The man at the centre of these claims – luxury car dealer Nick Zhao – was found dead in a Melbourne motel room in March after reportedly approaching ASIO.
The explosive allegations aired on Nine’s 60 Minutes programme last night.
The report said a suspected Chinese espionage ring offered $A1 million ($NZ1.05m) for Mr Zhao to run for a seat.
Officials at China’s embassy in Canberra were not immediately available for comment.
Liberal MP and chairman of the Parliament’s intelligence and security committee, Andrew Hastie, told Nine he’d heard about Mr Zhao several months ago.
“I heard that he was a 32-year-old Melbourne resident cultivated by the Chinese government to run as a Liberal Party candidate in the Commonwealth Parliament,” Mr Hastie said.
“Nick Zhao is now dead.”
Andrew Hastie wants a thorough investigation. Photo: Supplied / Wikipedia
The cause of Mr Zhao’s death has reportedly not been determined. Mr Hastie wants a thorough investigation into what happened to him.
“This isn’t just cash in a bag, you know, given for favours. This is a state-sponsored attempt to infiltrate our Parliament using an Australian citizen and basically run them as an agent of foreign influence in our democratic system,” he said.
“This is really significant and Australians should be very, very concerned about this.”
In a statement, ASIO’s Director-General of Security Mike Burgess said the spy agency was taking the matter “seriously”.
“Australians can be reassured that ASIO was previously aware of matters that have been reported today, and has been actively investigating them,” he said.
“Given that the matter in question is subject to a coronial inquiry, and so as not to prejudice our investigations, it would be inappropriate to comment further.
“Hostile foreign intelligence activity continues to pose a real threat to our nation and its security,” Mr Burgess added.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s office has also issued a statement saying the government took allegations of foreign interference and espionage “very seriously”.
“We have taken strong action to equip our intelligence and security agencies to protect Australians and our institutions, including appointing the first national counter foreign interference coordinator, establishing the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme and establishing the Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce,” the statement said.
Global News 
Leave a comment