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China-Australia Rift Deepens as Beijing Tests Its Sway Overseas

Associated Press

   CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - Australia's ban on Chinese telecom giant Huawei's
   involvement in its future 5G networks and its crackdown on foreign
   covert interference are testing Beijing's efforts to project its power
   overseas.

   In its latest maneuver, China sent three scholars to spell out in
   interviews with Australian media and other appearances steps to mend
   the deepening rift with Beijing -- a move that appears to have fallen
   flat.

   In a recent press conference at the Chinese Embassy in Canberra, Chen
   Hong, the head of Australian studies at East China Normal University,
   accused Australia of acting as a "pawn" for the United States in
   lobbying other countries against Huawei's involvement in 5G networks.

   "Australia has been in one way or another, so to speak, pioneering this
   kind of anti-China campaign, even some kind of a scare and smear
   campaign against China," Chen said. "That is definitely not what China
   will be appreciating, and if other countries follow suit, that is going
   to be recognized as extremely unfriendly," he said.

   After meetings in Beijing last week, Richard Marles, the opposition's
   defense spokesman, assessed the relationship as "terrible."

   Australians see threat

   A growing number of Australians are convinced that Beijing has been
   using inducements, threats, espionage and other clandestine tactics to
   influence their politics -- methods critics believe Beijing might be
   honing for use in other Western democracies.

   "Australia is seen as a test bed for Beijing's high-pressure influence
   tactics," said Clive Hamilton, author of "Silent Invasion," a best
   seller that focuses on Chinese influence in Australia. "They are
   testing the capacity of the Australian democratic system to resist," he
   said.

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