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| Down Under |
| Australia steps up anti-spy monitoring of Chinese, Russians |
| 2005-06-04 |
| Australia has set up a new counter-espionage unit to track down foreign spies, notably Chinese agents who have surpassed Russians as the country's biggest espionage threat, The Australian newspaper reported on Thursday. The newspaper quoted senior government sources as saying foreign spies were as numerous and active in Australia today as at the height of the Cold War. The biggest concern, they said, was a new push by China in recent years to gather intelligence on military-related technology and strategic policy secrets. "China would be the biggest now by a fair way," said one source, who said Chinese spies now outnumbered Russian agents who were previously Australia's biggest espionage concern. "They have built up their capabilities over the last 10 years and are more aggressive in their activities," the source was quoted as saying. "Espionage is the forgotten side of the intelligence game but it remains alive and well." The new counter-espionage unit has been set up within the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the government's main intelligence agency, and is already operational, The Australian said. Most of the spies worrying ASIO operate out of embassies under diplomatic cover, but some work undercover as businesspeople or other professionals, it said. China has one of the largest diplomatic corps in Australia, with 40 registered diplomats. Chinese-Australian ties were strained in 1995 by revelations that the embassy in Canberra had been bugged as part of a joint US-Australian operation. |
| Posted by:Spavirt Pheng6042 |
| #1 Good hunting, ASIO. Though they should branch out, in disguise as more "common" folk, since their targets do as well ... |
| Posted by: Edward Yee 2005-06-04 01:32 |