A lawyer for Sheri Yan (left), seen with former prime minister Bob Hawke and businessman Frank Lowy, told a court she had built ties with many sophisticated people. The revelations come as the federal government adopts a more aggressive approach to countering Beijing's influence and intelligence operations in Australia, flagging new counter-interference laws and threatening to boycott an undersea internet cable from Australia to the Solomon Islands because of the involvement of Chinese firm Huawei. Beijing's efforts to exert clandestine influence, exposed in a recent Fairfax Media and Four Corners investigation, have sparked intense political debate, calls for inquiries and new laws, and, indignant denials from the Chinese government and state controlled media. The Sheri Yan affair is one of the most intriguing cases involving suspected efforts by Beijing to exert covert influence in the west. Yan's links to Chinese intelligence led to an ASIO raid in October 2015 on the Canberra property Yan shares with her husband, Mr Uren, where confidential documents were found. ASIO has never revealed what documents were discovered, but Fairfax Media has confirmed agents found highly classified Australian government files created prior to 2002 and which detailed what Western intelligence agencies knew of their Chinese counterparts.

Sheri Yan was sent to jail for bribing the former president of the United Nations General Assembly, John Ashe. Credit:Black Tie Magazine Until 2001, Mr Uren was the assistant director at Prime Minister's intelligence analysis agency, the Office of National Assessments. A collector of Chinese erotic art and the author of a book on Chinese spying, Mr Uren was once touted as a potential Australian ambassador to China and, according to senior former intelligence officials, cultivated an air of intrigue around his activities. The ASIO agents who raided Yan and Mr Uren's Canberra property were working closely with FBI officials who charged Yan in New York in October 2015 with bribing the former president of the United Nations General Assembly, John Ashe. One of the bribes Yan pleaded guilty to paying involved a $200,000 wire transfer made by a company owned by prominent Australian political donor Chau Chak Wing. The $200,000 secured Mr Ashe's presence as a speaker at an international conference hosted by Mr Chau in China – an arrangement brokered by Yan. Mr Chau, who has declined to answer questions, has not been charged with any offence and there is no suggestion he knew of Yan's bribery. The character reference provided last year by Greg Rudd, a political lobbyist with extensive connections in China and Canberra, was one of several glowing references used by Yan's defence lawyer to secure a reduced sentence in her bribery case.

Court transcripts obtained by Fairfax Media show that in sentencing Yan to 20 months jail, US district court judge Vernon Broderick was impressed by these references, but noted Yan's "extremely serious" criminality that had caused "substantial damage … to the UN itself and the image of the UN". Yan's defence lawyer told the court that Yan had escaped a poor background in China blighted by the cultural revolution, going on to build ties with "many sophisticated people who have done amazing things – executives, former advisers to presidents, the brother of the Australian prime minister". In his character reference, Mr Rudd said that, despite Yan being "lambasted in the media … I would still trust her because she is a certain person that I know and I know the way she treated me". Mr Rudd told Fairfax Media that the "socially connected" Yan never came across to him as corrupt.

The court was also read excerpts from a statement provided by former News Ltd and ABC executive, Bruce Dover, who hired Yan as a lobbyist as the national broadcaster sought to expand its presence in China. The court heard that Mr Dover warned Yan against paying bribes, telling her that bribery "is something that happens and is tolerated… until such times as the communist hierarchy decide it should not be tolerated". Information uncovered by Fairfax Media suggests some of Yan's activities and connections remain hidden. Two Australian businessmen who hired Yan as a lobbyist said she exaggerated her access to senior Chinese officials while pocketing large consulting fees. However, a third businessman said Yan had impeccable Beijing connections and recounted how Yan had a direct line to Chinese Communist Party security services. "I don't know how she had those contacts but they were amazing," said the businessman. Fairfax Media has confirmed one of Yan's contacts was a Chinese military intelligence operative and reputed arms broker, Colonel Liu Chaoying. Yan introduced Colonel Liu to her Australian network, including a wealthy Australian businessman who took Colonel Liu on several dinner dates. The businessman told Fairfax Media there was nothing sinister about Colonel Liu and that Yan had introduced the pair because "that is what Sheri does." He declined to comment further.

Colonel Liu was investigated by the FBI and the CIA in the late 1990s as part of the Clinton administration's "Chinagate scandal." The scandal involved evidence showing Colonel Chaoying and Chinese intelligence officials had funnelled donations into Bill Clinton's re-election campaign. In April 2012, Yan was hired by a Melbourne firm whose directors briefly included former Queensland premier Peter Beattie and which wanted to create a $600 million investment fund with the state-owned China Development Bank. Victoria Supreme Court documents reveal that Yan allegedly paid a monthly $10,000 "secret commission or bribe" to a China Development Bank official, Mu Lei, as she lobbied for the Melbourne firm in Beijing. Mr Lei did not respond to questions and Yan could not be contacted for comment. As Yan serves out her jail sentence in the US, the United Nations bribery scandal continues to play out in US courts. According to court files, one of Yan's co-accused, Macau billionaire Ng Lap Seng, is also suspected to have connections with Chinese intelligence. Australian and US intelligence agencies suspect Beijing was seeking to covertly influence the UN via proxies such as Yan. Yan and Mr Uren could not be reached for comment. Got a tip for Fairfax Media's investigations team? Go via our secure, anonymous, tip-off site or contact nmckenzie@fairfaxmedia.com.au.

You can also read Fairfax Media's full investigation on Beijing's influence campaign.