中文导读
澳大利亚广播公司（ABC）最近播出了一档名为“中国力量和影响”的节目，该节目指称中国政府通过中国或澳籍中国商人向澳主要政党提供捐款，进而影响澳政治和外交政策。澳总理马尔科姆•特恩布尔（Malcolm Turnbull）也表态称，“
中国应当始终尊重其他国家的主权”，并下令对本国的间谍和外国干涉法律展开大规模调查。
New revelations about Chinese political donations set hands wringing
WHEN Malcolm Turnbull, Australia’s prime minister, urged China earlier this month to respect “the sovereignty of others”, many took it as criticism of China’s expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea. But the comment might just as easily have been a reference to Australia’s political parties. All of them face questions about donations from businessmen linked to China’s government. A parliamentary inquiry in March called for a ban on political donations from foreign sources. Mr Turnbull has endorsed the idea, as has Labor, the main opposition.
Yet on June 5th, three days after Mr Turnbull’s speech, a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reinflamed the controversy. Two years ago both Labor and the Liberal-National alliance, which Mr Turnbull heads, are said to have ignored a warning from the domestic spy agency against accepting donations from two Chinese property developers: Chau Chak Wing and Huang Xiangmo. Mr Chau is an Australian citizen and Mr Huang has applied for citizenship. Both have links to China’s Communist Party, although both say they do not represent the Chinese government.
Last year Sam Dastyari, a Labor senator, quit a party post, but not parliament, after the disclosure that he had accepted money from Yuhu Group, which Mr Huang heads, to pay for travel and legal advice. Mr Dastyari had called on Australia to “respect” China’s claims in the South China Sea. The ABC claims that Mr Huang had promised Labor a donation of A$400,000 ($303,000) before the federal election last year, but withdrew the offer after the party’s defence spokesman publicly criticised China’s actions in the South China Sea. Mr Huang also donated almost A$2m to help launch the Australia-China Relations Institute, a think-tank in Sydney. Bob Carr, its head and a former Labor premier of New South Wales, pooh-poohs the idea that China might be seeking to buy political influence through such gifts.
