Australia drags 2 Chinese citizens to court for spying on Canberra's Buddhist group

Illustration of Australia. (Hugo Heimendinger-Pexels)

JAKARTA - The Australian police on Wednesday, February 11, charged two Chinese citizens (foreign nationals) with spying on a Buddhist group at the behest of the Chinese police.

The two Chinese nationals were a 25-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman, each charged with "reckless foreign interference," with a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

In a hearing held at an Australian court today, AFP reported that local police accused the two of working with a Chinese citizen who was charged in August 2025, for secretly collecting information about the Guan Yin Citta Buddhist group in the Australian capital, Canberra.

They are suspected of working under the command of the Chinese Public Security Bureau, the country's main domestic law enforcement agency.

When asked about this, the Chinese Embassy in Canberra has not yet responded.

Australian federal police said they began investigating the case last year on the basis of information from Canberra's intelligence agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).

The head of the agency, Mike Burgess, said that "the complex, challenging and changing security environment is becoming more dynamic, diverse and deteriorating."

"Many foreign regimes monitor, harass, and intimidate members of our diaspora community," he said.

"This kind of behavior is absolutely unacceptable and intolerable," he continued.