US Embassy Condemns CCP-Linked Transnational Repression in Australia

Dave Brat, dean of Liberty University's School of Business, in Washington on July 28, 2020. Brendon Fallon/The Epoch Times

The U.S. Embassy in Australia has spoken out against CCP-linked transnational repression, calling it “deeply concerning.”

“As Australia’s close security partner, the U.S. stands with Australians in defending individual freedoms, national sovereignty, and the right to live free from intimidation—in their own country,” the embassy wrote on X.

The message comes just weeks after David Brat, the Trump administration’s pick for Australia, began his official role.

Transnational repression is when a foreign government reaches across borders to threaten or pressure people, often migrants, to silence critics, according to the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

The embassy’s post came a day after the AFP urged people to report anything suspicious, saying foreign state actors were “actively undertaking foreign interference” targeting Australians.

“Our message is simple: everyone in Australia deserves to live free from threats, coercion or pressure from any foreign government,” AFP Commander Matthew Gale said.

Since 2018, the AFP has charged eight people with foreign interference offences.

On Sept. 10, a Sydney businessman became the second to be jailed, after compiling reports for a foreign intelligence service that Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Director-General Mike Burgess said wanted him to target people in the intelligence community, the Prime Minister’s office, defence and the courts.

He followed Melbourne community leader Di Sanh “Sunny” Duong, jailed in 2024 for planning foreign interference on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Three Chinese nationals in Canberra, accused of secretly gathering information on a Buddhist association, are also before the courts.

In June, Burgess said at least five regimes were pressuring people in Australia to return to their country of birth, often to silence critics, with one forcing eight people to leave in 2023.

Same Pattern in New Zealand

New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service said in August that China was “the only country” spying on New Zealand at scale.

It warned diaspora communities faced threats against family members, withheld passports or visas, and demands that they stop joining protests.

In September, the country’s National Cyber Security Centre named China the “most persistent and capable” state actor carrying out cyber activity in New Zealand. In 2024, the government publicly blamed a CCP-sponsored hacking group for breaking into the computer systems of the Parliamentary Counsel Office, which drafts new laws, and the Parliamentary Service in 2021.

The AFP has asked anyone with concerns to call the National Security Hotline on 1800 123 400 rather than raise them on social media, which it said could harm investigations and put people at risk.