China denounces Aussie newspaper for espionage charges

SYDNEY - Chinese consulate general in Sydney has denounced Australian media's false report of Chinese spies inside Australia's leading universities.

Earlier on Monday, "The Sydney Morning Herald" published a report about Chinese espionage in Australia universities. In this regard, a spokesman in the Chinese Consulate General in Sydney issued a statement right away.

"We noticed the April 21 report on 'The Sydney Morning Herald'. There is no factual basis for the report, contrary to news report's true, objective and impartial principles. There is a serious distortion of Chinese students studying in Australia and living situation in the report, which has greatly hurt the feelings of the majority of Chinese students and aroused their strong indignation and anxiety. We expressed strong dissatisfaction with the distorted facts by the media and its ulterior motives," the statement said.

At present, China and Australia have an active exchange of education and China has become Australia's largest international students source, according to the statement.

"We hope that the media uphold the objective and fair reporting principles to promote cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Australia, and to jointly maintain the friendly feelings of the two peoples," it said.

"The Sydney Morning Herald" on Monday published a report titled "Chinese spies at Sydney University", which said China is building large covert informant networks inside Australia's leading universities.

It said much of the monitoring work takes place in higher education institutions, including Sydney University and Melbourne University, where over 90,000 students from the Chinese mainland are potentially exposed to ideas and activities not readily available at home.