China is using a vast network of spies in an attempt to turn Australia into a "political colony," a defector said, as it was revealed Beijing officials had been allowed to interrogate Chinese held in Australian detention centres. Former Beijing University professor Yuan Hongbing, the fourth Chinese defector to surface in Australia in the past month, supported charges by a rebel Chinese diplomat that Beijing had an extensive network of agents in the country. The agents are targeting Chinese dissidents and are also being used to influence political thought "to turn Australia into a political colony of China," Yuan told ABC radio. "Political colony means the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) will use their ideology to influence Australia's politics and gradually to turn Australia to betray its fundamental principles of freedom and democracy," Yuan said through an interpretde.He said he and his friends had been followed and harassed, with one having his car destroyed and another being sent a dead cat. Yuan's charges came as it was reported that almost 50 Chinese people held in Australian immigration centres were put in isolation for more than two weeks last month and interrogated by Chinese government officials. Rights activists said the government may have breached its human rights and legal obligations by allowing the interrogations. Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said smuggled letters had revealed some of those interviewed were asylum seekers who now feared persecution. "If it is not illegal, it is certainly reckless," he said.
The Immigration Department said the Chinese officials visited the detainees to assist in the processing of documents to facilitate their return home and that it had no plans for a mass deportation of Chinese detainees, ABC reported. The treatment of Chinese asylum seekers in Australia has become the focus of fierce debate since first secretary at the Chinese consulate-general in Sydney, Chen Yonglin, 37, sought political asylum last month. Chen's asylum application was rejected and he was advised to apply for a protection visa, leading government critics to accuse the government of allowing its growing trade relations with China to affect its commitment to human rights.