Australian furor over Chinese influence follows book's delay

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(World Today Monday 20 November 2017)

Australian furor over Chinese influence follows book's delay

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By Jacqueline Williams

Updated 20 November, 2017

SYDNEY — The book was already being promoted as an explosive expose of Chinese influence infiltrating the highest levels of Australian politics and media. But then, months before it was set to hit bookstore shelves, its publisher postponed the release, saying it was worried about lawsuits.

The decision this month to delay the book "Silent Invasion: How China Is Turning Australia into a Puppet State" has set off a national uproar, highlighting the tensions between Australia's growing economic dependence on China and its fears of falling under the political control of the rising Asian superpower.

Critics have drawn parallels to decisions this year by high-profile academic publishers in Europe to withhold articles from readers in China that might anger the Communist Party.

But the case has struck a particularly sensitive nerve in Australia, where the book's delay is the latest in a series of incidents that have raised concerns about what many here see as the threat from China to freedom of expression‎.

"The decision by Allen & Unwin to stall publication of this book almost proves the point that there's an undue level of Chinese influence in Australia," said Professor Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at Australian National University. Allen & Unwin is one of Australia's largest publishers.

In the yet-unpublished book, the author, Mr Clive Hamilton, a well-known intellectual and professor at Charles Sturt University in Australia, describes what he calls an orchestrated campaign by Beijing to influence Australia and silence China's critics.

In one chapter, according to Mr Hamilton, the book asserts that senior Australian journalists were taken on junkets to China in order to "shift their opinions" so they would present China in a more positive light.

In another chapter, he said the book details what he calls links between Australian scientists and researchers at Chinese military universities, which he said had led to a transfer of scientific know-how to the People's Liberation Army.

The book had been scheduled to be published in April, and Mr Hamilton had already turned in a manuscript. But Allen & Unwin, based in Sydney, suddenly informed him on Nov 2 that it wanted to postpone publishing because of legal concerns.

Mr Hamilton responded by demanding the return of the publication rights, effectively canceling the book's publication by Allen & Unwin. Mr Hamilton says he will seek another publisher.

Mr Hamilton said the decision had been made for fear of angering Beijing, and shows China's ability to limit what information Australians can see – exactly the sort of influence that he said he warned about in his book.

"This is the first case, I believe, where a major Western publisher has decided to censor material critical of China in its home country," Mr Hamilton said in an interview. "Many people are deeply offended by this attack on free speech, and people see a basic value that defines Australia being undermined."

In a statement, the publisher said it decided to hold off publishing the book, which would have been Mr Hamilton's ninth with the company, until "certain matters currently before the courts have been decided".

It did not specify what those matters were.

"Clive was unwilling to delay publication and requested the return of his rights," the statement said.

However, Mr Hamilton has disclosed an e-mail that he said was sent to him on Nov 8 by Allen & Unwin's chief executive, Mr Robert Gorman. The e-mail explained the decision to delay the book's release: "April 2018 was too soon to publish the book and allow us to adequately guard against potential threats to the book and the company from possible action by Beijing."

"Our lawyer pointed to recent legal attacks by Beijing's agents of influence against mainstream Australian media organizations," the e-mail said.

The contents of the e-mail have been widely reported by the local news media. When asked for comment, Allen & Unwin declined to confirm‎ or deny its authenticity. Mr Gorman has not gone public to deny the e-mail's authenticity.

Mr Hamilton said the publisher was probably referring to two defamation cases that are currently in the courts aimed at two Australian media companies: the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, a major television company, and Fairfax Media, a newspaper publisher.

One of the suits was filed by Mr Chau Chak Wing, a Chinese-Australian businessman who has been a major donor in Australian politics. Mr Chau is seeking damages from the Australian Broadcasting Corp. for a TV news report that the suit says damaged his personal and professional reputation.

That report, which was shown on a popular current affairs programme , said the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the domestic spy agency, had warned political parties against accepting contributions from two ethnic Chinese, of whom one was Mr Chau, because of what the report called ties to the Chinese government.

Mr Chau has long said his campaign contributions are entirely legal and unrelated to the Chinese government.

The news report prompted a heated debate in Australia over how vulnerable its democratic political system is to foreign influence, especially from China.

The question of Chinese interference is a delicate one for Australia, an American ally that has embraced Beijing as its largest trade partner and welcomed Chinese investors, immigrants and students in large numbers.

"The book shows in great detail the problem of Chinese influence in Australia is much deeper than we thought," said Mr Hamilton, a prolific author who in 2009 received the Order of Australia, one of the country's highest honors, for "service to public debate and policy development". "I think some of the material I've uncovered have been a shock even to our intelligence agencies," he said. THE NEW YORK TIMES