06/08/2025

WEDNESDAY | AUG 6, 2025

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Zero tolerance for foreign interference, says Canberra SYDNEY: Foreign Minister Penny Wong said yesterday that Australia would not tolerate surveillance of its community by foreign governments, after a Chinese woman was charged with foreign interference and denied bail by a court. The woman, who has not entered a plea, appeared in court in Canberra on Monday after police charged her with “reckless foreign interference” for allegedly monitoring a Buddhist group in the city on behalf of a Chinese security agency. The court heard the woman’s husband was a vice-captain in a Public Security Ministry in a Chinese province, and she had visited the Chinese consulate in Canberra in the days after her property was raided by police, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. In a series of television interviews yesterday, Wong said she couldn’t comment on an individual case, but added Australia was taking a stand against foreign interference. “We do not tolerate harassment, intimidation, surveillance of Australians and we have a strong framework to deter foreign interference in our democracy,” she said in an ABC radio interview. It is the third time charges have been brought under foreign interference laws introduced in Australia in 2018, and the first time a Chinese national has been charged under the legislation. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement the ministry “was not aware of the specifics of the case” but would closely follow developments and “safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its citizens”. “China has never interfered in the internal affairs of other countries, and firmly opposes any attempts to disrupt normal people-to-people exchanges and cooperation between China and relevant countries under the pretext of ‘foreign interference’,” the spokesperson said. A court suppression order has prevented media reporting the woman’s name. The woman, who is also a permanent resident of Australia, faces a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment if she is convicted. Police allege the woman was tasked by a Public Security Bureau of China to covertly gather information about the Canberra branch of Guan Yin Citta, a Buddhist group.

Legal bid to stop Brisbane Olympic stadium

SYDNEY: A group representing Brisbane’s two indigenous peoples lodged an application with the Australian federal government yesterday for the permanent protection of the site where the city plans to build the main stadium for the 2032 Olympics. The Yagara and Magandjin peoples want the inner city Victoria Park, known to them as Barrambin, to be protected for perpetuity under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act as a “significant Aboriginal area”. “Barrambin is living country, possessing sacred, ancient and significant relationships within our cultural heritage systems,” elder Gaja Kerry Charlton said in a o Aborigines apply to protect sacred park

Barges carrying fireworks ignite TOKYO: Two barges loaded with fireworks for a summer festival display near Tokyo caught ablaze, forcing five workers to jump into the sea, officials said. Aerial footage by public broadcaster NHK on Monday night showed one of the vessels ablaze in the sea off Yokohama, a city south of Tokyo, with pink and white sparks flying in all directions. One of the barges was carrying five workers, all of whom jumped into the sea to escape and were later rescued, the Yokohama coastguard bureau said on Monday. One worker sustained an injury, which media reports said was minor. Organisers of the summer festival were quoted by NHK as telling investigators that they “lost control of the fireworks on the boats”, with police and the coastguard investigating causes of the incident. Fireworks are a fixture of Japan’s summer, drawing crowds of festivalgoers – from couples to friends and families – often clad in yukata summer kimonos. – AFP Organising committee President Andrew Liveris told Reuters last month that anyone who objected to the development would be heard, but that June’s legislation was essential to keep the project on track to deliver the venues before 2032. – Reuters statement with YMAC yesterday, said June’s legislation was “unprecedented” and overrode existing acts of parliament on environmental protection and First Nations rights. “We estimate the majority of the parkland and hundreds of mature trees will now be sacrificed,” Save Victoria Park spokesperson Sue Bremner said. “And as we face this profound and irreversible loss of cultural heritage and human rights, Olympic organisers continue to promote 2032 as being the first Games with a Reconciliation Action Plan. It is simply astounding.”

concerned there are ancient trees, artefacts and very important eco systems existing there. There may be ancestral remains. “We stand resolute in our responsibility to protect it.” No one at the organising committee for the Games, or the Office for the Deputy Premier of Queensland Jarrod Bleijie, who is responsible for Olympic construction, was immediately available for comment. After years of political wrangling, Premier David Crisafulli announced in March that a 63,000 seat stadium would be constructed and Victoria Park’s Centenary Pool rebuilt to provide a 25,000-seat aquatics centre for the Olympics. In June, Crisafulli’s government enacted legislation to exempt the Olympic building projects from normal planning rules. The Save Victoria Park campaign, which released a shared

statement on behalf of the Yagara Magandjin Aboriginal Corporation (YMAC). “It was a complete shock when the premier came out with his stadium plans ... I thought the park was safe. Now the government wants to destroy it. We are very

A conservation poster is displayed at the park. – REUTERSPIC

China’s embassy in Canberra did not respond to a request for comment. – Reuters Australia to buy 11 stealth frigates from Japan

A spectacular fireworks explosion set boats ablaze near Tokyo. – AFPPIC

SYDNEY: Australia will upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami -class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Defence Minister Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defence export deal since World War II, Australia will pay US$6 billion (RM25.4 billion) over the next 10

best frigate for Australia,” said Marles. “It is a next-generation vessel. It is stealthy. It has 32 vertical launch cells capable of launching long-range missiles.” Both Japan and Australia are members of the “Quad” group alongside India and the United States. – AFP

alignment with Japan.” Mogami -class are advanced stealth frigates equipped with a potent array of weapons. Marles said they would replace Australia’s ageing fleet of Anzac-class vessels, with the first Mogami -class ship to be on the water by 2030. “The Mogami -class frigate is the warships

“This is clearly the biggest defence industry agreement that has ever been struck between Japan and Australia,” Marles said, touting the deal. “This decision was made based on what was the best capability for Australia. “We do have a very close strategic

years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade.