Wang Liqiang


Wang Liqiang, or William Wang, is a Chinese defector to Australia and self-proclaimed former spy. In November 2019, Wang sought political asylum in Australia, claiming to be a spy who was involved in the People's Republic of China's intervention in the affairs of Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan. Wang's case drew worldwide attention.

Investigation

Shanghai police stated that Wang is a convicted fraudster who left mainland China for Hong Kong on bogus travel documents. Online court records appear to confirm he had received a suspended sentence of 18 months from a Fujian court in October 2016. Wang has denied these allegations. The factual accuracy of these claims are disputed, because, according to Alex Joske, the strategic analyst who participated in 60 Minutes's investigation of Wang, Wang claimed he obtained a police check which was clear of any such convictions when he applied for Australian visa.
Wang claims that he was involved in the PRC government's operation to support pro-Beijing media outlets in Taiwan and candidates in the 2018 Taiwanese local elections, with the ultimate goal to prevent incumbent ROC President Tsai Ing-wen's re-election in 2020. Wang also claimed to be involved in the abductions of the Causeway Bay Books booksellers in Hong Kong, although Lam Wing-kee, one of the abductees, does not recall meeting him and has reservations about his claims. Lam Wing Kee told Hong Kong media that Wang was likely just repeating details of the abduction that he had “heard elsewhere,” dismissing his claim to have played any central role in the operation.
The Australian reported in November 2019 that it had only took Australian security agencies less than a week to conclude that Wang "is not the high-level operative-turned-defector he claimed to be,” and that he "was, at most, a bit player on the fringes of the espionage community." The Australian cited Macquarie University China researcher Adam Ni, who pointed out that Wang got the name of the Chinese military institution that he was supposedly working under wrong four times in his testimony. His claims and credibility "should be seen with skepticism," Ni said.
Sky News host Sharri Markson reported in the Daily Telegraph that Wang may have only been engaged in low-level work for the Chinese. The Daily Telegraph had also reported that Australian intelligence officials had briefed the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on a report witheringly titled “China Spy Farce”, with the consensus that it is “highly dubious” that Wang Liqiang, was the high-level Chinese spy that he claims to be, and while Wang may have been involved in “very low-level” work, he did not operate in Australia and would “not have value” to the country.

Reactions

Australia

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison described allegations of a Chinese plot to infiltrate Australia's parliament as "deeply disturbing". "I would caution anyone leaping to any conclusions about these matters. And that's why we have these agencies." On 24 November 2019, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation confirmed that Wang's allegations were being taken "seriously", but did not comment on the merits thereof.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the reports were "of real concern", and that Wang might have a "legitimate claim for asylum". Liberal member-of-parliament Andrew Hastie called Wang a "friend of democracy", and also called for the government to grant Wang's asylum application.
James Laurenceson, acting director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney criticised the Australian media for pushing the Wang story too hastily without having it verified first. He stated “It is a fact that Australian journalists, commentators and politicians more hawkish on China and more invested in the ‘China threat’ narrative were the ones breaking the Wang Liqiang story and talking it up. The Wang Liqiang story is just the latest example of claims running ahead of an evidence base in Australia.”
Speaking on national television, Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg declined to comment on ASIO's "operational matter," but said that the Australian government "makes no apologies for the laws that introduced around foreign interference and foreign influence."

Mainland China

Ma Xiaoguang, leader of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Chinese State Council, claimed that "the mainland never involves itself in Taiwanese elections, and these reports are complete nonsense." He further stated that whoever "made up" this story intends to meddle with the Taiwanese election unjustly and that he believed "Taiwanese compatriots will see this right through."
The Jing'an Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau issued an official statement that Wang was a fugitive in a fraud case and that both his Chinese passport and Hong Kong permanent resident identity card were forged.
On 27 November, Chinese state-owned Global Times released an "exclusive" court video apparently showing Wang on trial for fraud, admitting all charges, and given a suspended sentence of 18 months. However, some critics argued that the video is likely doctored, because it appears "blurry" and "heavily edited," and features mostly the back of the subject.

Taiwan

Wang claimed that he worked with the Hong Kong-based company China Innovation Investment Limited to infiltrate Hong Kong universities and media with pro-Communist Party of China operatives. On 26 November, Taiwanese authorities detained and questioned Chinese businessman Xiang Xin and his wife Qing Gong, executives of China Innovation whom Wang identified as Chinese intelligence operatives. The two were accused of running a spy network directed by high-level members of the People's Liberation Army, Nie Li and Ding Henggao.
Han Kuo-yu, the Kuomintang presidential candidate, rejected the claim and said if he had taken even a single dollar for the election campaign, he would withdraw from the election immediately.
Weng Yen-ching, former deputy director of Taiwan's Military Intelligence Bureau, said in an interview with United Daily News that Wang "obviously isn't" a Chinese secret agent. According to him, Wang's "lies" were "grossly unprofessional" and demonstrated an "extremely shallow" understanding of the Chinese intelligence establishment. For example, Wang claimed to be from the PLA's General staff Department, which had been defunct since 2016. He posited that Wang has already been turned away by ASIO, and is simply "putting on a show" in a bid to gain Australian permanent residency.
Chen Hu-men, another former deputy director of the Military Intelligence Department, told the media that Wang's descriptions were "blatantly pretentious." Chen further stated that working in 3 jurisdictions at once, which Wang claims to have done, is a "major taboo" in the intelligence community.
President Tsai responded that China obviously intends to interfere with Taiwanese elections. On 25 November, she commanded that the Taiwanese National Security Bureau "begin an investigation immediately."