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Chinese security officials who detained a Sydney academic in 2017 spent a full day interrogating him about Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s hand-picked China adviser, according to information gathered by national security officials.
n March, 2017, Australian academic Chongyi Feng was prevented from leaving Guangzhou and subjected to interrogation.
Photo: Steven Siewert
Chongyi Feng, an Associate Professor in Chinese Studies at the University of Technology Sydney, was detained and questioned by Chinese officials during a visit to China in March last year about his links to liberal intellectuals in mainland China and contacts in Australia.
Fairfax Media can reveal that during the interrogation, Chinese state security officials demanded information about adviser John Garnaut, who at the time was working on an ASIO inquiry commissioned by Mr Turnbull.
The inquiry was aimed at assessing the extent of Beijing’s intelligence and interference operations in Australia.
According to a source who was unable to speak publicly, Dr Feng was asked dozens of questions about Mr Garnaut during the interrogation. His email account and mobile phone were searched for Mr Garnaut’s name as well as the word “DFAT,” an acronym for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Dr Feng declined to comment to Fairfax Media, but he is understood to be a longstanding friend of Mr Garnaut, a former Fairfax Media China correspondent and now a consultant. Mr Garnaut refused to respond to reporters, aside from referring all questions to the government's media unit. Mr Turnbull's office declined to comment.
The revelation that the interrogation by the Ministry of State Security was concerned with the activities of one of Mr Turnbull’s hand picked advisers is likely to further inflame tensions between Beijing and Canberra.
Dr Feng was also asked what he knew about Huang Xiangmo, a Sydney billionaire with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party and who has given large donations to the major parties.
The revelation comes after Fairfax Media revealed former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr — who heads a China think-tank part founded by Mr Huang — recently urged Labor Senator Kristina Keneally to ask questionsof public servants in parliament about Mr Garnaut’s work. Mr Carr denied drafting the questions.
The inquiry into Beijing’s intelligence and interference operations, which Mr Garnaut headed for Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, produced what is known in national security circles as the Garnaut-ASIO report. Mr Garnaut's inquiry ran from August 2016 to September 2017.
The inquiry looked at Mr Huang's activities and found that Beijing had for a decade sought to clandestinely interfere with Australian politics.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull with then media adviser John Garnaut in February, 2016.
Photo: Andrew Meares
Dr Feng was detained by Chinese intelligence officers on March 20 in the city of Kunming after he had travelled to China to conduct academic field work about human rights lawyers.
Dr Feng was questioned at a hotel and released only to be detained again in the sprawling port city of Guangzhou. There he was told his interrogation would continue.
Security agents subjected Dr Feng to daily six-hour questioning sessions, all of it videotaped.
It has previously been reported that many of the questions were about his activities in Sydney, including the content of his lectures at UTS, the people in his Australian network of Communist Party critics, and his successful efforts to stop a concert glorifying the Communist Party founder Chairman Mao Zedong.
But it has never been revealed that Dr Feng’s interrogators were most interested in Mr Garnaut and his work for the prime minister.
In his final interrogation session, the state security agents presented Dr Feng with a document to sign that forbade him from publicly discussing his ordeal.
In response to the story on Monday about Mr Carr enlisting Labor senators to ask questions about Mr Garnaut, Labor MP Michael Danby hit out at the former minister, saying his "false-flag intervention gives chutzpah a new meaning.
"Bob Carr is a pro-Beijing extremist paid by the pro-Beijing think tank, Australia China Relations Institute (ACRI).
ACRI was largely funded by the Huang Xiangmo. ACRI is now financed by Australian and Chinese businesses arm-twisted into backing the Beijing line by financing Carr’s discredited outfit.”
Mr Carr responded that: "If Michael Danby had his way we’d be running a Cold War with China, the RAAF would be bombing Tehran and the Australian defence forces would be manning the Gaza fence".
with Nick O'Malley
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/...about-turnbull-s-adviser-20180529-p4zi6f.html
China proving once again how they try and interfere in the politics of small countries and then cry when no one trust them.
Sorry but I think they might have bitten off more than they can chew with us.
n March, 2017, Australian academic Chongyi Feng was prevented from leaving Guangzhou and subjected to interrogation.
Photo: Steven Siewert
Chongyi Feng, an Associate Professor in Chinese Studies at the University of Technology Sydney, was detained and questioned by Chinese officials during a visit to China in March last year about his links to liberal intellectuals in mainland China and contacts in Australia.
Fairfax Media can reveal that during the interrogation, Chinese state security officials demanded information about adviser John Garnaut, who at the time was working on an ASIO inquiry commissioned by Mr Turnbull.
The inquiry was aimed at assessing the extent of Beijing’s intelligence and interference operations in Australia.
According to a source who was unable to speak publicly, Dr Feng was asked dozens of questions about Mr Garnaut during the interrogation. His email account and mobile phone were searched for Mr Garnaut’s name as well as the word “DFAT,” an acronym for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Dr Feng declined to comment to Fairfax Media, but he is understood to be a longstanding friend of Mr Garnaut, a former Fairfax Media China correspondent and now a consultant. Mr Garnaut refused to respond to reporters, aside from referring all questions to the government's media unit. Mr Turnbull's office declined to comment.
The revelation that the interrogation by the Ministry of State Security was concerned with the activities of one of Mr Turnbull’s hand picked advisers is likely to further inflame tensions between Beijing and Canberra.
Dr Feng was also asked what he knew about Huang Xiangmo, a Sydney billionaire with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party and who has given large donations to the major parties.
The revelation comes after Fairfax Media revealed former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr — who heads a China think-tank part founded by Mr Huang — recently urged Labor Senator Kristina Keneally to ask questionsof public servants in parliament about Mr Garnaut’s work. Mr Carr denied drafting the questions.
The inquiry into Beijing’s intelligence and interference operations, which Mr Garnaut headed for Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, produced what is known in national security circles as the Garnaut-ASIO report. Mr Garnaut's inquiry ran from August 2016 to September 2017.
The inquiry looked at Mr Huang's activities and found that Beijing had for a decade sought to clandestinely interfere with Australian politics.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull with then media adviser John Garnaut in February, 2016.
Photo: Andrew Meares
Dr Feng was detained by Chinese intelligence officers on March 20 in the city of Kunming after he had travelled to China to conduct academic field work about human rights lawyers.
Dr Feng was questioned at a hotel and released only to be detained again in the sprawling port city of Guangzhou. There he was told his interrogation would continue.
Security agents subjected Dr Feng to daily six-hour questioning sessions, all of it videotaped.
It has previously been reported that many of the questions were about his activities in Sydney, including the content of his lectures at UTS, the people in his Australian network of Communist Party critics, and his successful efforts to stop a concert glorifying the Communist Party founder Chairman Mao Zedong.
But it has never been revealed that Dr Feng’s interrogators were most interested in Mr Garnaut and his work for the prime minister.
In his final interrogation session, the state security agents presented Dr Feng with a document to sign that forbade him from publicly discussing his ordeal.
In response to the story on Monday about Mr Carr enlisting Labor senators to ask questions about Mr Garnaut, Labor MP Michael Danby hit out at the former minister, saying his "false-flag intervention gives chutzpah a new meaning.
"Bob Carr is a pro-Beijing extremist paid by the pro-Beijing think tank, Australia China Relations Institute (ACRI).
ACRI was largely funded by the Huang Xiangmo. ACRI is now financed by Australian and Chinese businesses arm-twisted into backing the Beijing line by financing Carr’s discredited outfit.”
Mr Carr responded that: "If Michael Danby had his way we’d be running a Cold War with China, the RAAF would be bombing Tehran and the Australian defence forces would be manning the Gaza fence".
with Nick O'Malley
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/...about-turnbull-s-adviser-20180529-p4zi6f.html
China proving once again how they try and interfere in the politics of small countries and then cry when no one trust them.
Sorry but I think they might have bitten off more than they can chew with us.
.
When a dog bites another dog.
