Behind Chinese walls July 17, 2005 Reporter :Sarah Ferguson Producer : Nick Rushworth
The defection of Chinese spies Chen Yonglin and Hao Fengjun has trained the spotlight on Australia's relationship with the world's seventh largest — and fastest growing — economy. They have alleged that the Chinese dictatorship has exported its persecution of followers of the spiritual practice Falun Gong and that a thousand agents are monitoring and harassing its Australian followers. But evidence obtained by Sunday shows that China's emerging dominance extends into the most sensitive areas of our bilateral relations — human rights and trade.
And trade between the two countries has more than doubled in the past three years. While China has become Australia's second largest export earner, Australia is ranked only thirteenth among China's. In other words, Australia needs China more than it needs us. Sarah Ferguson reports on how the trade tail is wagging the human rights dog at Australia's high-level human rights dialogue and how the promise of enormous export earnings is being used by the Chinese to capture Australia's support for its foreign policy.
Both Chen and Hao have brought with them documentary evidence of the extraordinarily sensitive inner workings of Chinese intelligence-gathering at the highest levels. Chen, a former political officer with the Chinese Consulate in Sydney, reveals the secrets of the Consulate's 'telegraph room'. Chinese government documents seen by Chen expose the under-the-table negotiations behind trade deals with Australia.
In his first on-camera interview, Hao Fengjun, a former agent with China's top-secret 6-10 office, demonstrates how the Chinese dictatorship has exported its attempts to destroy the spiritual practice, Falun Gong. Agents of 6-10 are not only harassing and persecuting Falun Gong's Australian followers, but their families back in China as well.
A transcript of this story will be available shortly after the program.
