WA Liberals cautioned against attending Chinese functions amid foreign interference fears
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The West Australian Liberal Party has cautioned politicians and candidates against attending functions organised by Chinese groups amid concerns about foreign interference after two candidates were spotted dining with influential Chinese businessmen in a Northbridge restaurant.
While a senior figure within the Liberal Party went as far as saying there was a blanket ban on attending Chinese functions the party would not confirm the nature of the veto.
Legislative Council president Kate Doust, senior policy adviser to Deputy Premier Roger Cook, and Liberal candidates for Bateman and Riverton Matthew Woodall and Anthony Spagnolo at the dinner.
March 12, 2021
A month ago, Caroline Wilson was still popular in China. The UK ambassador’s savvy use of Chinese social media, and her fluent Mandarin, won her more than 13,000 followers on Weibo. But this month, what was an asset became a liability when the Chinese Foreign Ministry reprimanded her over a WeChat post in which she defended critical press coverage of China.
The incident highlights a digital divide. Chinese diplomats have free rein most of the time on Twitter to criticize local governments, as Wilson herself pointed out. But Western diplomats don’t enjoy the same freedom on the Chinese internet.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Michael Shoebridge says the mine recently licenced to a firm with Chinese ties near a military training base and important gas reserves in rural Western Australia is concerning.
“Now seems almost perfectly the wrong time to be awarding a lease to a company with any connections into Hong Kong let alone mainland China around iron ore,” he told Sky News host Peta Credlin.
Mr Shoebridge said another look at the license application may be necessary as the firm’s ties to China and Hong Kong are troubling politically as is the agreement to a 12 year lease of an iron ore mine.
“Why are we giving them any market power in iron ore when we want to wield market power against them to leverage that power as they coerce us?”
Beijing-Linked Firms To Control Islands Off East, West Coasts of Australia theepochtimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theepochtimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.