CHINA-AUSTRALIA: CCP'S EXPANDING INFLUENCE 

On June 6, 2017, conversation.com published an article by Associate Professor Chongyi Feng of the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.  Chongyi Feng, of Chinese descent, was held and interrogated by Chinese officials for ten days before being allowed to return to Australia. He attributed his release to high level intervention by the Australian government and other organisations. His article contained some pertinent disclosures including that the CCP CC's united front strategy has two parts: unity among friends under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP); and the life-and-death struggle against enemies of the state. He said the CCP's influence in Australia is salient in the following three areas. 

First, the CCP has extended its communication power to dominate local Chinese media in Australia. The CCP’s Central Propaganda Department has carried out the Grand External Propaganda Program and provided billions of dollars for major state media outlets to establish their branches overseas and for patriotic Chinese businesspeople to set up pro-China media outlets. The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council of the PRC and the China News Service have jointly funded and organised the Biennial Forum on the Global Chinese Language Media since 2001. The organisers pay all travel costs for the participants, mainly the owners and chief editors of overseas Chinese media outlets, to participate in the forum in China, as well as sightseeing and meetings with Chinese government leaders. 

Second, the Chinese authorities have controlled some civil society organisations in Australia as an extension of Chinese state power. Examples are:  the Australian Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China answers to the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification in Beijing, which is established by the CCP Central United Front Department and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. The Australian Federation of Overseas Chinese Associations is backed by the Chinese consulate-general in Sydney to serve the Chinese government in a collective manner and claims to represent more than 30 Chinese associations in Sydney. The Chinese embassy funds the Federation of Chinese Scholars in Australia to run annual symposiums and other executive meetings since 2008. Its purpose is for prominent Chinese-Australian academics to share cutting-edge research of all disciplinary areas and forge collaborations with their counterparts in China. The Chinese consulate-general in Sydney and the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council of the PRC jointly fund the Huaxing Art Troupe to present “red concerts”, songs and dances in praise of the heroic journey of communism in China. These are mainly performed by official troupes from China. The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council and local governments in China fund and organise regular training programs for overseas Chinese leaders. 

Third, the Chinese government or Chinese money funds institutions on campuses of Australian universities. These include the Australian-China Relations Institute at UTS and the Australia-China Institute for Arts and Culture at Western Sydney University, as well as dozens of Confucius institutes at major Australian universities.







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