China is becoming increasing anxious about the Australian pushback against Chinese influence and is now looking to the Labor Party, an expert on relations between the two nations has said.
Key points:
- New legislation aims to reduce Chinese influence in Australia
- Professor Clive Hamilton said China seeks to establish power zone in the Pacific
- He said Australia neglected its responsibility in region and China is moving to fill the vacuum
Clive Hamilton, Vice-Chancellor’s Chair and professor of public ethics at Charles Sturt University, said the Australian response “reached a crescendo” with the introduction of the new Foreign Interference legislation in early December by the Turnbull Government, and China is now looking to the Labor Party.
“No country has ever interfered in Australian politics more than the People’s Republic of China,” Professor Hamilton said.
“I think that the Chinese embassy sees the Labor Party as a kind of much more amenable place to go in order to persuade politicians of its point of view.”
Read More Here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-17/chinese-interference-in-australian-politics/9336828
