“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?
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?