A Fairfax Media-Four Corners investigation has discovered that the classified Australian documents detail activities of Chinese intelligence services. Precisely how they came to be in the apartment remains the subject of a law enforcement investigation. Sheri Yan and husband Roger Uren Credit:Black Tie Magazine Mr Uren is suspected of having removed them from his former employer, the Office of National Assessments, prior to his departure from the agency in August 2001. Mr Uren was the Assistant Secretary responsible for the Asia section of the ONA, the agency which briefs the Prime Minister on sensitive intelligence matters. Mr Uren was once tipped to be Kevin Rudd's choice for ambassador to Beijing. The raid was launched in October 2015 after ASIO gathered information suggesting Ms Yan may be connected to Chinese Communist Party intelligence services. It was timed to coincide with the FBI's arrest of Ms Yan in New York for bribing a senior United Nations official. She was jailed last year for corruption after pleading guilty to bribery charges.

Ms Yan, 58, has deep connections to Australian political, business and foreign affairs figures, including senior ex-Labor and Liberal politicians. The daughter of a celebrated Chinese artist, Ms Yan is also known to have impeccable Communist Party connections. Sheri Yan was sent to jail for bribing the former president of the United Nations General Assembly, John Ashe. Credit:Black Tie Magazine The ASIO operation raises the prospect that Australia has been the target of a Chinese intelligence operation, along with figures inside the United Nations. The revelations are part of a series of investigative reports by Fairfax Media and Four Corners into the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to infiltrate Australian institutions and cultivate links to political figures. It comes as the United States grapples with revelations about the extent of Russian meddling in its political system.

Corrupting the United Nations Ms Yan's US charges related to bribes paid to United Nations General Assembly president John Ashe to carry out certain tasks for wealthy Chinese businessmen. One of Ms Yan's charges involves a $200,000 payment to get Mr Ashe to speak at an international symposium held at a Guangdong resort owned by an Australian-Chinese billionaire. The billionaire has close political connections in Australia of his own but has never been charged with any offence. Ms Yan was jailed last year for 20 months. Questioned about the raid, Mr Uren confirmed that ASIO was investigating allegations that Sheri Yan worked with Chinese intelligence agencies. He described the allegations as "pure fantasy." "It reflects the psychosis of the people making the allegations," he said.

Mr Uren blamed the US for the ASIO raid, saying information about Ms Yan was likely to have come from the FBI. "It's US prejudice that all Chinese are spies," he said. Government sources dismissed the comments of Mr Uren, who after leaving the ONA took up a senior role with the Hong Kong listed Phoenix Television, one of the few privately owned broadcasters to be licensed by the Chinese government. Mr Uren is suspected of removing the classified documents from the ONA when he left the agency in 2001. Removing classified intelligence files from a secure environment is a criminal offence and ASIO has referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police's special operations taskforce, which handles the policing agency's most sensitive work.

Ms Yan and Mr Uren were previously regulars at Australian embassy events in Beijing. Ms Yan was once also paid to act as a lobbyist by the ABC in her native China when the public broadcaster made an ultimately futile effort to secure local broadcasting rights for its overseas television channel Australia Network. She used her high-level connections in Australia and China to act as a go-between. Her office and online business profiles were plastered with photographs such as an encounter with former Labor leader Bob Hawke and billionaire Frank Lowy. "You can trust her," reads a glowing endorsement from Greg Rudd, brother of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, which is posted on Ms Yan's LinkedIn page. "She's well connected in all jurisdictions and understands what works and what doesn't work. Most important she is a woman of high morals and principle ... and is the queen of entertaining and hosting. Sheri is always worth talking to."

John Ashe was elected to a one-year term as president of the United Nations General Assembly beginning in 2013, about the same time Ms Yan is accused of making monthly payments of $20,000 to him under the guise of a non-governmental organisation she headed, known as the "Global Sustainability Foundation". He died in a weightlifting accident while awaiting trial and shortly after Ms Yan was sentenced to prison for bribing him. Nick McKenzie, Daniel Flitton, Chris Uhlmann, Richard Baker</s>Sensitive government files were allegedly discovered in the home of a high-profile Chinese socialite and her Australian husband, a former high-ranking intelligence official, during ASIO raids in Canberra.

The raid targeted Sheri Yan and former Australian diplomat Roger Uren, over allegations she was involved in operations for the Chinese Communist Party, a Fairfax Media and Four Corners investigation reported.

The raid in October 2015 came as Ms Yan was arrested by the FBI in New York for bribing a senior United Nations official for which she was jailed last year after pleading guilty to bribery charges.

Asked about the reports and whether China is threatening Australia's sovereignty Defence Minister Marise Payne said she did not believe there was a threat.

'But we are very conscious of the efforts of external actors around the world and we have seen other examples of this in recent times,' she told ABC radio.

The ASIO operation investigated the prospect that Australian targets were at the centre of a Chinese intelligence operation.

It comes as Four Corners investigates the Chinese Communist Party and its efforts to scope out Australian institutions and Australian political figures.

Ms Yan, 58, is believed to have connections to people in Australian politics including former members of the Labor and Liberal Parties.

Yan allegedly also had connections to the Communist Party.

She is the daughter of a Chinese artist and People's Liberation Army member.

Mr Uren was suspected of taking the documents from his former employer the Office of National Assessments before he left in 2001.

No charges were laid against him.</s>Sheri Yan, jailed for bribing UN official, was target of secret ASIO raid in 2015

Agents from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) found a cache of secret government files when they broke into a Canberra home in October 2015 while searching for evidence that one of the occupants might be a Chinese spy.

The apartment belonged to a woman dubbed the "queen" of the Australia-China social scene, Sheri Yan, and her husband, Roger Uren, a former high-ranking Australian intelligence official and diplomat.

A Four Corners-Fairfax investigation has revealed the secret ASIO raid was targeting Yan over allegations she was a Chinese Communist Party spy.

The highly classified documents contained details of what Western agencies knew about the operations of Chinese intelligence.

Mr Uren is suspected of having taken them from his former employer, the Office of National Assessments, before he left the agency in August 2001.

Removing classified documents is generally an offence but, to date, no charges have been laid.

The raid was timed to coincide with the FBI's arrest of Yan in New York on charges of bribing John Ashe, when he was president of the United Nations General Assembly. She pleaded guilty and was jailed last year.

Yan, 58, has deep connections to Australian political, business and foreign affairs figures, including senior ex-Labor and Liberal politicians.

The daughter of a celebrated Chinese artist and People's Liberation Army member, Yan is also known to have impeccable Communist Party connections.

The ASIO operation raises the prospect that Australian targets, as well as figures inside the United Nations, were the subject of a Chinese intelligence operation.

The revelations are part of a major Four Corners-Fairfax investigation into the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to infiltrate Australian institutions and cultivate political figures.

It comes as the US grapples with Russian interference in its political system.

Mr Uren told Four Corners and Fairfax Media that ASIO was investigating allegations that Yan worked for Chinese intelligence, a charge he described as "pure fantasy".

"It reflects the psychosis of the people making the allegations," he said.

Mr Uren blamed the US for the ASIO raid, saying information about Yan was likely to have come from the FBI.

"It's US prejudice that all Chinese are spies," he said.

Government sources dismissed Mr Uren's comments. The ABC understands that ASIO was acting on its own intelligence.

Mr Ashe was elected to a one-year term as president of the General Assembly beginning in 2013, about the same time Yan is accused of making monthly payments of $20,000 to him under the guise of a non-governmental organisation she headed, known as the Global Sustainability Foundation.

He died in a weightlifting accident while awaiting trial, shortly before Yan was sentenced to prison for bribing him.

Watch 'Power And Influence: How China's Communist Party Is Infiltrating Australia' on Four Corners, ABC TV, Monday 8:30pm.</s>SINGAPORE: Attempts by China to exert influence in Australia are posing a threat to the nation’s sovereignty, according to an investigation released in articles and television programmes by Fairfax Media and ABC.

The joint Fairfax Media-ABC investigation, which was released on Monday (Jun 5), claimed that Beijing is active in Australia across a wide span of areas, from Chinese-linked donations to Australian politicians to threats to Australia-based Chinese dissidents and involvement with Chinese student associations.

Over the course of five months, the investigation said it uncovered how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was “secretly infiltrating Australia”.

According to the ABC, business leaders “allied to Beijing” are using donations to major political parties in Australia to “buy access and influence, and in some cases to push policies that may be contrary to Australia’s national interest”.

The report focused on two Chinese-born billionaires who were featured in a diagram drawn up by analysts working for the director general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Duncan Lewis, which showed the Chinese Communist Party connected with lines to the two men.

The diagram was reportedly created for Mr Lewis to show senior officials of Australia’s major political parties and to warn them about accepting political donations from foreign sources.

''[Lewis] said 'be careful','' said a source who was aware of what Mr Lewis told party officials, according to the report.

"He was saying that the connections between these guys and the Communist Party is strong," said another political figure briefed about the content of the ASIO warning. ASIO also reportedly warned that the donors could be channels to advance Beijing's interests.

Mr Lewis reportedly stressed that neither billionaire was accused of any crime, but he sought to describe how Beijing coopted influential businessmen and rewarded those who assisted the Chinese Communist Party.

Outside of politicians and donors, the investigation also explored Beijing’s influence on ordinary Chinese living in Australia.

Some one million ethnic Chinese live in Australia and these people are targets of the CCP’s operations, either through influence or coercion, the investigation claimed.

The investigation explored the CCP’s influence on Australia’s estimated 100,000 Chinese students through university campuses and Chinese students’ and scholars’ associations.

These associations are “sponsored” by Chinese embassy and consular officials, the investigation said, adding that they are seen by the CCP as a way to maintain control over its overseas students.

When China’s premier Li Keqiang visited Australia in March, Chinese embassy officials reportedly played an active role in organising a big student rally to welcome him.

The embassy provided flags, transport, food, a lawyer and certificates for students to help them find jobs back in China, Lupin Lu, president of the Canberra University Students’ and Scholars’ Association, told reporters.

However, she said that “I wouldn’t really call it helping”, but that “it’s more sponsoring”, adding that fellow students were at the rally because of their pride at China’s economic success.

When asked by reporters if she would alert the embassy if a human rights protest was being organised by dissident Chinese students, she said she “definitely” would, “just to keep all students safe… and to do it for China as well”.

The reports also cited the experience of Tony Chang, a student at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) who was granted a protection visa by the Australian government after threats to his parents who were back in China.

In a sworn statement to Australian immigration authorities, Chang said that state security agents in China had approached his parents in Shenyang to warn them to rein in his activism, citing his involvement in Tibetan independence organisations and Chinese democracy movement organisations.

“The SBSS (Shenyang Bureau of State Security) agents pressed the point that my parents must ask me to stop what I am part taking (sic) in and keep a low profile in the coming days. The reason is that they were anticipating that I would be involved in Tiananmen Square Massacre remembrance events, and the fact that the Dalai Lama would be coming to Australia,” Chang said in his statement.

“This act of a direct threat by the SBSS solidifies my belief that if I return to China I will undoubtedly suffer serious harm at the hands of the Chinese government, which will amount to persecution.”

Don Ma, the owner of the independent Vision China Times publication, reportedly had 10 advertisers pull their advertising after being threatened by Chinese officials.

According to the investigation, this included a company whose Beijing office was visited every day for two weeks by China’s Ministry of State Security until it cut ties with the Vision China Times.

"I felt that the media here, all the Chinese media, was being controlled by overseas forces," Ma said in the reports.

"This is harmful to the Australian society. It is also harmful to the next generation of Chinese. Therefore, I felt I wanted to invest in a truly independent media that fits in with Australian values."
Reports emerge of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation's discovery of classified Australian documents, related to Chinese intelligence activity abroad, in the Canberra home of a woman allegedly acting on behalf of the Communist Party of China.