revelations of China spying disturbing’
PERTH, Australia, Nov 24, (Agencies): China denied the explosive claims of a self-confessed spy seeking asylum in Australia, saying Sunday he is a convicted fraudster wanted by Shanghai police.
The Nine Network newspapers reported that Chinese defector Wang “William” Liqiang has given Australia’s counterespionage agency inside intelligence on how Beijing conducts its interference operations abroad and revealed the identities of China’s senior military intelligence officers in Hong Kong.
Wang claimed he was involved in the kidnapping in 2015 of one of five Hong Kong booksellers suspected of selling dissident materials. The incident has been a reference point for protesters during the ongoing unrest in Hong Kong.
He said he currently was living in Sydney with his wife and infant son on a tourist visa and had requested political asylum.
The Chinese Embassy on Sunday hit back at Wang and referenced a statement from Shanghai police, which said Wang was sentenced in Fujian province in October 2016 to one year and three months in prison for fraud with a suspended sentence of 1 ½ year.
It said he was wanted in relation to a fraud case from earlier this year.
“On April 19, 2019, the Shanghai police opened an investigation into Wang who allegedly cheated 4.6 million yuan from a person surnamed Shu through a fake investment project involving car import in February,” the statement said.
The embassy said Wang left for Hong Kong on April 10 carrying a fake Chinese passport and a fake Hong Kong permanent resident ID.
It said the Shanghai police were investigating the matter.
Wang would be the first Chinese intelligence operative to blow his cover. He told Nine Network he faced detention and possible execution if he returned to China.
Wang claimed he was part of a Hong Kong-based investment firm that was a front for the Chinese government to conduct political and economic espionage in Hong Kong, including infiltrating universities and directing harassment and cyberattacks against dissidents.
He said most residents in the West Papua provincial capital of Manokwari did not feel the quake.
With a population of around 877,000, West Papua is one of Indonesia’s least populous provinces.
Indonesia, home to more than 260 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location along
Using a South Korean passport, Wang said he meddled in Taiwan’s 2018 municipal elections and claimed there were plans to disrupt the democratic self-ruled island’s presidential election in January.
Resource-rich Australia relies on China for one-third of its export earnings, but relations have been frosty for some time. The Australian government has been trying to neutralize China’s influence by banning foreign political donations and all covert foreign interference in domestic politics.
Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told reporters Saturday that Wang’s claims were “very disturbing.”
“The matter is now in the hands of the appropriate law enforcement agencies,” he said. “The government makes no apologies for the strong measures that we’ve taken to ensure that we have foreign interference laws in place.
Interest
He added, “We will always stand up for our national interest whether it’s on matters of foreign policy, foreign investments or other related issues.”
Former ASIO boss Duncan Lewis warned Friday that the Chinese government was seeking a “takeover” of Australia’s political system.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison dismissed such concerns, saying that national intelligence agencies were on top of any threats.
Last week, Liberal Party members Sen. James Paterson and Rep. Andrew Hastie said they had been barred entry to China for a study trip because of their criticism of the Chinese government.
Hastie told Nine Network on Sunday that Wang should be protected by the Australian government. “I’m of the view that anyone who’s willing to assist us in defending our sovereignty deserves our protection,” he said.
The defector, named as Wang “William” Liqiang by Nine network newspapers, gave a sworn statement to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, or ASIO, identifying China’s senior military intelligence officers in Hong Kong.
He has also revealed details of how they fund and conduct political interference
the Pacific “Ring of Fire.” A powerful Indian Ocean quake and tsunami in 2004 killed a total of 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia. (AP)
‘Willing to lose EU privileges’:
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Thursday that it is more important for his
Medical workers carry an injured protester out of a campus of Polytechnic University in Hong Kong on Nov 24. Most of the protesters who took over the university last week have left, but an unknown number have remained inside for days,
hoping somehow to avoid arrest. (AP)
operations in Taiwan and Australia, the Age newspaper said.
Reuters reported that Australian intelligence determined China was responsible for a cyberattack on its national parliament and three largest political parties before the general election in May. China denies the accusations.
Wang said he was a part of an intelligence operation within a Hong Konglisted company, which infiltrated universities and media, the Age said.
“I have personally been involved and participated in a series of espionage activities,” it cited Wang as saying in his October statement to the intelligence agency.
The ASIO declined to comment, saying only that it did not comment on operational matters or individuals.
Australia’s department of home affairs said it did not comment on individual cases. “The purpose of protection visas is to safeguard people who cannot return to their home country due to a well-founded fear of persecution or risk of harm,” a representative said, however, adding in a statement that each case was assessed on its merits.
China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately return requests for comment.
Wang also said there were plans to disrupt the presidential vote on the selfruled island of Taiwan next year, the Age added.
Taiwan’s presidential office said the government was investigating, and would come down hard on any illegal behaviour, while a spokeswoman for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party called the information in Australian media a reminder of the threat from China.
“Whether it is the Chinese internet army or the Chinese government, it is using the democratic system of Taiwan to infringe upon our democracy,” Lee Yen-jong said.
China considers Taiwan a wayward province and has never ruled out the use of force to bring it under Beijing’s control.
Han Kuo-yu, the presidential candidate of Taiwan’s main opposition, the China-friendly Kuomintang party, urged the government to immediately send a team to Australia to investigate.
country to maintain its independence and sovereignty than to retain special trading privileges that the European Union has threatened to withdraw.
Hun Sen told government officials that even with the loss of the trade privileges, Cambodia would be able to export its products to the EU as before. It would earn lower profits, but the EU would no longer be able to threaten or put any conditions on Cambodia, he said.
The EU announced earlier this year that it would begin a monitoring process to decide whether to end duty-free and quota-free imports from Cambodia because of concerns about its poor record in human and labor rights. Cambodia is one of several developing nations with which the EU has an “Everything But Arms” - EBA - scheme granting preferential access to the European market for things other than weapons.
The EU on Nov 12 handed over its preliminary evaluation report to Cambodia, allowing one month for a response. The report is confidential, but it is believed to be critical of Cambodia for failing to improve its rights record.
A decision on whether to withdraw the privileges is supposed to be made by February next year.
The clothing and footwear industry is Cambodia’s biggest export sector, employing nearly 800,000 people in about 1,000 garment and shoe factories. In 2018, the Southeast Asian country shipped nearly $10 billion worth of products to the United States and Europe. (AP)