Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has taken aim at China.Credit:AAP
"We have a very important trading relationship with China – incredibly important – but we are not going to allow university students to be unduly influenced,we are not going to allow theft of intellectual property,and we are not going to allow our government bodies or non-government bodies to be hacked into,"he said on Friday.
"Our issue as I've said before is not with the Chinese people,not with the amazing Chinese diaspora community that we have here in Australia. My issue is with the Communist Party of China and their policies to the extent that they are inconsistent with our own values."
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He said Australia enjoyed important democratic freedoms and any impingement on those values,by China or any other country,should be called out by the government.
"We want university campuses to be free. We want them to be liberal in their thought. We want young minds to be able to compete against each other. But we don't want interference in that space,"he said.
A foreign interference taskforce with representatives from government and universities is currently working to address concerns around undue influence on campuses,sensitive research collaboration and cyber security around valuable data.
Mr Dutton's comments about Beijing's activities are unusually strong for an Australian government official in that he has publicly and directly criticised China for a pattern of hostile conduct,rather than talking about the threats in general terms.