"The government has been assured by Chinese authorities that this will not re-occur," said a government spokesperson. The comments were in response to a Fairfax report on Tuesday that two police from Rizhao city flew from China in December to "persuade" Australian citizen Dong Feng to return and face charges in China. "The government registered with China its deep concerns about this, making clear it was unacceptable," said a government spokesperson, confirming that Canberra learned of the operation only after the fact. It is understood that Canberra's tough response was designed to ensure President Xi Jinping's "Operation Fox Hunt" does not undermine Australia police and judicial processes. Fairfax Media can reveal another three policemen, from the north-eastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang, attempted to travel to Brisbane in about August last year to convince another fugitive, Huang Houzhen, who is wanted on embezzlement charges. They pulled out primarily due to the cost involved.

Heilongjiang police said it had communicated repeatedly about the case with Australian Federal Police liaison officers based at the Australian embassy in Beijing, while intensifying the "ideological work" on Mr Huang and his family to persuade him to return. When Mr Huang did return to China in November, provincial police said Mr Huang had confessed to his crimes and a local newspaper ran a photo of him being met by triumphant local officials at the airport. Mr Huang declined to co-operate with this report when reached by telephone for fear it would jeopardise his ongoing investigation. But it is understood that he has not confessed and in fact returned to China to fight his case in court, where he was confident of being exonerated. In a story familiar to many investors, Mr Huang contends nearly 200 million yuan ($42 million) of cash and assets in his private heating company had been stolen by government officials before he was framed for embezzlement. He fled in 2009 for Brisbane, where his son, a naturalised Australian citizen, runs a web design firm. Concerns about the integrity of the Chinese justice system are highlighted in the background to the case of Mr Dong, 49, who lives with his wife and young daughter in Glen Waverley.

The Interpol "bribery" notice against his name does not disclose a range of anomalies in the case. Mr Dong was accused of receiving $200,000 in kick-backs at Rizhao Steel, a privately owned mill in Shandong province. The owner of his company, however, multibillionaire Du Shuanghua, testified to paying US$9.5 million to Rio Tinto executives in 2009 but remains a free man. It is understood that Mr Dong contests the claims, which he believes arose from a dispute with his boss. Mr Dong fled to Australia in 2009 where he later joined the Falun Gong movement, which is banned in China.

The undercover operation in Melbourne is seen as a major breach of policing and diplomatic protocol. "Even if it's not against the law it's really pretty rude, isn't it," said Sydney University's Professor Vivienne Bath. "Can you imagine doing that in China?"