Downloading @ASPI_org’s “The China Defence Universities Tracker: Exploring the military and security links of China’s universities” aspi.org.au/report/china-d…
@ASPI_org Preparing myself for the start of the launch event for this report, which I’m reliably informed will be streamed via facebook.com/ASPI.org/ in just a few minutes.
@ASPI_org Yes, the stream is up at facebook.com/pg/ASPI.org/vi….
@ASPI_org So @alexjoske and his colleagues have done some amazing work here.
@ASPI_org Australian unis are caught in their collaborations because their English-language websites talk about their wonderful civilian work, but the Chinese-language site is all about their defence connections. At least two AU universities never knew they were doing CN defence work.
@ASPI_org Mind you, as Joske pointed out, some of the “universities” the CN researchers came from didn’t even exist. They just said they were from somewhere that sounded kinda plausible but in fact they were from Chinese signals intelligence. Awesome due diligence work, folks!
@ASPI_org Good, John Fitzgerald has just issued the warning about racial profiling your researchers students. Don't look at who they are, he said, but at where they're connected with. Jill Slay adds, look at where their grants have come from.
Jill Slay earlier noted that all her cyber research is dual-use technology (civilian and military) so here we are.
Joske is talking about the Chinese defector from the weekend. Joske had written that analysis for the Ninefax papers.
Nice point from John Garnaut: Imagine taking a worry about Chinese academic espionage down to your local police station for help. Kinda not something they could deal with.
Hearing that the Attorney-General’s Department has a “foreign influence transparency team”.
Good discussion now on the “slippery slope” to racism in all this, Scott Morrison’s comment about that and Gladys Liu etc.
Fitzgerald says that the need to “vet” political candidates would go away if political funding was transparent. If they do or don’t like China wouldn’t matter, they’d be being elected on their merits not on how much cash they’d been provided with. (Is this too romantic?)
Slay calls out the simplicity of the question of being “a friend fo China” or not. Interesting that this discussion has turned to such smart commentary on racism. Also she says we couldn’t call them “Chinese-Australians”, they’re just Australians.
Joske talks about how useful it’d be to have an MP as an agent. Fitzgerald says yeah it’s about intelligence not influence. Joske has said you can find out who might be having an affair or financial problems and might be... leveraged.
And the panel is done. Thanks, @ASPI_org.
