{"id":26705,"date":"2019-11-25T04:00:05","date_gmt":"2019-11-25T04:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.englishforums.com\/news\/?p=26705"},"modified":"2019-11-25T04:00:05","modified_gmt":"2019-11-25T04:00:05","slug":"chinese-spy-wang-liqiang-seeking-asylum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/chinese-spy-wang-liqiang-seeking-asylum\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese spy Wang Liqiang denounces China, seeks asylum in Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

A self-proclaimed Chinese spy has defected to\u00a0Australia\u00a0with a trove of intelligence on Chinese\u2019s political interference operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia.<\/strong>
\nMr. William Wang Liqiang, 26, who is currently in Sydney with his wife and infant son seeking political asylum<\/strong>, said he was personally involved in infiltration and disruption operations in all three countries.
\nHe said in an interview that his role in the clandestine organization included infiltrating Hong Kong universities and conducting cyberattacks\u00a0<\/a>against dissidents.
\nMr. Wang Liqiang exposed elaborate Chinese schemes to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO<\/a>) such as the names of agents and information on ongoing operations.<\/strong>
\nThe information he divulged included Chinese<\/a> efforts to interfere in Taiwan’s elections and to infiltrate Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. Wang said he helped guide positive media attention toward Taiwanese politicians, including President Tsai Ing-wen’s top challenger, Han Kuo-yu.
\nHe also claimed he was involved in the disappearance of five booksellers in Hong Kong who had published work controversial work against Chinese President Xi Jinping.
\nHe further disclosed the identities of senior Chinese military intelligence officers in Hong Kong and \u00addetails of how espionage work was conducted and funded.
\nAccording to reports he also exposed details of how Beijing covertly controls listed companies to fund intelligence operations, including the surveillance and profiling of dissidents and the co-opting of media organizations.<\/p>\n

Chinese govt response Wang Liqiang claims<\/h2>\n

The Chinese government has denied Mr. Wang claims, saying he is a convicted fraudster wanted by Shanghai police.<\/strong>
\nShanghai police said the 26-year-old is an unemployed worker from Nanping in the southeastern province of Fujian. He had earlier been given an 18-month sentence in October 2016 for fraud by the Guangze county court in Fujian.
\nAccording to an online document, Wang made up fictional facts and concealed the truth to defraud people of 120,000 yuan (HK$133,400). At that time, Wang was a student and it was his first offense.
\nThe Shanghai police also added they have an ongoing investigation into Wang for \u00adallegedly defrauding someone out of 4.6 million yuan via a fraudulent car import project in February.
\nThe Chinese government\u00a0said Wang left for Hong Kong on April 10 carrying a fake passport and a fake Hong Kong permanent resident ID, adding that the Shanghai police were investigating the issue.
\nActivist and Spokesperson Kinling Lo tweeted China’s response on the defecting Chinese spy.<\/p>\n

\n

China finally speaks on \u201cdefecting Chinese spy\u201d Wang Liqiang – whos now in Sydney, Australia.<\/p>\n

Shanghai\u2019s public security bureau said Wang is a fugitive from a 4.6 million yuan fraud case and has escaped to Hong Kong with a fake ID. pic.twitter.com\/Ol6b89Gddp<\/a><\/p>\n

— Kinling Lo \u76e7\u5efa\u9748 (@kinlinglo) November 23, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n