Surveillance is occurring against anyone who is seen as an opponent of the Chinese state, or who has a relationship with Chinese dissidents.

Being watched is nothing new for Chinese Australians who speak out against the Communist Party regime. Two high-profile Australian-Chinese dissidents have been detained while visiting China in the last 3 years; Professor Feng Chongyi, was held and interviewed by the secret police before being released and his former student Dr Yang Hengjun remains in China charged with espionage. Authorities are increasingly concerned about his welfare. What’s new is that their non-Chinese associates are now also in the frame.

“In the past, Beijing has avoided subjecting non-Chinese heritage people to surveillance and harassment. That has now changed,” said Clive Hamilton, whose 2018 book, Silent Invasion: China’s influence in Australia, infuriated the Chinese government.

Hamilton, who is professor of public ethics at Charles Sturt University in Canberra, believes he has “at times been under surveillance at cafes and restaurants” and says the Chinese embassy “has sent agents to surveil my workplace”. He also believes he has been “the frequent target of cyber intrusions” and has had to take “extensive counter-measures”.

Another former Chinese citizen, now Australian, who believes he is under constant Chinese government surveillance is Melbourne-based artist Badiucao.

The subject of a recent documentary called China’s Artful Dissident, Badiucao has spent the last 10 years concealing his identity from Chinese authorities by wearing a ski mask in public wherever he goes. He finally unmasked himself in June, on the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, when the documentary was released.

“I have been under surveillance multiple times,” Badiucao told Inq. “I have been followed twice in Melbourne I am absolutely certain. I took a photo of them.”

“I was on a bus and I was suddenly surrounded by four males of Asian background, and two of them had bluetooth earphones in their ears. Not an iPhone or iPod, more like professional gear. Two of the guys got off the bus and followed me to the Woolworths supermarket.”

“I have also experienced strange cars parking outside my residence. It all happened very close to the release date of the documentary. It is organised for a purpose, to intimidate me, to send a message.”

The artist believes the Chinese government regards anyone born in China “as property … even if you are an Australian citizen”.

Badiucao moved to Australia in 2009. “I left China for a reason: I was seeking freedom and protection,” he said. “I can speak with my free will in my new country. I don’t want to have to find another home, so I am defending Australia from these attacks and maybe one day we can change China.”