Mr Abbott, who is facing several challenges in his Sydney seat of Warringah at the upcoming federal election, said he criticised Beijing’s militarisation of the South China Sea and attack on civil liberties in a speech he gave at the function. United Front members control many key Chinese-Australian community organisations, presenting a dilemma for politicians and Chinese-Australians who want to attend community events but do not support the Communist Party. This dilemma fuelled the fall of Labor’s Sam Dastyari, who relied on United Front figures to raise campaign funds, only to later face accusations he had been co-opted by United Front organisations. Among several hundred guests at the Chinese New Year dinner on January 27 was Sun Yantao, a Chinese Consulate official responsible for Australian United Front work, and Hung Ly, the president of Australia’s peak United Front group, the Australian Council for the Promotion of the Peaceful Reunification of China (ACPPRC). Also present was Beijing’s chief propagandist in Australia, media mogul Tommy Jiang, who runs media outlets in partnership with the CCP’s propaganda arm. Hung Ly has donated several thousand dollars to Labor candidates, while Tommy Jiang has donated to both major parties, more recently emerging as a Liberal supporter.

Mr Ly declined to comment. Liberal fundraiser John Caputo (third from left), Liberal MP for Drummoyne John Sidoti (fourth from left) and Liberal member for Oatley Mark Coure (third from right) at the Chinese New Year event. Credit: Mr Jiang, who in 2018 was named as a delegate to a key United Front body in China, has previously attacked as baseless claims made by ASIO, the federal police and the federal government that the CCP is seeking covert influence in Australia. An organisation Mr Jiang oversees as president, the Chinese government endorsed Australia Chinese Dongbei Association, organised the dinner and raised several thousand dollars for the association. Another VIP at the dinner was Yang Dongdong, who chairs the Australia China Business Summit and who has described himself as part of the “united front system".

Mr Jiang and the ACPPRC are likely to top the list of individuals or groups required to register on the government’s pending Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme, which is being introduced to increase the accountability of United Front entities. The scheme is also designed to force figures and groups lobbying for any foreign governments to register by early March, with enforcement of the scheme looming as a major challenge for whoever wins the next federal election. Since Mr Dastyari’s resignation in late 2017, politicians have had far fewer excuses for claiming ignorance when supporting United Front group functions. The work of United Front groups and their leaders has been detailed in the media and in Parliament. While he was prime minister in 2015, two of Mr Abbott’s top advisers, national security official Andrew Shearer and foreign affairs expert Michael Thawley raised concerns with Mr Abbott about influence operations carried out by United Front members. ASIO later raised similar concerns with senior Coalition and Labor officials, zeroing in on political donors involved in the ACPPRC. Mr Abbott said many of the Australian Chinese gatherings he attended had multiple sponsors and he did not scour invitations looking for Communist Party connections.

Mr Caputo- who for years has raised donations for Mr Abbott- also said he was unaware who would be at the event. Both Mr Caputo and Mr Abbott said no money was raised at the dinner for the Liberal Party. Mr Caputo previously encouraged the former ACPPRC president, billionaire Huang Xiangmo, to donate to Mr Abbott’s campaign fund and has also spoken to Mr Huang about his stalled citizenship application, which ASIO has blocked on national security grounds. Mr Huang denies any wrongdoing. Mr Sidoti also said he was unaware the event was hosted by United Front figures. “I've got 12,800 Chinese in my electorate and that's why I attended,” he said. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s CCP influence researcher Alex Joske said the event included “some of the most prominent and active United Front players” to ever share a room in Australia.