Netizens mock Australian media
Exposed spy activities against China ‘tip of the iceberg’
Chinese netizens mocked Australian media for turning a blind eye to hard evidence of the country’s spy activities, including the establishment of an intelligence station at its embassy in Beijing, spying on the Chinese embassy in Australia, and Australian diplomats engaging in espionage activities, which they believe are laughable and shameful.
Australian media’s reactions on Twitter came after the Global Times published an exclusive report over Australian espionage against China.
Zhao Lijian, the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday that the exposed espionage activities are just the “tip of the iceberg” of Australia’s espionage offensive against China.
Zhao made the remarks after the Global Times published an exclusive report which said that Australia was waging an espionage offensive against China – sending agents to China to spy, gathering intelligence and recruiting assets, instigating defection among Chinese nationals, spying on Chinese students and organizations in Australia, feeding fake news to media to hype the “China espionage theory,” and in the early years even attempting to install wiretaps in the Chinese Embassy in Canberra.
The report attached several pictures. Some feature intelligence funds, spy tools and maps recovered from Australian spies, while others show the eavesdropping device found at the Chinese Embassy in Australia.
The report has attracted attention online, especially from Australian media and Australian foreign-affairs observers, who clearly intend to question the authenticity of the spy issues, by laughing at the “spy tools” as too simple and crude.
But no one dared to confront the hard evidence of Australia’s espionage acts, such as installing wiretaps in the Chinese Embassy in Canberra.
The evidence exposed in the Global Times report is unimpeachable, especially pictures featuring wiretaps installed in the Chinese Embassy in Canberra, but Australian media deliberately turned a blind eye to them, netizens said. “How laughable and shameful,” read a typical comment.
“The ‘spy tools’ were discovered, but it doesn’t mean China has charged them for the tools. There must have been other evidence or confessions later which were, for some reason, not made public,” another netizen said.
Zhao said the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance has long engaged in cyber espionage, spying and surveillance on foreign governments, companies and individuals in violation of international law and basic norms for international relations. “This is not a secret to anyone,” Zhao said.
Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University in Shanghai, said that an employee of the Chinese embassy in Australia had shown him which pillars and floors of the former building of the Chinese Embassy in Canberra were outfitted with wiretaps when he visited the building.
“They are ironclad evidence,” Chen said.