Spies and a magic weapon: why are Australia, NZ so suspicious of China?
Controversy over a New Zealand MP who taught English to Chinese spies is just the latest in a series of events undermining Beijing in the court of public opinion
IF CHINA is indeed trying to influence domestic policy in Australia and New Zealand, as critics in both countries are claiming, its approach appears to be backfiring.
Some experts said Yang’s case – as well as media reports alleging that China had been trying to buy influence through political donations and monitoring its students abroad – had raised suspicions of Beijing’s intentions and undermined it in the court of public opinion.
Last week, Yang, an MP for New Zealand’s governing National Party, confirmed he had taught English to Chinese spies in the 1980s and 1990s. The Financial Times and New Zealand website Newsroomreported that Yang had been investigated by the country’s spy agencies over connections to China – links that are yet to be proven.
Yang rejected allegations he was a spy and denied being disloyal to New Zealand despite admitting he had been a member of the Communist Party while in China, and had not declared the names of the military institutions he taught at when applying for citizenship. He claimed the allegations were a “smear campaign” to damage him and the National Party ahead of Saturday’s general election “just because I am Chinese”.
China’s foreign ministry also dismissed the reports, saying that “certain media make up fake news by inventing groundless assumptions based on hearsay evidence and fabricating something out of thin air”.
