The Australian Federal Police has told a parliamentary hearing it halted a years-long policy of allowing Chinese police to come and operate in Australia, following a 2019 incident exposed by the ABC's Four Corners program.
Australian Federal Police told a Senate hearing foreign interference concerns prompted it to change its approach to cooperation with Chinese police.
"2019-2020 was a pivotal moment in terms of our relationship," Deputy Commissioner McCartney later said, adding that the decision to stop the Chinese police visits was due to the growth of foreign interference. But under questioning from Liberal senator and Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson, Deputy Commissioner McCartney said that was not the case.
Three of the six have since returned to Australia and two remain in China. One of them served a prison sentence, Deputy Commissioner McCartney said.The 2019 meeting — between MPS officers and a 59-year-old woman, known only as Ms Wang, occurred in an AFP office and under the supervision of federal police officers, Deputy Commissioner McCartney said.
While China maintains the term "economic criminals" refers to corruption suspects, human rights groups have said it is also used to target enemies of the Chinese Communist Party . "When the AFP had their arrangements in place between 2015 and 2019 to facilitate Chinese police investigations onshore for the purposes of returning their targets to China, did the AFP ever reflect on the fact that there was a reason the government had no extradition treaty?" Senator Shoebridge asked.AFP Deputy Commissioner Lisa Gale replied: "I disagree. These were Chinese citizens that expressed a desire to speak to MPS … It is up to them whether they want to return to China.
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