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- Australian Foreign Minister Wong says foreign interference not tolerated after Chinese woman arrested</p>
<p>Kirsty Needham and Liz LeeAugust 5, 2025 at 12:19 AM</p>
<p>By Kirsty Needham and Liz Lee</p>
<p>SYDNEY/BEIJING (Reuters) -Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Tuesday 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.</p>
<p>The woman, who has not entered a plea, appeared in court in Australia's capital 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>In a series of television interviews on Tuesday, Wong said she couldn't comment on an individual case, but added Australia was taking a stand against foreign interference.</p>
<p>"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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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."</p>
<p>"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 added.</p>
<p>A court suppression order has prevented media reporting the woman's name.</p>
<p>The woman, who is also a permanent resident of Australia, faces a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment if she is convicted, according to Australian Federal Police.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>China's embassy in Canberra did not respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney and Liz Lee in Beijing; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)</p>
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