Source : Perth Now news
Two Chinese nationals have been charged with foreign interference offences after allegedly spying on a Canberra Buddhist association.
A 25-year-old man and 31-year-old woman face 15 years in prison each on the reckless foreign interference charges.
The Australian Federal Police allege the duo worked with a woman, who was arrested in August 2025 and charged with the same foreign interference offence, to covertly gather information about the Canberra branch of Guan Yin Citta for China’s Public Security Bureau.
Foreign interference undermined democracy and social cohesion, AFP counter terrorism assistant commissioner Stephen Nutt said.
“Australia is not immune to foreign interference, and we should not expect this arrest will prevent further attempts to target our diaspora communities,” he said.
Community awareness and reporting suspicious activity were important tools to disrupt foreign interference, the assistant commissioner said.
“Members of our culturally and linguistically diverse communities are more likely to be victims of foreign interference or transnational repression than to be offenders,” he said.
“The AFP cannot be everywhere at all times, and we rely on information from the public to supplement our own intelligence gathering and investigative efforts.”
ASIO director general Mike Burgess labelled foreign interference one of Australia’s premier security concerns.
“Multiple foreign regimes are monitoring, harassing and intimidating members of our diaspora communities,” he said.
“This sort of behaviour is utterly unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.”
