A former Chinese spy has uncovered spy networks in Australia used by the Chinese secret police to hunt down and abduct dissidents overseas, exposing Xi Jinping’s wider attempt to expand intelligence operations and control the Chinese diaspora overseas, and eliciting concerns about Australia’s national security.
An investigation carried out by the Australian public broadcasting service Four Corners claims to have supporting evidence of a spy’s assignments to hunt down dissidents and send them back to China.
The 39-year-old former spy, going by the pseudonym of “Eric”, fled China for Australia last year after one of his covers was blown. Rather than continue cooperating with his superiors, Eric took his chance to break free from a profession he was never fully committed to. According to ABC, he “was always planning on turning his back on China.”
After arriving in Australia, he divulged information about the top secret police in China’s tactics used to hunt down dissidents to the ASIO, Australia’s national security agency. He justified his actions, stating that “the public has a right to know the secret world.”
The “darkest department of the Chinese government”
Passionate about Western democracy as a student, Eric found himself under police surveillance and arrested by Chinese authorities. He was given no other option but to work for the Political Security Protection Bureau, also known as the 1st Bureau, to avoid jail.
There he worked as a spy between 2008 and 2023, ordered to hunt down and lure dissidents of the Chinese regime to countries where they could be kidnapped.
The political security protection unit of the ministry of public security is one of the Chinese government’s key tools of repression, responsible for domestic political spying and silencing critics of Xi Jinping’s government.
In recent years, emphasis on political security has intensified to ensure the survival of the regime, with the ministry of defense viewing it as the “foundation of national security,” revealing the government’s campaign against “subversion and destruction” of the system.
The bureau operates China’s “most feared” secret police, a powerful branch of China’s intelligence apparatus, and Eric’s denouncement is the first time a member has spoken publicly about it. The whistleblower described the bureau as the “darkest department of the Chinese government.”
Tracking dissidents across various countries
In his revelations to Four Corners, Eric described assignments in which he was ordered to find dissidents across borders, including Thailand, India, Canada, and Australia.
In one particular case, Eric was assigned to deal with a vocal dissident, Edwin Yin, who published videos online criticizing President Xi Jinping and his daughter.
The Youtuber fled China in 2018 and claims to have been pursued by Chinese authorities ever since, saying he does not feel safe in Australia. China asserts he is being tracked down by authorities for fraud, but the dissident insists he is being framed.
Eventually, Eric gave up on collecting information on the political activist, claiming he was “too cunning” to be lured overseas for abduction. But the case nevertheless reveals the global reach of Chinese intelligence authorities in the attempt to clamp down on political dissidents.
Repression under Xi Jinping
Since assuming office in 2012, President Xi Jinping has elevated the country’s intelligence agencies to an unprecedented degree, and experts have pointed to a calculated attempt to curb resistance overseas. The President launched Operation Sky Net in 2015 to bring to justice corrupt officials who fled overseas. It is part of the broader anti-corruption campaign Operation Fox Hunt, which was accused of being a “global campaign against the country’s diaspora” by Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI.
Over the past decade, over 12,000 alleged fugitives from China have been returned to China under Operation Sky Net, revealing how now, as ABC reports, “almost no dissent is tolerated, and Xi has tightened his grip on the Chinese population overseas.”
However, the sudden revelation of Chinese abductions occurring on Australian territory has raised concerns over the country’s national security, with the opposition party questioning the government’s easing relations with China.
Reports of “serious concerns” regarding Australia’s national security
In the previous month, Human Rights NGO Safeguard Defenders published a report detailing 283 instances of extrajudicial returns from at least 56 countries that were sent back to China, alleged to have committed economic offenses.
Laura Harth, the campaign director of Safeguard Defenders who researched the report, emphasized that these operations, whether successful or attempted, flagrantly disregard Australia’s sovereignty.
In response to these revelations, the opposition Alliance coalition demanded explanations from the Federal Police following the renewal of three joint agency agreements between Australia and China, disregarding the recent reports of “serious concerns.”
After expiring last year, the re-signed agreements included a statement of intent with the Chinese ministry of public security to combat transnational crime and strengthen police cooperation, as well as agreements to combat economic crime and narcotics trade.
