SPOOK or spoof? That’s the question hanging over Wang ‘William’ Lijiang - one of two key figures behind a sensational weekend Nine media report about alleged Chinese spying activities in Australia.
Mr Wang is a self-proclaimed Chinese spy who, voluntarily and in a sworn statement, has given Australia’s domestic spy agency, ASIO, details of his own activities, and how China’s military intelligence funds and conducts political interference operations in Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The other man, Bo ‘Nick’ Zhao, was found dead in a Melbourne motel room last March, just months after informing ASIO that he had been offered one million dollars to run for Federal Parliament and work as a spy for China.
A juicy scoop for the Nine media which aired it in Sunday’s 60 Minutes program and in a series of stories in its newspapers.
But how solidly based are the allegations?
Since 2015 Mr Zhao had been a grassroots Liberal Party member in the multicultural electorate of Chisholm - the Victorian seat already held by Hong Kong born Gladys Liu.
Last year she was embroiled in a credibility crisis over a suspected illegal $40,000 donation to the Liberal Party’s Victorian division, and her links to two Chinese organisations - one a powerful propaganda arm of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) government.
But Mr Zhao’s financial background has raised questions surrounding his death. The 32-year-old car dealer is said to have faced legal and financial troubles over ‘many years’.
These include a charge of fraudulently obtaining loans to buy luxury vehicles, the collapse of at least one of his dealerships, and a claim that he was being chased for debts by ‘shadowy’ Chinese investors.
The implication is that the stresses of these problems may have triggered his suicide. But police were unable to determine the cause of Zhao’s death. And that’s unusual in a suicide case.
The other possibility is that he may have been murdered by the ‘shadowy’ investors. But an undetectable cause of death suggests a modus operandi too sophisticated for gangsters.
So, was Nick Zhao really the victim of a political assassination? Was he silenced to keep him from talking? Or - more likely as he had already talked to ASIO - was he killed as a warning to others?
Government MP, Andrew Hastie, seems to think it was one or the other. The chair of Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee has described Mr Zhao as ‘a perfect target for cultivation’ by an overseas spy agency.
He told Nine Newspapers that the car dealer had been ‘a bit of a high-roller in Melbourne, living beyond his means’ and he would have been vulnerable.
That theory also fits perfectly with the allegation Mr Wang made on 60 Minutes that the PRC had directed overseas assassinations, including in Australia.
And after making his revelations to ASIO the 27-year-old now lives in fear of being next on the assassin’s list. That is why he is reported to be hiding out in Sydney with his wife and two-year-old son.
He is certain he would be killed if he returned to China. So, he has applied for political asylum. Naturally.
But could all his claims be a ploy to gain Australian citizenship?
The Chinese reaction suggests it is.
Shanghai police denounced him as a convicted fraudster who was wanted over a $960,000 ‘fake investment project.
The Communist-aligned Global Times has described the story as a ‘disgusting farce’ and accuses Wang of being an ex-convict who, in 2016, was sentenced to 15 months’ jail for fraud and put on probation for 18 months.
It adds that Wang does not have the necessary educational qualifications to work in China’s national security establishment.
So, who to believe? An alleged fraudster? Or employees for a government that is daily becoming more involved in spying on all levels, from human ‘resources’ to yet-to-be-seen technology probing at the gates of computer security systems around the world?
Prime Minister Scott Morrison finds the spying claims ‘troubling and disturbing” but cautions against ‘leaping to conclusions’.
And who does ASIO Director-General, Mike Burgess, believe? He has confirmed that the claims made in the Nine media reports were not new to him and were already being ‘actively’ investigated.
In a not so subtle warning, he adds: “Hostile foreign intelligence activity continues to pose a real threat to our nation and its security. ASIO will continue to confront and counter foreign interference and espionage in Australia.”
Trouble is China is our biggest trading partner while its rival, the USA, is our biggest, long-lasting ally. So, what’s more important: business or security?
