Chinese spy who ‘infiltrated’ Hong Kong, Taiwan, defects to Australia, report says

Agence France-Presse via SCMP ^

[MassMinuteman]

A Chinese spy has defected to Australia with a trove of intelligence on China’s political interference operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and elsewhere, according to media reports.

The Nine network newspapers said the defector, named as Wang “William” Liqiang, had given Australia’s counter-espionage agency the identities of China’s senior military intelligence officers in Hong Kong and provided details of how they funded and conducted operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia.

Wang said he was personally involved in infiltration and disruption operations in all three territories, according to the report, published in Nine’s The Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers.

[MassMinuteman]

He “revealed in granular detail” how Beijing covertly controls listed companies to fund intelligence operations, including the surveillance and profiling of dissidents and the co-opting of media organisations...

Now, apply this same m/o here in the US where our corporations kowtow to Beijing's every whim, tech companies mass-censor dissident (conservative) voices and our media conglomerates actively work to undermine our president while he fights a trade war. Seem familiar?

[MassMinuteman]

[Mount Athos]

why would australia or this man want this published in the news?

[dennisw]

The ChiComs will kill and imprison his family....Though I hope not.

[Gay State Conservative]

This proves what I've been saying for *years*...every *single* Chinese citizen who enters a Western country (and perhaps other countries as well) is either an industrial,political or military spy.Some of them are willing,enthusiastic spies and others are “reluctant” spies (as in: “remember,Comrade,if you don't get us what we want we know where your mother lives”).

[MassMinuteman]

I think this is part of a broader effort to expose the chinese menace while Hong Kong stores underpin interest in articles that would otherwise be ignored. Here's another example: Report: China Put Thousands of U.S. Federal Workers on Their Payroll, Gaining Access to Sensitive Data

[airborne]

Agreed.

Should have kept this quiet.

[DIRTYSECRET]

The truth will set you free. It may start a war first but some things are necessary. This guy now living in Moscow. We’re still here and he’s homesick. Can’t even remember his name.

[Dr. Sivana]

and others are “reluctant” spies (as in: “remember,Comrade,if you don't get us what we want we know where your mother lives”).

A former FBI agent I know said that they approach people who are racially Chinese, make an appeal, and promise to get JUST THIS ONE THING and they will be left alone, and after they do the one thing, they ARE left alone. Works well if you have a lot of Chinese (even U.S. Born in the business.

[yldstrk]

I don’t trust any of them

[SunkenCiv]

Watch for this to pop up somehow in the impeachment kangaroo court here in the US.

[AdmSmith]

On 28 June 2017, the National People’s Congress passed the National Intelligence Law - more here:

China completes second round of US$29 billion Big Fund aimed at investing in domestic chip industry

https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3789661/posts

[AdmSmith]

Fallout:

China Innovation Investment Ltd said Xiang Xin and Kung Ching were requested to cooperate with probe by Taiwan’s DOJ investigators when they were leaving from Taoyuan airport. They have engaged Taiwan lawyers for assistance.

https://udn.com/news/story/7321/4186394

[AdmSmith]

Australia’s intelligence agency is investigating claims that a Chinese espionage ring attempted to recruit an agent to run as a candidate in the last federal election in a bid to install a spy in the nation’s parliament.

In a highly unusual move, Mike Burgess, Asio’s director-general of security, released a statement late on Sunday outlining that the agency was taking the allegations seriously and had been investigating the matter for some time.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Australia-investigates-Chinese-spy-ring-allegation

Statement by Mike Burgess https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EKJOG_sUYAAkSiB.jpg

[Svartalfiar]

The ChiComs will kill and imprison his family....Though I hope not.

Maybe. Though China's starting to get to the point where a large portion of their middle-age men have minimal family: no siblings, no wife, and parents may have died already. So how much of a threat to the guy is extended family? The little he may have? I don;t know China dynamics well, but once I get past aunts/uncles and first cousins, I don't really know (have even met) much of my family.