Kristina Keneally says it is up to security agencies to decide if Chinese spy can live in Australia

Kristina Keneally says it is up to security agencies to decide if a ‘high-level Chinese spy’ should be allowed asylum in Australia

  • Senator Keneally says she has been briefed by agencies about Wang Liqiang
  • Mr Wang is reportedly not the high-level operative he had initially claimed to be
  • China claims Mr Wang is a convicted fraudster, releasing ‘video evidence’

Federal Labor frontbencher Kristina Keneally says it is up to security agencies to decide whether a man claiming to be a high-level Chinese spy should be given asylum.

Senator Keneally, the opposition’s home affairs spokeswoman, says she has been briefed by Australia’s security agencies about Wang Liqiang, but declined to say publicly what she had been told.

‘What I will say is that Mr Wang has applied for asylum, I understand that is going through the usual processes for assessing his claim for protection,’ she told reporters in Sydney on Saturday.

Self-proclaimed Chinese spy Wang 'William' Liqiang (pictured)

Senator Keneally (left), the opposition’s home affairs spokeswoman, says she has been briefed by Australia’s security agencies about Wang Liqiang (right), but declined to say publicly what she had been told 

‘It’s not for me to say whether or not he deserves asylum, because that is a decision to be made by a range of agencies within the Department of Home Affairs.’

News Limited newspapers reported on Saturday they had been told by security and intelligence agencies that Mr Wang is not the high-level operative he had initially been billed as.

It says Mr Wang is not believed to be a Chinese spy at a level that would add value to Australia.

China says Mr Wang is a convicted fraud, releasing video purporting to show him pleading guilty to changes in 2016.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk