A rising leader in Australia’s Labor Party has been forced to resign after mounting evidence has surfaced of his ties to China. Labor’s Deputy Whip, Sam Dastyari, warned a wealthy businessman in Australia, a member of the Chinese Communist party, that he was under government surveillance. Recordings also surfaced of Dastyari defending Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. The revelations come amid heightened concern about Chinese influence in Australia.
2016 Investigation Into Chinese Influence in Australia
The Iranian-born MP already had been the subject of an investigation last year into his ties to China. He was forced to resign a leadership position because he had accepted money from a group of Chinese companies. The Yuhu Group, a conglomerate connected to the Chinese government, paid his legal bills and travel expenses. The Yuhu Group is headed by Huang Xiangmo, a friend and major donor to Dastyari.
… he was suspected of greater involvement with the Chinese government.
At the time of his resignation last year, Dastyari had been seen as a rising star in the Labor party. He was Labor’s spokesman for Consumer Affairs, and Manager of Opposition Business. Those positions made him a ‘frontbencher,’ a member of the party leadership (that sits on the front bench in the parliament).
Labor leader Bill Shortern said at that time that he would not ask Dastyari to resign from parliament. In fact, within only a few months, Shortern promoted him again, to party Deputy Whip. But recent revelations have compounded suspicions that Dastyari has acted on China’s behalf, and other Labor MP’s said he repeatedly has taken pro-China positions in internal policy debates.
Dastyari: Leave the Phones, Talk Outside
Last month, Dastyari was forced to resign again from a leadership position. He stood down as Deputy Whip after media published a recording of his speech defending Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. He gave a forceful, articulate and lengthy answer that focused on the thousands of years of Chinese history, and said that China knew its borders better than anyone else. He was accompanied at the speech by Mr. Huang, of the Yuhu Group.
Dastyari still managed to keep his parliamentary seat. But Australia’s Fairfax Media reported last week that he was suspected of greater involvement with the Chinese government. Citing government sources, the paper said that Dastyari had gone to Mr. Xiangmo’s home to give him a face to face warning that he was under surveillance.
At Xiangmo’s home, he suggested to Mr. Xiangmo that they leave their phones in the house and go outside. On the grounds of Xiangmo’s mansion, Dastyari revealed that Xiangmo was under surveillance, and that his phone was tapped by the U.S. government and others. This meeting came after Labor leader Shortern had warned Dastyari that the Australian intelligence service considered Xiangmo a Chinese agent.
Political Donations and Demands Linked
The meeting also came after Xiangmo had been criticized by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) for political donations linked to China. Xiangmo had defended his political donations in an article in the Beijing-based communist party mouthpiece, The Global Times.
“In respect of so-called ‘China-linked’ political donations, some major Australian media have recently made a fuss, claiming this ‘could possibly skew Australian democracy’. However, in fact ‘possibly skewing Australian democracy’ is precisely what these baseless accusations, verging on racism, have done,” he wrote.
“… ensure that their political demands and political donations are more organically and effectively linked”
ABC reports that Xiangmo said Australian politicians see the Chinese community as “cash cows. And after they are elected, as there is no demand for ‘milk’, there is no need to look after the interests of the Chinese community.” The Australian Chinese community, he wrote, needed “To learn from other ethnic groups, particularly in how to ensure that their political demands and political donations are more organically and effectively linked, and how to use the media to express and spread their own political demands.”
Last week Ross Babbage, a former senior Australian intelligence officer, said bluntly that Sam Dastyari is an agent of influence for China. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that Dastyari “has betrayed Australia’s interest,” and called on Labor leader Shortern to force him out. Shortern heeded the call, and Dastyari is finally out of the government.
