Charge dropped against man accused of being Chinese spy

One of three Chinese nationals accused of foreign interference has had the charge against him dropped by a Canberra court.

The 26-year-old man, whose name was suppressed, was charged in February with one count of reckless foreign interference by the Australian Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce.

He was accused of covertly collecting information about a Canberra Buddhist association on behalf of a foreign principal.

He was one of three Chinese nationals who were arrested over the matter.

But his charge was dropped in the ACT Magistrates Court this morning.

Two women remain accused

Two women in their 30s are still facing charges, with their matters due to return to court in December.

One of the women, 31-year-old Siru Zheng, was also arrested in February.

Both Ms Zheng and the man were allegedly linked to another woman arrested last year on the same charge.

News of the alleged spy operation broke last year when police searched that woman's home, revealing a raft of luxury goods, including handbags worth tens of thousands of dollars.

The woman was charged with covertly gathering information about the Canberra branch of Buddhist association Guan Yin Citta for the Chinese government.

The group is banned in China.

WeChat messages among evidence

Police alleged the woman, whose name is suppressed, began working for China's Public Security Bureau in 2022, when she was tasked with numerous covert operations, receiving instructions in person and via the encrypted messaging app WeChat.

Police said her task was to take images of the locations of the Buddhist group's chapters nationally, and collect details about the leaders.

The court materials showed police alleged the group gathered information from many open sources, including news items from SBS Chinese programs.

At one point, the woman allegedly told her Chinese contact the Buddhist group had set up in Canberra.

In the messages released by the court, the contact in China urged the woman to join them and climb the hierarchy.

"You can slip in, climb as high as you can [chuckle emoji],"

the Chinese official said.

"Are you serious?" the woman responded.

The official allegedly described the exercise as having "a bit of a spy thriller about it".

Court documents allege one topic Ms Zheng was tasked with looking into was media company Oriental TV and Radio.

WeChat messages tendered to the court showed Ms Zheng allegedly resorted to Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) documents to determine who was behind the company.

In one message, allegedly from Ms Zheng, she said the radio station was likely just a name:

"…the actual 'radio station' likely refers to YouTube. Twitter. Fb. This sort of thing … Instagram accounts too ..."

The two women are free on bail and have indicated pleas of not guilty.