The Chinese government was accused of foreign interference after Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s WeChat account was hacked and renamed earlier this month. First reported by News Corp Australia, the description of Morrison’s account was also changed.
The account now reads: “Australian-Chinese New Life” with a description, “Providing living in Australia information for the Chinese community.” Furthermore, the post on the account read, “Thank you for your continued interest in our WeChat public account. Scott Morrison, the WeChat public account you previously followed, has moved all its operations and functions to this WeChat public account.”
Coalition MP and chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security James Paterson called it an act of foreign interference by the Chinese government. While speaking with Sky News, he said, “WeChat is owned by Tencent, which is one of the most closely controlled, theoretically private companies in China,” adding, “It censors the platform all over the world. It uses the platform to surveil and monitor the overseas Chinese community. It is very clearly a Chinese government action in my view.”
Similarly, Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business Stuart Robert said that the government is working to restore Morrison’s account. Likewise, on Monday, Liberal MP and former diplomat Dave Sharma told Sky News, “More likely than not, it was state-sanctioned and it shows the attitude towards free speech and freedom of expression that comes out of Beijing.”
Meanwhile, opposition leader Anthony Albanese’s WeChat account remains active. Furthermore, federal Labor MP Mark Butler expressed the opposition’s concern over the incident and said they would be seeking a briefing on the issue. “I’ve seen reports that this might have happened six months ago — we would want to seek a briefing [from] the government about this serious issue, to repel foreign interference in our democracy,” Butler said.
Moreover, Liberal MPs called for the boycott of the Chinese messaging app and vowed not to use the app in the upcoming federal elections. Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs Alex Hawke’s spokesperson said the minister had not used the app for a considerable time and does not plan on using it anytime soon. “He looks forward to an explanation as to the misappropriation of the Australian Prime Minister’s WeChat account,” the spokesperson added.
Australia Blames China of Interference After PM Morrison’s WeChat Account Hacked
While Opposition leader Anthony Albanese’s account remains active, Liberal MPs called for the boycott of the Chinese messaging app and vowed not to use the app in the upcoming federal elections.
January 24, 2022
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison IMAGE SOURCE: DAILY TELEGRAPH