Alex Joske
@alexjoske
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周安瀾 Analysing the CCP's external influence and technology transfer efforts. Author of Spies and Lies (Hardie Grant Books 2022)
Canberra
Joined July 2014
Two years ago I stumbled on clues that unravelled decades of influence operations by PRC intel officers. The story of how their patient craft shaped our world is out this October in my book Spies and Lies. Available for pre-order worldwide. #affiliate
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Within 24 hours of announcing my book on PRC intelligence operations, government-backed hackers have tried to access my email. I wonder which country they're from?
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UK universities forced to end seven joint ventures with Chinese defence companies after years of training and collaborating with scientists from Chinese missile and jet manufacturers.
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My take on Wang Liqiang's defection, having met him and analysed his claims over several weeks. New details on PLA links and many holes in the Shanghai Public Security Bureau's statement. [THREAD] 1/
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When will the National Press Club host Taiwan’s representative in Australia? Australians need more chances to hear TW’s perspective. We’ve had plenty of the Chinese govt’s.
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Now that the US will be denying visas to Chinese military and defence scientists, the People's Liberation Army will look to send its researchers elsewhere. It's more important than ever for countries like Australia, UK, Germany, Singapore, and Canada to consider similar measures.
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Statement on @globaltimesnews report that I have been banned from entering China. I won't be doing interviews on this.
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PRC's Houston Consul General Cai Wei, who's reportedly refusing to close the consulate and was caught using fake ID at the airport, was previously posted to Canberra. Here he is with Australian Chinese Students and Scholars Association reps.
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Groundbreaking precedent: US to cancel visas for Chinese military scientists. Affirms @ASPI_ICPC's ongoing research into implications of military-civil fusion and research collaboration. Other countries should do the same. 1/
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How was China's top intelligence agency created? My first paper in a while dives deep into the varied origins of the MSS's provincial branches. Often overlooked, provincial state security agencies are behind the bulk of espionage and cyber operations.
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"The tea leaf prince": how a French member of numerous Chinese Communist Party united front groups became an MP in President Macron's party and a central figure in Sino-French relations.
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Spies and Lies is out today in the United States! This is the previously untold story of how covert influence operations by China's Ministry of State Security reach into United States to target policymakers, think tanks, media and community organisations.
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It's weird and comical that Chinese Students and Scholars Associations try to emulate the CCP, like this one in Sheffield releasing notices in an official format, but these should be reminders of how they often act as the Party's eyes and ears in foreign universities.
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THREAD on my new report about the united front system. This report traces the structure of the system from its leadership in Beijing, to the agencies carrying it out, the platforms and proxies they work through, and its central role in political interference and tech transfer. 1/
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First time head of the Ministry of State Security has ever been on either the Central Secretariat or the Politburo. Intel organs are being centralised under Xi in a dangerous way, opening up a greater role for them in domestic politics.
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Reports that Xiang Xin, fingered by defector Wang Liqiang as a military intelligence officer, is being stopped at the border and questioned by Taiwanese authorities
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Such a crazy time to be finally launching — a massive database of Chinese research institutions with defence and security links built by an ASPI team. It identifies nearly 200 defence labs and 400 defence research areas in civilian universities.
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My report 'The party speaks for you: foreign interference and the Chinese Communist Party's united front system' out on June 9 AEST (10am June 8 EST). Details the united front system's structure and effects, ranging from political interference to tech transfer. cover by @badiucao
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THREAD on the PLA ties of Xiang Xin, defector Wang Liqiang's former boss and alleged intelligence officer. Open-source research reveals a web of links to COSTIND, a defence technology agency implicated in political interference and espionage. 1/.
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澳洲的新南威尔士大学竟然跟共军的超级计算机工程师进行了长期的合作。并且，共军的天河系列计算机是核武器研发重要的一部分。一个民主自由国家怎么会接受这种行为呢?.
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My recent parliamentary submission reveals concerning details about China's talent recruitment programs in Australia: 325+ cases, increased covert activity, evidence of widespread grant fraud costing hundreds of millions
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My book Spies and Lies, about elite influence operations by China's Ministry of State Security, is out now on audible. (Also coming out in print in Chinese, Japanese and French soon. )
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Literally the United Front in action. People you didn't choose claim to represent you, but in reality they're carrying out the Party's wishes.
#HongKong society voices support for national security legislation for HKSAR #2020TwoSessions. more:
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Great meeting of the Xi Jinping thought study group in Washington, DC @nuryturkel @PLMattis
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New report out on the CCP's global talent-recruitment efforts. Recruitment programs like the Thousand Talents Plan are raising concerns in the US, but they're active around the world. Australia, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Japan face the same challenge.
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The Australian embassy (and many others) treated one Chinese scholar as a valued contact and source in the 2000s. Here he is at the Australian ambassador's residence. My book shows he's a senior undercover MSS officer specialising in influence operations against Five Eyes nations
Australian pub day for my book on how MSS covert influence operations have shaped the world! Will be on ABC radio and TV for a few interviews this morning. US readers can pre-order for next week. #affiliate.
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Important story - Chinese property developer expelled from Australia, accused of working with the Ministry of State Security. Involvement ranged from contacting family of a jailed activist to dabbling in Beijing's elite political struggles.
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I hope these anti-racism groups understand that many of their partners here are united front groups better understood as extensions of the Chinese Communist Party than community representatives.
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The MSS has pulled off some remarkable feats, but I was surprised to find footage of an undercover MSS officer delivering a televised speech to the National Press Club. None other than Chas Freeman, a longtime USG China hand, was there to introduce him. 1/
Spies and Lies is out today in the United States! This is the previously untold story of how covert influence operations by China's Ministry of State Security reach into United States to target policymakers, think tanks, media and community organisations.
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My article on the PLA's exploitation of Western tech companies, uncovering cases of Google employees working with members of the Chinese military
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Defected spy Wang Liqiang says that he received fake passports for his mission to interfere in TW from the PLA National University of Defense Technology's 'Intelligence Center' (國防科技大學情報中心), same uni that has sent thousands of scientists abroad
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Group of Chinese students and pro-HK students clash at the University of Queensland. Pro-HK placards call on UQ to close its Confucius Institute and 'stop taking CCP blood money'.
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My article for @ASPI_org that goes deeper into the story of Koala AI, the company set up by an Australian uni professor that's deploying surveillance technology in Xinjiang and may have benefited from Australian taxpayer funding
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Can't wait to launch the China Defence Universities Tracker in two weeks. The Tracker includes entries on 160+ universities, built by a great team including @He_Shumei @cnlyonsjones @EBKania and Audrey Fritz. Thanks to @badiucao for his brilliant art.
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China's Ministry of State Security excels at elite influence operations, and one of its earliest catches was Prime Minister Bob Hawke. A little snippet from my book Spies and Lies, out in Australia on Oct 5
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Totally genuine voices like Xavier Walter, a young Chinese woman, coming out to criticise my book Spies and Lies. Definitely not a CCP-run fake account. China must not want people to hear about MSS covert operations
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To sum up: .- Research backs up some of Wang's claims. Many impossible to verify. - Lots of evidence contradicts Chinese police allegations. - The level of detail in Wang's statement means agencies should eventually be able to confirm/deny his claims. 10/.
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Perfect illustration of the MSS’s omnipresence in US-China relations: Huang Jing was expelled from Singapore as an alleged foreign agent, Da Wei spent most of his career in the MSS.
Join us for the ICAS Annual Conference on November 2! Panel I (10am EDT): Michael Swaine @Dalzell60, Da Wei @CISSTsinghua, Dennis Wilder @dennisw5 & Huang Jing @BLCU_Official. Moderated by @GordonHoulden @UAlbertaChina. RSVP: More:
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A pleasure to do this interview with @DavidBarboza2 explaining how I came to work on CCP influence and reflecting on Chinese military research, Wang Liqiang and united front work.
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How does the Chinese Communist Party think about external influence work? My latest piece argues that policymakers and analysts need to get on top of this, and worry less how CCP influence relates to received concepts like 'info ops' and hybrid threats.
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Thousand Talents Plan scholar from Australian university set up an AI company in China that provides surveillance tech in Xinjiang, while receiving taxpayer-funded grants. Now being investigated by the university after potentially not disclosing activities
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Australian pub day for my book on how MSS covert influence operations have shaped the world! Will be on ABC radio and TV for a few interviews this morning. US readers can pre-order for next week. #affiliate.
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WeChat messages from Sun Tianqun to Wang Liqiang: "I have been entrusted by the Kuomintang" 孫天群跟王立強的微信簡訊：“我受國民黨委託”
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With China's upcoming Party Congress set to lock in the next phase of US-China competition, how does China plan to influence the US Congress? I uncovered a document written by a top Chinese intelligence officer that gives some hints. 1/
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Important quote in this story: “Chinese espionage is not even a variant of the Russian [approach]”. We need to get inside the CCP's century-old tradition of intelligence work instead of resting on old frameworks or comparisons.
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Deliberate gaslighting in the Chinese ambassador's AFR piece: "Australia’s commitment to one-China principle is clear-cut in both concept and content. China has never interfered in AUS’s internal affairs" but AUS never signed up to the one-China principle
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China’s elite influence thrives on tacit recruitment - building seemingly legitimate friendships and relationships with foreign elites without directly recruiting or forcing them to wake up to their status as an intelligence asset. Listen to my @CSIS interview for more ⬇️.
ICYMI | Learn more about the CCP's covert operations in "Spies and Lies" by @alexjoske and watch the whole discussion @CSIS here:.
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Huang Xiangmo back in Beijing as a member of the Chinese Overseas Friendship Association for his first public trip since around 2013. COFA is run by the United Front Work Department, its president is the UFWD minister. h/t @UFWD_YVR 1/
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"The party speaks for you: Foreign interference and the CCP's united front system" is out now. Detailing the wide range of actors and objectives of united front work like never before.
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I'm pleased to announce that I will now be working at ASPI's International Cyber Policy Centre @ASPI_ICPC as a researcher, looking at CCP influence and strategy and technology issues.
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It's no coincidence that Shaoquett Moselmane has been saying these outrageous things about China. His staffer John Zhang 张智森 completed an united front training course run by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office.
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Article in which a group of retirees who don't speak Chinese try to trash ASPI's commentary on China without even engaging with our research.
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Now that Pelosi’s Taiwan trip has concluded, what should we make of the PLA using foreign scholars to pass on threats as part of its political warfare effort? Easier said than done, but scholars and media can do more to sort out propaganda from genuine policy statements.
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Just received my copy of "China's quest for foreign technology"! Proud to be included in such an important and informative book. @dktatlow
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UNSW continues to work with and train scientists from PLA supercomputers that are known parts of their nuclear weapons program. Yet the WMD Act prohibits the provision of services that contribute to the development of WMDs.
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Surely growing research collaboration with China underscores the need for better due diligence. No one is advocating an end to research collaboration, just that we try not to help put Uyghurs in camps and train weapons scientists.
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We decided to built the China Defence Universities Tracker because universities have been unequipped to research defence and security links of collaborators. This project tracks 160+ institutions, including civilian, MSS, PLA, MPS and defence SOE entities
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My new @ASPI_ICPC report on the Chinese military's unprecedented levels of research collaboration with universities outside of China is now online:
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Wang Liqiang's supposed 14 October, 2016 conviction still does not appear on Searching for the judge brings up 223 records (more than the official database!) but there's a gap where the official database has Wang's case.
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Kicking out or disappearing journalists is the message. The CCP wants engagement on its terms only and thinks small/medium-sized countries don't have a right to negotiate or stand up against political interference. CCP is trying to push Aus to compromise before it re-opens doors.
.@PhillipCoorey says kicking foreign journalists out is "counterproductive for the Chinese". "You've got even lesser chance of getting whatever messages that you want to get across . But on the same token, I don't really think that they care about that too much." #insiders
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New report from @Anne_MarieBrady on the PLA's presence in New Zealand, incl researchers studying in NZ universities. This is a global phenomenon yet only the US has developed a visible response.
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Australian police have briefed TW authorities on plot to coerce Wang Liqiang, screenshots also appear to contradict statements from those involved including KMT's Alex Tsai
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Mindblowing info on overlap between organised crime and the United Front in the new @Ageinvestigates exposé. Tom Zhou (aka 周九明, Mr Chinatown): billion $ junket operator, united front leader, and alleged criminal figure
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French MP Buon Tan claims he didn't know he was a member of the UFWD's China Overseas Friendship Association. He has been on its public membership list since 2009, as was his father since 2003. Here he is shaking hands with Xi Jinping at its 2019 meeting.
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Reminder that someone believed to have been an Australian National University student may have disappeared last year after satirising Xi Jinping and criticising the situation in Xinjiang. What is the govt doing to protect free speech for Chinese students and Chinese-Australians?.
Last June @anran55401099 studying at Austria revealed that her high school classmates in Xinjiang were asked to return to school for political study. In the same day, local authority asked her parent to call her to delete post and return for study. She returned, disappeared.
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Nearly three years after his expulsion from Australia, Huang Xiangmo turns up as a member of the committee responsible for electing "patriotic" Hong Kong legislators. Huang is officially a "grassroots community organisation" representative.
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Deep dive into the Moselmane affair from @Ageinvestigates @jttozer. Must read for anyone interested in the Chinese Communist Party's growing overseas reach.
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Nice to see more analysis of Australia's response to CCP influence in this CSIS article. It also brings to mind some and areas for clarification and further research.
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I'd be more sympathetic to this point if universities were doing a better job of promoting their values and culture to Chinese students. Mental health and isolation are serious problems in Chinese student communities. Many leave unis with negative impressions of the West.
Both governments are now making it harder for Chinese students to study in the US. The US risks diminishing its most important advantages and values, the reasons why hundreds of thousands of Chinese students have chosen to study in the United States.
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A stunning example of misconduct in the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations report on China's talent recruitment programs (p74)
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Pleased to be launching 'Picking Flowers, Making Honey: The Chinese Military's Collaboration with Foreign Universities', my first paper since joining @ASPI_ICPC, later this month. Great cover art by @badiucao
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Australia and many other countries already tried trusting China and focusing on engaging "good China". The CCP's behaviour made that unsustainable and that's why we are where we are now. #QandA.
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Full list of joint ventures with Chinese defence conglomerates as identified in 2019
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With Spies and Lies coming out today, I wanted to share some more on the story behind this photo of Bob Hawke at the China Institute of Strategy and Management, surrounded by undercover Chinese intelligence officers and their assets. 1/
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Picking flowers, making honey described a problem; the China Defence Universities Tracker aims to be part of the solution, recording in unprecedented detail how Chinese universities are becoming integrated with China’s military. With @cnlyonsjones
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Nice review of Spies and Lies: “Mr. Joske’s incisive history and analysis provides a much-needed look inside Beijing’s complex, often ruthlessly effective efforts to shape and soften Western responses to its rapid global ascendance.”
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ASPI's China Defence Universities Tracker website is out next week with an accompanying report! Really exciting findings and a powerful resource for research collaboration. There's still time to sign up for the panel discussion on Tuesday if you're in CBR
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The United Front Work Department held an exclusive meeting with "overseas Chinese representatives" in December 2018. Attendees included Chau Chak Wing, Beau Kuok (Kerry Group) and Xu Rongmao (Shimao Group, sometime ALP donor).
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Strong and overdue move to put Harbin Institute of Tech and Harbin Engineering Uni on the US Entity List. Two of China's leading defence universities profiled in @ASPI_ICPC 's Universities Tracker (.
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The China Defence Universities Tracker (website developed by @icelab) also allows you to look through entities by their supervising agencies. Here you can see all the entities supervised by SASTIND—China's defence industry agency.
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My new paper on an overlooked part of China's intelligence community: the Ministry of Public Security. More than just a police agency, the ministry has a little-known tradition of espionage and interference, continuing to the present day.
Secret police: The Ministry of Public Security's clandestine foreign operations Paper presented at the workshop “Mapping China's footprint in the world IV”, organised by Sinopsis and the Estonian Foreign Policy . .
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New @ASPI_ICPC report by me, Lin Li, @AlexandraPasc_ @nathanattrill finds high levels of CCP influence in Australia's Chinese-language media, and serious concerns about how WeChat is contributing to that. (Wonderful cover art by @badiucao)
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Finland's National Coalition Party expels a councillor after a media investigation revealed her united front links as deputy head of the Finland Association for Promoting Peaceful Reunification of China. Pictured below w/ reps of the UFWD Xinjiang Bureau
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Australia's Curtin University finds professor breached ethics rules through work on facial recognition with Chinese uni. Very important precedent that points to how research collaboration is changing (and should change).
Scoop for @ipvideo: a facial recognition professor in Australia breached core ethics standards in a paper that improved Uyghur "ethnicity recognition" techniques, abruptly resigning . He now teaches AI at a top PRC university
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Nice update on Wang Liqiang's case—"Alleged spy Wang Liqiang's bizarre fraud case"
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A third PLA scientist charged by the US Department of Justice. This deception and misconduct is happening globally—time for other countries to start cracking down on similar behaviours. h/t @zachsdorfman
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FWIW on claims that the PRC government won't understand the separation of powers between Biden and Pelosi, this distinction has been well known to PRC policymakers for decades. My book reveals how the MSS studied this to great effect as it prepared influence ops against Congress.
Two years ago I stumbled on clues that unravelled decades of influence operations by PRC intel officers. The story of how their patient craft shaped our world is out this October in my book Spies and Lies. Available for pre-order worldwide. #affiliate
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From student to drone swarms: how the PLA trains its scientists in Australia. "Developing better unmanned vehicles for the Chinese military is precisely what Wang now aspires to do, having benefited from ANU’s world-class experts, resources"
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好多不可靠的媒體在傳播謠言，說60 Minutes電視節目跟悉尼先驅晨報報導裡稱「王立強」是化名。這樣，中國當局的判決書也會使用這個化名。事實上，電視節目和報導並沒有這樣說。
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Since 2007, roughly 3k People's Liberation Army scientists have been sent overseas to work on dual-use technologies. Aside from the US, Australia, Canada, Germany, Singapore and UK are also major destinations for these scientists. 2/
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Also known as the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs school of kung fu (deliberately leaked document sect).
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Wang's passport also has stamps that contradict the court ruling. The court ruling states the he was on bail in Guangze County between March and October 2016. He left the country several times during this period. 9/.
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Australian writer Yang Hengjun "wears chains and is tied to a chair when he is being interrogated”
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More and more is being written about the United Front, but not much has been written about the united front system—the network of agencies, groups and individuals carrying out united front work. This report covers the breadth of the system, which goes far beyond the UFWD. 2/
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This is not how you empower Chinese Australians. By endorsing united front groups we are normalising the CCP as the representative of Chinese people.
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Thanks for the Little Red (podcast) Mug! One of the most engaging China podcasts out there @limlouisa @GraemeKSmith
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There is clearly only one way forward: send John Howard, Kevin Rudd and Henry Kissinger to Paris as special envoys to reset the relationship.
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