Australian spy agency spars with China over foreign interference claim

China's ambassador to Australia has attacked Australia's domestic spy agency over allegations of foreign interference, warning it risks harming Australia-China relations.

Ambassador Xiao Qian has pointed to a video aired before a speech delivered by ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess last week as "casting aspersions" on China, prompting a sharp rebuke from the spy agency.

In an opinion piece sent to Nine Newspapers, the ambassador also criticised a joint statement issued by Five Eyes spy agencies — from Australia, the UK, US, Canada and New Zealand — on the risk posed by Chinese intelligence services using sites such as LinkedIn to lure recruits.

Mr Xiao labelled the statement "slanderous" and said it "failed to find (or fabricate) any substantive evidence".

The ambassador was in attendance as Mr Burgess delivered his annual threat assessment at the ASIO headquarters in Canberra last week, sitting in the second row during the address.

The speech itself, delivered in front of a mix of defence and national security officials, diplomats, journalists and others, did not mention China at any point.

But ahead of the speech, a video was played to the audience made up of news clips either featuring ASIO or covering events the agency was interested in.

Media crews attending the event agreed to terms that the speech by Mr Burgess and subsequent question-and-answer session could be filmed, but not the video before the address.

The video was largely focused on antisemitism and the Bondi terror attack, while also covering issues including the return of "ISIS brides" to Australia.

But the video also touched on issues of Chinese foreign interference, including the arrest of two Chinese nationals in Canberra accused of spying on the Canberra Buddhist association.

Those mentions have drawn the ire of Mr Xiao, who appeared to take particular issue with the mention of matters before the courts.

"Whilst relevant cases are still pending and facts have yet to be established, what harm will the broadcasting of such an official video cause to the individuals concerned?" he said in the opinion piece.

"What message will this one-sided information convey to the Australian public? And what impact will it have on China-Australia relations?

"China itself has long suffered from foreign interference and has no intention of, nor has it ever engaged in, so-called interference in Australia."

ASIO has pushed back strongly on the criticism, with a spokeswoman pointing to other examples of interference proved in court.

"Noting the Ambassador advocates the application of the rule of law, we point you to: the conviction of a Melbourne man for attempting to interfere in Australia's political system to advance the interests of the Chinese Communist Party," she said.

"[And] the conviction of a Sydney man who gave Chinese spies information on Australia's economic, defence and political priorities."

Ambassador hits out at Five Eyes warning

Mr Xiao also used the opinion piece to make broad swipes at those he argued were pushing an outdated mentality in talking up Australia-China tensions.

"Viewing China-Australia relations through the lens of a Cold War mentality and using national security as a pretext to portray China as a hypothetical enemy is targeting the wrong party, harming the friendship, and running counter to the interests of the Australian nation and its people," he wrote.

Early last month, ASIO and its Five Eyes partner agencies warned that Chinese spies were using professional networking sites such as LinkedIn to identify potential targets.

"Chinese military intelligence services ultimately seek to acquire privileged military, political and economic intelligence that can provide China with a strategic and tactical advantage over the Five Eyes," it warned.

Beijing has repeatedly rejected similar claims in the past, and the statement drew sharp commentary from the ambassador, who argued the case against China on those grounds was thin.

"The Five Eyes alliance — touted as the world's most formidable alliance — failed to find (or fabricate) any substantive evidence on a serious matter concerning major-power relations and regional peace, instead concocting a sensational charge against another nation out of thin air," Mr Xiao said.