‘I’ve agonised over this’: Suspected foreign interference victims break silence

Federal police told prominent critics of the Chinese Communist Party they were suspected targets of a foreign interference operation, warning them to avoid adopting a predictable daily routine to prevent putting themselves in danger.

Pavlou and Xu urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to raise concerns about foreign interference in his discussions with Li, a call backed by the federal opposition.Pavlou, a University of Queensland student who ran for the Senate in the 2022 federal election on an anti-Beijing platform, said he was called in for a meeting at the AFP’s Brisbane offices last August.

He called for Albanese to raise foreign interference with Li, saying: “The government should make clear this is a completely unacceptable breach of Australia’s sovereignty.”The comedian and researcher said police told her they had identified persons of interest in a foreign interference investigation relating to her.

Xu said she no longer felt safe living permanently in Australia after being followed and sent death threats following her work on repression in China.“My theory is that if I move around a lot, it will push up the budget so much China will eventually give up on following me.” “The AFP is a member of the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce, which is investigating a range of foreign interference matters,” the spokesman said.Under questioning from opposition home affairs minister James Paterson, AFP deputy commissioner Krissy Barrett told Senate estimates hearings this month that police were conducting “an active and ongoing” foreign interference investigation that involved “a number of potential victims”.

“I think that should give the community confidence that we are aware and that we are taking action,” she said.

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