The Australian media has “repeatedly fabricated” stories about Chinese influence and infiltration in Australia, China has claimed.
The statement targeting the media follows Guardian Australia’s report that China has claimed not to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries and urged the Turnbull government to “discard prejudice” and deepen ties with China.
Taken together, the statements indicate China sees new laws proposed by the Coalition to crack down on foreign interference and create a register of foreign agents as directed at it.
In a statement released on Wednesday the Chinese embassy said that reports about “so-called Chinese influence and infiltration in Australia … were made up out of thin air and filled with cold war mentality and ideological bias”.
It said the reports “reflected a typical anti-China hysteria” and were “paranoid”.
“The relevant reports not only made unjustifiable accusations against the Chinese government, but also unscrupulously vilified the Chinese students as well as the Chinese community in Australia with racial prejudice, which in turn has tarnished Australia’s reputation as a multicultural society.”
The Chinese embassy accused “some Australian politicians and government officials” of making “irresponsible remarks to the detriment of political mutual trust between China and Australia”.
“We categorically reject those allegations.”
Debate in Australia about Chinese influence has been sparked by a recording that surfaced last week in which Labor senator, Sam Dastyari, can be heard contradicting his party’s position on the South China Sea, as well as the revelation that he tipped off a Chinese political donor, Huang Xiangmo, that his phone was probably being tapped by security agencies.
The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has declared Dastyari’s position untenable and called on him to quit the Senate.
On Tuesday the Turnbull government announced it planned to ban foreign donations, and require former politicians, lobbyists and executives working for foreign interests to register if they sought to influence politics in Australia.
News outlets including Guardian Australia, the public broadcaster, the ABC, and national broadsheet the Australian, have reported on the growing influence of China on Australian university campuses.
These include analysts’ concerns about a $100m collaboration between the University of New South Wales and the Chinese government, diplomatic and security discussions about how Five Eyes countries should respond to intrusion on Australian campuses and concerns from the Group of Eight universities chief executive that there have been “isolated” instances of Chinese government interference on campuses.
The Chinese embassy said China was “committed to developing its friendly relations with other countries on the basis of mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs”.
“China has no intention to interfere in Australia’s internal affairs or exert influence on its political process through political donations.
“We urge the Australian side to look at China and China-Australia relations in an objective, fair and rational manner.”
