SYDNEY—Australia is creating a new intelligence task force to tackle the threat of foreign interference, as authorities grow more concerned that Beijing is meddling in domestic affairs.

The task force, to be led by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, or ASIO, will pool classified information from the country’s intelligence agencies including those involved in defense, cyber and financial crimes as well as the FBI-style Australian Federal Police.

“This is a boost to our ability to discover, track and disrupt foreign interference in Australia,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Monday. The goal is to increase collaboration between intelligence agencies and “strengthen Australia’s analysis of the sophisticated disinformation activities happening across the world, particularly against democratic processes and elections,” he said.

The government didn’t specifically name Beijing as the main target of its new task force. But the recently retired head of ASIO, Duncan Lewis, said last month the Chinese government is seeking to “take over” Australia’s political system through its “insidious” foreign-interference operations.

“ “Australia and other countries have had very longstanding set policies around China that have been mainly about wonderful economic promise and they’ve discounted the security aspects.” ” — Michael Shoebridge, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

Beijing on Monday accused some Australian media organizations of “hyping up the so-called China espionage infiltration or interference.”


The new foreign-interference task force adds to a growing international push back against attempts by foreign state-backed actors to shape the internal affairs of Western countries. A report published last year by a bipartisan commission convened by the U.S. Congress outlined how Beijing uses prominent Chinese living overseas to try to influence policies and perceptions about China in foreign capitals. After President Xi Jinping came to power, the report said, those efforts ramped up, drawing attention in the U.S. for attempts to influence academic and policy discourse.

There are growing concerns Beijing is becoming bolder about meddling in some democracies—particularly in Australia and New Zealand, involving political donations and media investment from Chinese affiliates. Last last month, ASIO’s new head Mike Burgess revealed intelligence officials are investigating an alleged plot to plant a Chinese agent in the nation’s Parliament.

Nick Zhao, a 32-year-old luxury-car dealer, had told intelligence officials a Chinese spy ring offered him one million Australian dollars (US$676,500) to run as a candidate for the ruling Liberal party. He was later found dead in a hotel room. His death is subject to a coroner’s inquiry.

In a rare public statement, ASIO’s Mr. Burgess said late last month that his organization is taking Mr. Zhao’s claims seriously. “Hostile foreign-intelligence activity continues to pose a real threat to our nation and its security.”

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Beijing has denied the alleged plot to plant a Chinese sympathizer in Parliament and has separately sought to discredit a self-proclaimed Chinese spy who is seeking asylum in Australia after telling authorities of his alleged intelligence operations in Hong Kong and Taiwan.


“They’d rather believe in some ill-intentioned liars than the authoritative information from the Chinese side,” said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

The young asylum seeker, Wang Liqiang, gave Australian authorities a 17-page account of alleged spying, propaganda and disinformation campaigns. Authorities haven’t verified the claims in the statement, which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

For years, Australia has relied on China for its economic well being. China is Australia’s biggest trading partner and a significant source of inbound capital. But that relationship has been strained by Canberra’s decision to lock telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co. out of its next-generation 5G communication networks and to challenge Chinese influence in the southern Pacific Ocean. Last year, Australia tightened counterespionage and foreign-interference laws.

Following clashes at Australian universities earlier this year, where mainland Chinese groups disrupted protests by students from Hong Kong, intelligence officials began investigating whether the counter-rallies had been planned by Chinese diplomatic missions. In August, Canberra created a task force to investigate foreign interference in universities and last month issued guidelines for the sector, outlining the potential risks.


Michael Shoebridge, a former top defense intelligence official, called the latest allegations about Chinese meddling “an awakening.”

“Australia and other countries have had very longstanding set policies around China that have been mainly about wonderful economic promise and they’ve discounted the security aspects,” said Mr. Shoebridge, a director of defense, strategy and national security at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a government-backed security think tank. “But it’s changing faster than you’d expect, driven by the assertiveness of the Chinese state under Xi.”

—Stephanie Yang contributed to this article.

Write to Rachel Pannett at rachel.pannett@wsj.com