Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s WeChat account has been taken over by the entity, which has been renamed “Chinese Australian New Life” and is used to advise the Chinese Australian community on living in Australia.
The leader of Australia’s centre-right Liberal Party, Morrison, used Tencent’s WeChat as a campaign tool to reach Australia’s vast Chinese community – many of whom are concentrated in specific seats and therefore considered a sought-after voting bloc.
Other government members have concluded that taking over the account must be the work of Chinese authorities. No evidence has been provided to support this claim, other than Beijing’s ability to run Chinese companies.
But China doesn’t like Morrison, who has led an international call for an investigation into the origins of SARS-CoV-2. China later released a list of 14 requirements that Australia would be required to comply with, including withdrawing its ban on Huawei, stopping accusing China of conducting cyberattacks, withdrawing a decision to ban state governments from participating in the Belt and Road Initiative on human rights or Chinese territorial claims legality and other issues will not be further commented.
China has also imposed tariffs on some Australian goods.
The Australian government ignored the list, while China ignored Australia’s pleas to talk about its trade sanctions, while occasionally sniping in less diplomatic language.
News that Morrison’s WeChat account has been – ahem – re-used doesn’t help. It also doesn’t help him campaign in an election due in May, where current opinion polls predict that the incumbent will struggle to retain government.
register Tencent, the owner and operator of WeChat, has been asked if it knows how and when the account changed hands. As of this writing, we have not received any response, but will update this story if a substantive response is provided. ®
