United Front boss tells Chinese in Australia to respect the law

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United Front boss tells Chinese in Australia to respect the law

By Kirsty Needham
Updated

Beijing: The chief of the Chinese Communist Party's United Front, which has been accused of mobilising spying abroad, has told Chinese living in Australia to respect local laws.

The Turnbull Government will introduce the first law to crack down on foreign interference through agents of influence, which is likely to include harsh penalties.

A member of the Chinese People's Armed Police stands guard near red flags at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

A member of the Chinese People's Armed Police stands guard near red flags at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.Credit: Bloomberg

Asked about allegations in Australia that United Front was mobilising spying in Chinese communities, the United Front's executive vice minister, Zhang Yijiong, responded that overseas Chinese should respect Australia's "culture, history and way of life".

"We ask Chinese overseas to respect the law and regulations of receiving countries and become welcome members of those countries," he said.

Members of the Chinese People's Armed Police march through Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China

Members of the Chinese People's Armed Police march through Tiananmen Square in Beijing, ChinaCredit: Bloomberg

"We hope they can play a bigger role in promoting the engagement and exchanges between China and other countries. They have been playing an important role and we hope they can continue."

At a briefing at the Communist Party's national congress to explain the United Front's expanded role under Chinese president Xi Jinping to promote socialism and oppose separatism, Mr Zhang said overseas Chinese were "all sons and daughters of the Chinese nation bounded by Chinese blood" and United Front worked to support them.

But asked about Australia, he acknowledged there were large groups of overseas Chinese who had left China at different times "because of what has happened in history".

He said United Front encouraged these people to return to China "to get an understanding of how China is today and contribute to the motherland."

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​Vice minister of the Chinese Communist Party's international department, Guo Yezhou, told the same briefing: "One should first know the Chinese Communist Party if you want to understand China."

Australia has had distinct waves of Chinese migration, including refugees who fled China after the Tiananmen Square massacre, including university students invited by former prime minister Bob Hawke to stay, or because of their Christian and Muslim religious beliefs.

These groups can hold views about the communist party that clash with the patriotism of large groups of more newly arrived Chinese students, or economic migrants who continue to have business links with China.

Falun Gong has lobbied against attempts by nationalistic Chinese student groups to remove its newspapers from campuses, for example.

United Front had expanded its work to rally the Chinese community to include Chinese students who had returned from overseas, non-party members who worked in management roles in foreign companies and new media, Mr Zhang told the briefing.

In its annual report last week, ASIO "identified foreign powers clandestinely seeking to shape the opinions of members of the Australian public, media organisations and government officials in order to advance their country's own political objectives".

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The Australian Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China has been active in lobbying the Liberal and Labor party for over a decade, with MPs joining its board and participating in activities that promote the Chinese view of Tibet and the reunification of Taiwan with China.

Chinese businessmen associated with this group have made large political donations to both Australian parties.

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