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The man, whose name was suppressed, was accused of covertly collecting information about a Canberra Buddhist association on behalf of a foreign principal.
A man who was arrested in February for alleged reckless foreign interference has had that charge dropped. Two women in their 30s are still facing the same charge, with their matters due to return to court in December.
One of three Chinese nationals accused of foreign interference has had the charge against him dropped by a Canberra court. The 26-year-old man, whose name was suppressed, was charged in February with one count of reckless foreign interference by the Australian Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce. He was accused of covertly collecting information about a Canberra Buddhist association on behalf of a foreign principal.
Two women in their 30s are still facing charges, with their matters due to return to court in December. WeChat messages among evidence Police alleged the woman, whose name is suppressed, began working for China's Public Security Bureau in 2022, when she was tasked with numerous covert operations, receiving instructions in person and via the encrypted messaging app WeChat.
Police said her task was to take images of the locations of the Buddhist group's chapters nationally, and collect details about the leaders. The court materials showed police alleged the group gathered information from many open sources, including news items from SBS Chinese programs. At one point, the woman allegedly told her Chinese contact the Buddhist group had set up in Canberra.
In the messages released by the court, the contact in China urged the woman to join them and climb the hierarchy. The official allegedly described the exercise as having "a bit of a spy thriller about it". Court documents allege one topic Ms Zheng was tasked with looking into was media company Oriental TV and Radio.
WeChat messages tendered to the court showed Ms Zheng allegedly resorted to Australian Securities and Investments Commission documents to determine who was behind the company.
"…the actual 'radio station' likely refers to YouTube. Twitter. Fb. This sort of thing … Instagram accounts too ... "
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