Europe considering adopting Australia?s foreign interference laws to counter China - Sydney Morning Herald

Europe is considering following Australia’s example in creating new laws to counter covert forms of foreign influence as it looks to combat the activities of China’s overseas propaganda arm.

Liberal senator James Paterson, chair of the Australian Parliament’s intelligence and security committee, urged European nations to work together with like-minded democratic nations such as Australia to counter foreign interference.

In a keynote speech delivered virtually to the European Parliament on Tuesday, Senator Paterson said “foreign interference comes from many different sources and it is so critically important that as democracies we recognise the threats and that we do everything we can to combat these threats”.

“They will only continue to evolve and grow in complexity as technology advances and so does the capability of those who seek to do us harm,” he said.

In a draft report, the European Parliament raised concern about the activities of foreign authoritarian states within the continent including the “crucial role played by China’s United Front”, and pointed out the “experiences of Australia and New Zealand in dealing with the United Front”.

The United Front Work Department is the Chinese Communist Party’s organisational effort to use the diaspora of citizens abroad to turn opinion and policy in Beijing’s favour.

The European Parliament also raised concern about the lack of transparency for lobbyists, citing Australia’s Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme as “a good practice to follow”.