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/

https://twitter.com/alexjoske/status/1577374423572692994

I first started paying attention to CISM after hearing about a suspected Chinese intelligence officer using it as cover to run operations in Japan. Imagine my surprise when the group's homepage featured a photo of Bob Hawke, who was named its first foreign advisor in 1993. 2/

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.

https://twitter.com/mhar4/status/1464736307008077827

The London Chinatown Chinese Association, for example, was recently described by the UFWD as "protecting the unity and dignity of the ancestral nation and unremittingly supporting China's foreign and unification policies'. Not very progressive. archive.ph/v9D7N

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) aspi.org.au/report/influen… CCP control/influence over Chinese media here has long been assumed to be high, but the extent and mechanisms of it haven't been survey before. Our report looked at 24 media companies, 4/24 funded by CCP, 12/14 tied to UF groups, 17/24 otherwise connected to CCP

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/ 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/

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/ nytimes.com/2020/05/28/us/… 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/ aspi.org.au/report/picking…

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. aspistrategist.org.au/analysing-wang… 1/ Much commentary has focused on casting doubt on Wang's claims without carrying out research to test them. What we can find is that Xiang Xin has no fewer than 9 business partners or colleagues who worked in COSTIND. 2/

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/ smh.com.au/world/asia/def… First, it's important to appreciate the messiness of defections. Defectors do so for a range of motivations at the same time. Some defectors have been accused of spicing up their claims. Many commentators have been confused about Wang's seniority and exact role. 2/

THREAD on the reorganisation of the United Front Work Department, which is behind much of the CCP's overseas interference. This is one of the largest restructurings of a core CCP agency since the 1950s, documented in @ChinaBriefJT jamestown.org/program/reorga… 1/ After October 2018, I kept seeing references to entities like the 12th bureau of the UFWD. The department's website only lists nine bureaus. It turns out four bureaus were created (9, 10, 11 and 12) while one appears downgraded, so the department now has 12 bureaus (see chart) 2/

Meeting of the World Guangdong Community Federation in Vancouver, run by the Guangdong Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, hampered by 200 (10%) of attendees failing to obtain visas. Are visa denials being used to push back against UF work? h/t @OGcdn dushi.singtao.ca/vancouver/%E6%… One of eight executive council members of the World Guangdong Community Federation is Huang Xiangmo's Federation of Australian Guangdong Community 澳洲廣東僑團總會 aka Australia Fellowship of China Guangdong Associations fagc.com.au/?page_id=430