Two alleged Chinese spies arrested in Canberra have been released on bail despite warnings China’s Embassy could provide them with fake travel documents enabling them to flee the country.
Siru Zheng, 31, whose father is a senior Chinese civil servant, and a 25-year-old man given the pseudonym Joseph Vance by the courts, alleged spied on the Canberra branch of Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door -a Buddhist association that is outlawed in China but legal in Australia – on behalf of the Chinese government.
The Australian Federal Police allege the pair of Chinese nationals worked with another female immigrant, who was charged in August last year and also granted bail despite her “unexplained wealth”, and charged them both on Wednesday with one count each of reckless foreign interference.
Ms Zheng and Mr Vance appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday where they pleaded not guilty and police opposed bail on the grounds China may give them “fake travel documents” and extradition would not be possible if they managed to leave the country, The Australian reported.
Mr Vance’s lawyer Anthony Williamson SC, said he client was already on bail for separate charges and had not attempted to flee Australia, demonstrating he was not a flight risk.
Defence lawyer Travis Jackson for Ms Zheng argued his client had strong ties to Australian and said there was no police evidence provided that Ms Zheng had engaged in “covert” conduct since a text message exchange in 2022.
He also told the court Ms Zheng had been raided by police in July last year but had made no attempts to leave Australia, and that the evidence against her mainly consisted of screenshots of open-source material, ABC News reported.
“She was on notice directly [that] she was being investigated for foreign interference,” Mr Jackson said.
The court heard police were still going through 23 terabytes of data from Mr Vance’s electronic devices, but Magistrate Glenn Theakston raised concerns about the evidence provided so far.
“I am having trouble seeing where the offending is when I go through the facts,” Mr Theakston said.
“The facts describe research on the internet and the collecting or harvesting of open information about the group … a bit like what a high school student might do for an assignment.”
Mr Theakston found the risk either would fly back to China was low due to their strong ties to Canberra, and granted bail on conditions they not contact the Chinese government, embassy or diplomatic staff, with a carve-out allowing Ms Zheng to contact her father.
They are also required to report to police four times a week, surrender their passports, and stay in Canberra.
Header image: Mr Vance and Ms Zheng during their arrests (AFP).
The post Two alleged Chinese spies released on bail in Canberra despite flight risk warning first appeared on The Noticer.
The NoticerRead More
R1
T1
