Chinese spies at Sydney University

John Garnaut

smh.com.au

China is building large covert informant networks inside Australia's leading universities, prompting Australia to strengthen its counter-intelligence capabilities.

Chinese intelligence officials have confirmed to Fairfax Media that they are building networks to monitor the ethnic Chinese community to protect Beijing's "core interests".

Much of the monitoring work takes place in higher education institutions, including Sydney University and Melbourne University, where more than 90,000 students from mainland China are potentially exposed to ideas and activities not readily available at home.

Fairfax has interviewed lecturers and Chinese-born students who have suffered repercussions because of comments they made in Australian classrooms which were reported through Chinese intelligence channels. "I was interrogated four times in China," said a senior lecturer at a high-ranking Australian university.

He was questioned by China's main spy agency over comments he made at a seminar about democracy at the University of NSW. "They showed me the report. I can even name the lady who sent the report."