I’m no spy, so why does ASIO think my stint in China is a black mark? |
If you believe Australia needs Asia capability, then you must believe the Australian government and the wider workforce need Australians who have spent time living, studying and working in Asia.
I am an Australian, with Mandarin language skills, studying a PhD in Hong Kong, researching the impact of nationalism on public perspectives of the Australia-China relationship. I was in Canberra recently to have conversations with ANU professors, think-tankers and government staff about my research. It took all of two seconds for someone to accuse me of being a spy.
Ciara Morris, second from left, with Peking University classmates on the Great Wall of China in 2019.
A senior political staffer, at a dinner among friends, who was meeting me for the first time, thought it was appropriate to openly question my national loyalty after learning I was interested in China. Joke or not, these all-too-frequent comments are a symptom of a wider problem: undue suspicion of Australians with China capability.
I preface this by saying this feeling can be so much worse for Chinese Australians, for whom these ‘jokes’ also take on a racial frame.
I first moved to Asia in 2019 after completing my undergraduate degree in government and international relations in Sydney. I went to Beijing for my masters to learn more about China.
Arriving back in Australia a year........