Category: James Paterson

Australia Engaged in ‘Zero Sum’ Game for Influence With China for the Pacific

Centre-right Coalition Senator James Paterson has warned that Australia is engaged in a “zero-sum” game for influence in the Pacific against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Paterson, who is chair of the Australian Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, said the federal government had known for some time that Beijing had “expansive ambitions” for the…


Tributes Flow for Deceased Australian Senator and ‘China Hawk’ Kimberley Kitching

Tributes have poured in from human rights advocates and across the political spectrum for Australian Senator Kimberley Kitching. Kitching, one of the most vocal critics of Beijing’s human rights record in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), passed away from a suspected heart attack on March 10, aged 52. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Victorian…


Senator Questions Australian Opposition Deputy Leader’s Concealment of Pro-China Past

Hot on the heels of federal government claims that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would be “very happy” to see the Australian Labor Party (ALP) win the next election, the Chair of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, Liberal Senator James Patterson, has launched another volley at the ALP Deputy Leader Richard Marles….


Foreign Interference Ruled out in Australian PM’s WeChat Saga: Home Affairs

Home Affairs officials have said there is no evidence supporting claims that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s WeChat account was hacked or subject to foreign interference. Senator Kristina Keneally, Australian Labor Party (ALP)’s home affairs spokeswoman who sought a departmental briefing over Morrison’s WeChat account, told the Labor caucus on Monday that there was no evidence…


Parliamentarian Alleges CCP Hijacked Australian PM Wechat Account

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s official WeChat account has been hijacked and rebranded as a lifestyle page—leading one senator to accuse the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of “foreign interference” during an election year. According to the Daily Telegraph, the agency running the prime minister’s WeChat account reported problems with posting content on the channel in…


MP Alleges Beijing Hijacked Australian PM’s WeChat Account

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s official WeChat account has been hijacked and rebranded as a lifestyle page—leading one senator to accuse the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of “foreign interference” during an election year. According to the Daily Telegraph, the agency running the prime minister’s WeChat account reported problems with posting content on the channel in…


Australian PM’s WeChat Account Hijacked and Rebranded

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s official WeChat account has been hijacked and rebranded as a lifestyle page—leading one senator to accuse the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of “foreign interference” during an election year. According to the Daily Telegraph, the agency running the prime minister’s WeChat account reported problems with posting content on the channel in…


Australian Parliament Passes Magnitsky-Style Laws

Human rights violators, corrupt officials, and cyber hackers will be banned from visiting Australia and spending their ill-gotten gains in the country after the Australian Parliament passed a Magnitsky-style law. Titled the Autonomous Sanctions Amendment (Thematic Sanctions) Bill 2021,  the legislation passed the lower house of the Australian parliament on Thursday. The Bill is partly…


Chinese Embassy Lodges Complaint Against Australian Parliament’s Chair of Intelligence and Security

The Chinese embassy in Canberra has lodged an official complaint with the Australian government in regards to a speech made by Liberal Senator James Paterson addressed to the European Parliament in regards to foreign interference. The embassy said Paterson, who is also the chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, displayed “bias…