“Dirty little secret”: Chinese Hacker Breaks in Australian Federal Government departments, ABC reports

While debate rages over Australia’s border security, there’s growing evidence that the greatest threat to Australia’s national security potentially comes from foreign computer hackers. Few in government or business will admit the full extent of the break-ins, with one expert calling it a “dirty little secret”.

Next on Four Corners reporter Andrew Fowler reveals that hackers, working from locations overseas, have targeted key Federal Government departments and major corporations in Australia. Their intention is to steal national security secrets and vital business information.

Chinese Hackers Strike Australian Intelligence Agency 2 Months After “strategic partnership” Negotiation

Blueprints for the new headquarters’ (building) of Australia’s intelligence agency, located in the capital of Canberra, have been stolen by Chinese hackers, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The news, which hit hard in Australia on Monday night, comes less than two months after Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard negotiated a “strategic partnership” with the Chinese Communist Party’s new leadership, and a subsequent Defence White Paper was released stating that the People’s Republic of China is no longer seen as a threat.

China Army’s “Department of Enemy Work” Reachs Out to Western Elites in Australia and US

John Garnaut, China correspondent for Fairfax Media-

General Zhang Yang had been in the elite leadership sanctum of the People’s Liberation Army for barely a month when he took time out to greet a former vice-chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.

China High-ranking Military Spies Woo Australia Business Leaders

Some of Australia’s most influential business leaders were feted in China by an intelligence platform of the People’s Liberation Army, a Fairfax investigation has revealed.

Andrew Forrest, who touted his talks with the leaders last month as a lesson on how to be friendly with China, was joined by the heads of four of the five big banks, Qantas and the Business Council of Australia, and the former Australian ambassador to China, Geoff Raby, who is a director of Mr Forrest’s iron ore company, Fortescue.

Chinese Lawyer hits out at China trial for Australian businessman

(The Age)- AUSTRALIAN businessman Matthew Ng broke down in a Chinese court yesterday as he told how police had promised they would let him go if he handed over control of his multimillion-dollar company.

Mr Ng’s dramatic testimony corroborates claims by shareholders and supporters that his arrest was a ”shakedown” by Guangzhou’s most powerful state-owned company, Lingnan, along with a corrupt police force, procurator and court.

Mr Ng was taken by seven plain-clothes police from the basement of his home, in front of his wife and five-year-old daughter, in November last year just days after acrimonious commercial negotiations with Lingnan executives.

China’s military plans ‘like Pearl Harbor’ employed by the Japanese, says Australia think tank

By Brendan Nicholson, The Australian, February 08, 2011-

AUSTRALIANS should prepare for a 40 per cent increase in defence spending to combat the rise of an increasingly militaristic China, says a report from the Kokoda Foundation think tank.

Kokoda founder Ross Babbage, who was on the advisory panel for the latest defence white paper, said China was expected to extend its military reach to play a much stronger role in Australia’s immediate surrounds over the next 20 years.

In some ways, Chinese strategic thinking was similar to that employed by the Japanese in planning their attack on Pearl Harbor, he said.

‘Boost military’ to take on China: Australia military adviser

AUSTRALIA will need nuclear-powered attack submarines among a range of highly potent weapons systems, and must revolutionise its strategic culture to answer the security dangers posed by China’s massive military build-up, according to one of the federal government’s chief military advisers.

Ross Babbage, who served on the government’s advisory panel for the 2009 Defence white paper, believes Australia should acquire a fleet of 12 nuclear-powered attack submarines.

He also favours developing a conventionally armed cruise and ballistic missile capability to be carried on new “arsenal ships”, as well as a massive increase in Australia’s cyber-warfare investment.

Plenty of reasons to be concerned about China

Barry Ferguson, via Sydney Morning Herald, December 3, 2010-

We need to be aware of the broad sweep of history in the evolution of our foreign investment policy, writes Barry Ferguson.

IN THE past 18 months, concerns have been expressed about China’s increasing interest in Australia. These concerns have resulted from China’s growing involvement in our natural resources, purchases of residential real estate by Chinese nationals in a heated local market, and ultimately from Australia’s growing dependence on the Chinese economy.

Former Australian defence minister’s Chinese Woman benefactor sued by a large state-owned-enterprise

RICHARD BAKER, PHILIP DORLING AND SANGHEE LIU, The Age, Australia, August 4, 2010 –

A MAJOR Labor Party donor and benefactor of former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon is the subject of a formal complaint by a large Chinese state-owned-enterprise which alleges the businesswoman defrauded it of millions of dollars.

The Age has learned that Chinese-Australian property developer Helen Liu was named by a Beijing company in a complaint submitted to Chinese public security authorities earlier this year.

It is believed that the state-owned Beijing Heng Tong Trust and Investment Company has asked the authorities to investigate Ms Liu for allegedly embezzling $6 million through a 1990s real estate project in the port city of Qingdao that was designed to attract Australian investors.

Ms Liu has had an association with the Fitzgibbon family since the early 1990s and was last year identified by a group of Australian Defence Department officials as a potential national security threat because of her ties to some of China’s military, political and economic elite.

A major donor to New South Wales ALP, Ms Liu helped finance two of Mr Fitzgibbon’s election campaigns and also paid for him to travel to China twice in trips he belatedly disclosed to Federal Parliament.

Mr Fitzgibbon, who recently said publicly he wished to return to a ministerial portfolio if Labor wins the August 21 federal election, rented a Canberra residence from Ms Liu’s family while he served as defence minister from December 2007 until his mid-2009 resignation.

His resignation came because of conflict-of-interest issues involving his brother Mark, the head of health fund NIB.

Chinese authorities have allegedly been asked to investigate whether forged government approval documents and unregistered companies were used by Ms Liu to persuade the state-owned enterprise to invest in the project.

Representatives from Heng Tong declined to speak to The Age.

The Age reported earlier this year that Heng Tong accused Ms Liu of allegedly illegally diverting 24,680,000 Chinese yuan ($6 million) into her Australian property companies in the 1990s.

The companies, which controlled a Sydney property portfolio valued at about $60 million, have since been deregistered.

Two of the companies, Diamond Hill International and Wincopy, provided $40,000 to help finance Mr Fitzgibbon’s 1996 and 1998 federal election campaigns.

Ms Liu’s companies and her sister gave a further $105,000 to the NSW ALP between 1998 and 2007.

Mr Fitzgibbon’s position as defence minister was jeopardised in March 2009 when he repeatedly denied receiving any significant gifts or travel from Ms Liu.

However, shortly after his denials he disclosed he took trips to China in 2002 and 2005 that were funded by Ms Liu.

Mr Fitzgibbon, who denies any interest in Ms Liu’s commercial affairs, last year said through his then spokesman that both trips were for ”cultural” purposes.

His father, former Labor MP Eric Fitzgibbon, earlier this year admitted helping Ms Liu sell the Qingdao apartments that the Heng Tong company claims its money was meant for.

Ms Liu, who could not be contacted by The Age, has taken legal action against The Age to find out the source of documents obtained earlier this year which provide an insight into her commercial affairs.

Mr Fitzgibbon has taken legal action against several Fairfax Media publications, claiming reports about his friendship with Ms Liu had defamed him.

Fairfax has said it will vigorously defend the legal action.

With A.L.R. GAO

– The Age

Why other countries, such as China, pay for our politicians to visit (3)

Brian Stewart, CBC News, Canada, Wednesday, July 7, 2010 –

Part 1 Part 2

Boondoggle phobia

This spreading phenomenon makes intelligence services nervous precisely because it’s so apparently out in the open. All the big political parties play the game and remarkably few admit that our security might be involved.

Still, I sense some MPs, perhaps most, feel uneasy about these trips.

As Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae described the phenomenon in a recent interview with The National Post: “Why do so many MPs go to Taiwan? Very simply: the government of Taiwan encourages people to come and finances the trip.

“Why do so few MP’s go to the Congo? Nobody’s going to pay them to go to the Congo. And it really is a problem.”

In fact much of the problem is that our MPs hunger after these trips because there is simply no real parliamentary budget for foreign travel anymore.

That is our insane system right now. In the 21st century, no budget to travel. Even MPs who need the expertise in foreign affairs have to wheel and deal to get on these junkets, like impoverished roadside hitchhikers.

We created this mess over the years by going into our usual moralizing routine whenever we would read of MPs and their travelling”boondoggles.”

Well some were and some weren’t, but at least they were Canadian boondoggles.

Now MPs are so afraid to use taxpayer dollars to study the world, they prefer the dole of other countries.

For a developed nation like Canada this is in equal parts shabby and shortsighted.

The solution is pretty simple: Parliament should first discourage, perhaps ban, all such free trips.

Then it should vote an annual and substantial budget to send MPs on serious study tours about issues that count. Let a committee work all this out in public.

Few problems of international security are ever easy to fix. This one is.

If we do nothing, those ugly suspicions of influence, and of shadowy favours given and received, will inevitably creep still further into our political system. (END)

Part 1 Part 2

– from CBC News

Related:
– We need to get real about spies– China’s interference in Canada
– The Seduction of China’s Red Carpet
– Canadian Spy Master Criticized by Alleged China Front Organization

Why other countries, such as China, pay for our politicians to visit (2)

Brian Stewart, CBC News, Canada, Wednesday, July 7, 2010 –

<< previous

Another country’s dole

“Sponsors wouldn’t pay for travel without an expectation of getting something back,” says Errol Mendes, a constitutional law professor at the University of Ottawa.

What these sponsors want, above all, is influence on our politics, trade relations and international positions. For our politicians to proclaim otherwise, as some do, carries naiveté into the realm of fantasy.

China is a relentlessly generous host and deserves special mention because the federal government and CSIS have both publicly acknowledged that it is the most aggressive nation spying on us by a substantial margin.

The Conservatives have long vowed to crack down on Chinese espionage, although much of that talk was before the recent thaw in business relations.

That said, Israel and Taiwan, both very active in the world of espionage, are well up there with China at least in terms of courting potential supporters with trips.

According to the federal ethics commissioner, the Canada-Israel Committee paid more than $160,000 to host 14 MPs on one-week trips to Israel in 2009.

The committee, at least, is openly registered in Ottawa as an Israeli lobby group and it is important to note that there is nothing illegal, corrupt or against the rules of Parliament in accepting such favours from any foreign nation.

The practice is just thoroughly “reprehensible,” as Senator Colin Kenny, the former chair of the Senate committee on national security and defence, puts it in a recent article in the Ottawa Citizen defending Richard Fadden.

“Fadden did Canadians a service,” Kenny argues, “by pointing out that too many Canadian politicians are effectively on other countries’ dole.”

‘China junket’

In fact, the issue of dubious foreign favours being lavished on our politicians is a scandal waiting to happen. Just look at what’s happened elsewhere.

Two years ago, the British media had a field day when it was revealed that former London mayor Ken Livingstone enjoyed an all-expense paid, $35,000 week-long trip to Beijing, including business class travel and $1,700 a night hotel room complete with, as one newspaper described it, “rainforest show and bath master to prepare the bath and fill it with heavily oils.”

A staunch defender of China’s human rights record over the years, Livingstone was the mayor who allowed tough-minded Chinese security officers to run alongside the Olympic flame as it passed through the city, a strong-arm role he later admitted was “a mistake.”

A far stormier scandal is currently raging in Australia over political freebies and foreign influence.

Last year the Australian government came under sustained fire when its defence minister disclosed he had received, while in opposition, two free trips to China paid for by a business concern with close ties to Beijing.

Now, it has been revealed that a quarter of Australian MPs have taken free overseas travel worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, paid for by foreign governments and lobby groups, with China the most popular destination……. (to be cont’d)

<< part 1 part 2 part 3

– from CBC News

Related:
– We need to get real about spies– China’s interference in Canada
– The Seduction of China’s Red Carpet
– Canadian Spy Master Criticized by Alleged China Front Organization

Why other countries, such as China, pay for our politicians to visit

Brian Stewart, CBC News, Canada, Wednesday, July 7, 2010 –

I have no idea whether CSIS director Richard Fadden’s concerns about any growing foreign influence on Canadian politics are valid or not.

I do believe, however, that an extraordinary number of Canadian public officials are acting in ways that are inappropriate, risky and just plain dumb in accepting lavish favours from foreign nations with questionable motives.

Especially at a time when all Western intelligence services seem to agree that global espionage is now more prevalent than even during the Cold War.

Most cases are not as dramatic as the recent Russian spy scandal in the U.S., but spying nations are increasingly aggressive in trying to recruit local “agents of influence” to advance their own economic and political objectives.

In the process, there are many favours that foreign capitals bestow on our politicians in the hunt for some future advantage.

These can range from discrete political support in local ridings, funnelled through sympathetic associations or business leaders, to glamorous hospitality junkets.

The most obvious is the all-expenses paid fact-finding trip in which one is “treated like an emperor,” according to a recipient of one such China junket, former Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan.

I doubt we have any clear notion how many of our elected officials revel in the hospitality of countries like China, Taiwan, Israel and a dozen others with powerful Canadian agendas.

As just the very tip of the iceberg, 53 MPs last year — many accompanied by spouses — accepted more than $432,000 in travel costs paid for by foreign governments or their lobby groups.

Heavily courted

Provincial and municipal figures are also heavily courted this way, a point made by the CSIS director in his controversial interviews with CBC.

Let’s be clear here: None of these trips are offered without the hope of influencing our politicians.

They are carefully planned, often by the host nation’s intelligence arm. The generous host always seeks long-term relationships and “understandings.”

We should also be clear that we’re not talking about the normal and proper diplomatic courtship on the cocktail circuits or routine state visits.

We are talking about free flights, hotel rooms, banquets and tours costing tens of thousands of dollars in many cases, which go well beyond what elected officials should be pocketing……. (to be cont’d)

-From  CBC News

Part 2 Part3

Related:
– We need to get real about spies– China’s interference in Canada
– The Seduction of China’s Red Carpet
– Canadian Spy Master Criticized by Alleged China Front Organization

Shen Yun ‘Eleven out of Ten’ , Says Brisbane Business Owner

BRISBANE, Australia— Shen Yun Performing Arts’ tour of Australia has finally come to a close with their last show at the Lyric Theatre on Wednesday night, June 3. The New York-based company is continuing on to Hawaii as it completes its 2010 world tour, bringing joy to people from all walks of life in its divine vision of cultural renewal.

The performance showcases stories from 5000 years of Chinese culture through classical dance and music. This year, for the first time, the tour is accompanied by the Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company Orchestra—more than 40 professional musicians creating a wonderful union of Chinese and Western traditions.

Keith Sykes originally comes from England and runs his own business as a training consultant in engineering workplace health and safety. He attended Shen Yun with his wife who is a retired dancer. The couple will soon be travelling to China on holiday so had decided to come and see Shen Yun to get a taste of Chinese culture before their trip. They have already spent a lot of time in Asia, mainly in Vietnam and Taiwan.

Mr. Sykes exclaimed, “I’m just blown out of my mind! The costumes were great! Lovely, lovely dancers, and I love the atmosphere. I thought the audience were all switched on, it was magic. I hope the second half is as good as the first, it’s just great.”

He felt that he had learned a lot about Chinese culture and classical dance, commenting, “It’s very gentle, very soft and very precise and lots of clean movements, and you can tell as I know a bit about ballet, about the way they are dancing. You can tell what they are saying—very expressive.”

Mr. Sykes had felt an underlying message in the show about the current situation in China where the spiritual discipline of Falun Gong is being persecuted. One of the dances portrays a mother and her daughter being arrested for practising Falun Gong. He said, “Yes, I got a bit teary on the one about the beings coming down and the little girl being taken away. Yes, and them all going back up, I thought that was great.”

He continued with his overall impression of the performance, saying, “A lovely big strong belief because they are a different culture to us, and I like that spiritual side of things. So for me, I’ll give it an 11 out of 10. It was just great—a new experience.”

Mr. Sykes will be telling his friends that they must come and see Shen Yen, adding, “To see it is to believe it, because there are not many people that know much about it. Well worth seeing, worth every penny. It can reach anybody and everybody. It was really just great, I can’t say anything else. Yes, I have no faults at all.”

Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company will now travel to Hawaii to perform four shows at Concert Hall, Neal Blaisdell Center, Honolulu, from June 4-6. For more information visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org

– The Epochtimes

Shen Yun Show Schedule in June 2010 in Australia, Greece, Italy, Poland, and the United States

Shen Yun Performing Arts is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company, seeks to revive the true, five-millennia-old artistic tradition of China. Here’s its shows’ schedule in June 2010:

Brisbane, Australia	Jun 1 – 2
Athens, Greece	Jun 3 – 4
Honolulu, HI, United States	Jun 4 – 6
Torino, Italy	Jun 8 – 9
Lodz, Poland	Jun 14 – 16
New Brunswick, NJ, United States	Jun 20
Providence, RI, United States	Jun 26 – 27
Orlando, FL, United States	Jun 30

– From website of Shen Yun Performing Arts

Australians fear of China’s military threat, prompting record support for the US alliance: survey

By Ian McPhedran, The Courier-Mail, Australia, May 31, 2010 –

ALMOST half of Australians believe that China will become a military threat to Australia within 20 years, prompting record support for the US alliance.

According to the 2010 Lowy Institute foreign policy poll, 46 per cent of people think China will be a threat, with 19 per cent of them rating the possibility as “very likely”.

And 55 per cent of the 1001 people surveyed named China as the world’s top economic power, compared with 32 per cent for the United States.

The reality is that China is Australia’s number one trading partner, but its economy rates number four, behind the EU, US and Japan.

While 73 per cent of people regard China’s growth as good for Australia, 57 per cent said the Government had allowed too much investment from China, and 69 per cent said China’s aim was to dominate Asia.

Of those surveyed, 55 per cent wanted Australia to join with other countries to limit China’s influence.

While Australians saw America’s economic power as waning, they were still strongly supportive (86 per cent) of the Anzus Treaty and a military alliance with Uncle Sam. That was up from 63 per cent just three years ago.

Lowy Poll Project director Fergus Hanson said the results showed people were positive about China’s economic growth but fearful of its military aims.

“The two sides of the China relationship play in to the rising support for the US alliance that is evident in the poll,” Mr Hanson said……. (more details from The Courier-Mail)

“First Class” – Melbourne Philanthropist Praises Shen Yun (video)

NTD TV, Via DailyMotion –

Shen Yun’s second performance at Melbourne’s State Theatre, has once again uplifted audience members.

Pat La Manna was impressed by the skill and the professionalism of the dancers.

[Pat La Manna, Philanthropist/Entrepreneur]:
“First class, I’ve never ever seen anything like that before, truly!, I don’t think I ever will again.”

Enthusiastic about the whole show, he felt a sense of joy surrounding the dancers.

[Pat La Manna, Philanthropist/Entrepreneur]:
“Everything, absolutely everything, and the scenery and the costumes and the way they look – the happy lot … I recommend it to everybody to come and see the show. It’s something different that will probably be years before you see a show like this again.” ….. (more details from NTD TV)

Related:
– (video) Shen Yun in Australia, New Zealand 2009: Reviews, Comments and Feedback from Audience

Shen Yun ‘deserve a medal’, Says Former Australian Ballerina

MELBOURNE, Australia– Former ballerina Kristine Whorlaw had not heard of the Shen Yun Performing Arts but now that she has seen one of its shows, her memories gleaned will be hard to forget. She saw the company at Melbourne’s Arts Centre State Theatre on May 29. “I thought it was absolutely wonderful. I was stunned, quite frankly,” Ms. Whorlaw said. “The dancing was amazing, quite marvellous, really. I think the fluidity of the movement of the female dancers, mixed with the vibrant acrobatics of the male dancers… oh, the coordination was just fantastic. I don’t know who does the getting them all together and all the training, but I think they deserve a medal.”

Even more than the technical quality, the emotional content spoke to her.

Ms. Whorlaw said Shen Yun had “absolutely world class dancers,” while her husband, Mr. Trousdale, mused about the depth of the show he couldn’t quite pinpoint. “It was a message that was … it was a subtle message, but I think it was given with a tremendous amount of feeling and sincerity. That’s what I felt. It wasn’t really pushing the theme, or the idea, but the message came out clearly, very simply, and it was very nicely done.”

His wife agreed, saying the feeling “was extremely sincere.”

“I think the audience would have been impressed by that. And I think the message gave the impression that the members of the company were very sincere and dedicated, and really believed in what they’re doing and in their own personal beliefs.”

Ms. Whorlaw said she could see how Chinese classical dance influenced other dance forms, saying she was “extremely impressed” with not only the emotional depiction of the different stories, but also the technique, and choreography.”

Story-based dances adapted from beloved Chinese legends, folkloric traditions and modern day stories of astounding courage, are one of the trademarks of Shen Yun.

“I had to sit upright in my chair, as my husband will tell you, and look at some of the choreography, because as he said, it had great fluidity and agility and ease. So I think it was extremely impressive.”…… (more details from The Epochtimes)

Related:
– (video) Shen Yun in Australia, New Zealand 2009: Reviews, Comments and Feedback from Audience

Emmy Award Winning Filmmaker Finds Shen Yun ‘Very moving’, ‘quite inspiring’

MELBOURNE, Australia— The Arts capital of Australia played host to Shen Yun Performing Arts on Tuesday, May 25, in the first of seven shows at the Arts Centre State Theatre.

Shen Yun, a New York-based company, tours the world with presentations of Chinese classical dance, vocalists and a live orchestral fusion of Western and Chinese instruments, providing a unique insight into traditional Chinese culture, with a thought provoking and moving production.

Emmy Award winning filmmaker and actor Tahir Cambis was in the audience to see Shen Yun’s opening performance in Melbourne.

“I found it very moving in parts, and quite inspiring,” Mr. Cambis said.

“What I was interested in … I was looking at it as a Westerner and thinking … what sort of information will this pass on to Western people. People who have most of their ideas of China pass through, say, mainland China, and so I was trying to see how the references to the Tang Dynasty and traditional culture would communicate themselves to Western audiences.”

According to its website, Shen Yun Performing Arts “is a nonprofit organization that is independent of China’s communist regime and which seeks to revive the true, five-millennia-old artistic tradition of China that thrived before decades of suppression by the Chinese communist party.”

Mr. Cambis said: “In terms of giving Western people a chance to connect to something and say, ok I see there’s kind of a movement happening of both artistic, philosophical, as well as a spiritual one that has global implications, and that it’s operating outside of the mainstream Chinese government’s ideas of what Chinese culture should be, which is good.”

Mr. Cambis believed that “it’s healthy to have alternative and diverse ideas about spirituality and culture in any society.”

Mr. Cambis’ film, Exile in Sarajevo won an International Emmy Award, as well as Best Documentary at the Melbourne Film Festival. Mr. Cambis travelled to Sarajevo during the siege by Bosnian Serb forces in 1995, spending months in the war torn area and documenting the impact of the war on the citizens of Sarajevo, particularly the children.

Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company will perform at Melbourne’s Arts Centre State Theatre until May 30. For more information visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org

– The Epochtimes

Related:
– (video) Shen Yun in Australia, New Zealand 2009: Reviews, Comments and Feedback from Audience

Shen Yun “magnificent, just magnificent”, Sydney business owner was very impressed

SYDNEY— Anne Wilson, a financial planner who owns her own company based in the Whitsunday Islands, had travelled all the way from North Queensland to see Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company on Thursday, May 13, at the Big Top Theatre at Sydney’s Luna Park.

“Magnificent, just magnificent, it’s just beautiful, thoroughly enjoyed it,” she said.

Ms. WIlson loved the classical Chinese dance.

“Oh they just seemed to float, they just … they danced so beautifully and so lightly,” she said adding, “It just makes you feel beautiful inside when you watch them.”

She was very impressed with the dance Fairies of the Clouds.

“The fans, when they danced with the fans, I thought that was beautiful.”

A description from the Shen Yun program describes the dance, ‘Celestial fairies paint a picture of transcendent beauty. With the sky as their home, they soar gently through the heavens, eternally pure and carefree.’

Ms. Wilson described Shen Yun as “elegant and gorgeous.”

A Shen Yun show brings to audiences a unique experience, with stunning animated digital backdrops custom designed to match a given dance’s costumes, story line, lighting and dancing.

Ms. Wilson was moved by the combination saying, “Oh the colour was just … it’s so soft, the colours are so soft, but they are so vibrant, and they just float. All the costumes are just very elegant— exceptionally elegant.”

Shen Yun Performing Arts has tavelled, to Australia, with the Shen Yun New York Orchestra this year for the first time.

Unique in the world the orchestra brings together classical Western instruments as a base, while also adding Chinese musical flair through a variety of Chinese instruments. Each piece is composed to fit perfectly with each dance.

“Oh wonderful, wonderful and the different instruments are so different to what we have too,” she said.

Ms. WIlson was not at a loss for words to describe her experience after watching Shen Yun.

“[Shen Yun]just makes you feel beautiful, makes you feel wonderful that there is a different culture so different to ours, but just so elegant. Just beautiful, elegant, wonderful dancing.”

She continued, “Australians are getting more into other cultures, we are getting more multicultural with our people in our country that we have to learn about other cultures.” (The Epochtimes)

Related:
– (video) Shen Yun in Australia, New Zealand 2009: Reviews, Comments and Feedback from Audience

Sydney Dance Teacher Says Shen Yun “absolutely beautiful”

SYDNEY– With Shen Yun Performing Arts New York company almost halfway through its scheduled performances in Sydney at the Big Top Theatre in Luna Park, audience members from this evening’s show were raving about the performance.

Annette Vella, a dance teacher who for 35 years has run five dance groups, said that the show was “absolutely beautiful.” Ms. Vella was originally a gymnast and later studied classical ballet. She has two daughters who have traveled through China, but she has never been there.

“It was beautiful, absolutely beautiful,” the dance teacher said. “The music and the movement and the color—what they are doing is so beautiful, so elegant.”

She was impressed with the classical Chinese dance performances: “It’s more elegant than I have seen,” she said. She liked the colorful scenic backdrops, the storytelling through dance, and the representation of different ethnic regions, like Mongolia.

“I had never seen a Mongolian dance before. And it was nice to learn about the silk dance. The beautiful smoke with the clouds and the fairies of the sky—that was really nice.”

“I loved the men—really strong dance from the men. That was fantastic. They are really athletic, but so light on their feet that they just float in the air. The leaps are beautiful,” she said.

Shen Yun uses innovative animated backdrops that integrate with the scenes on stage, something Ms. Vella enjoyed: “That was fantastic. That really adds to the color, and the costumes often blend in with the background too, especially the silk dance.”

Ms. Vella was also impressed with tenor Hong Ming, who sang Calmly Take a Look. She said he had a “beautiful voice” and felt that his singing uplifted her spirit.

“You couldn’t go away feeling disappointed or sad from the show, that’s for sure.”

Ms. Vella said she would be back next year with her dance class. “I would have bought my dance class to come and watch. I told them about it today, and I said you have got to go and see it. I’m going. We will be there … next year for sure.” (The Epochtimes)

Related:
– (video) Shen Yun in Australia, New Zealand 2009: Reviews, Comments and Feedback from Audience

Shen Yun “a kaleidoscope of China”, Says New Zealand Business Director

AUCKLAND, New Zealand— Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company performed its third of four shows at the ASB theatre on Saturday evening, May 1.

Arthur Parken, a business director, said that Shen Yun had the most striking “color and costumes,” saying it was “visually quite stimulating.”

Shen Yun performers are trained in classical Chinese dance, a dance form that has a strict training program for perfecting bearing and form, jumps, turns, and flips. It has extremely demanding dance techniques.

Mr. Parken was particularly impressed with the skills of the dancers, saying, “The quality, the suppleness and the difficulty of the dances is something worth seeing, and they make quite difficult movements look very easy, and they are very light on their feet.”

Ancient legends and folkloric dances are brought to life by the Shen Yun dancers, and Mr. Parken enjoyed seeing the cultural aspects of the different regions of China.

He said Shen Yun was “a kaleidoscope of China, of movement and of color.”…… (more details from The Epochtimes)

Son of Chinese Communist Politburo member bought a $32.4 million expensive house in Australia

(Excerpt) Sydney Morning Herald, Australia-

……

The Chinese oil resources businessman Zeng Wei, and his wife, Jiang Mei, are one example of the opportunities open to foreign investors in the right visa class.

Mr Wei’s father, Zeng Qinghong, was vice-president of China between 2003 and 2008 and the fifth-ranking member in the Politburo Standing Committee.

In 2008, the couple paid $32.4 million for Craig-y-Mor in Point Piper, the third-most expensive house ever sold in Australia.

The purchase was made after he obtained a business migration visa the year before.

The grand 1920s house with renovations by Professor Leslie Wilkinson was initially bought just in his wife’s name, as was an earlier acquisition – a $1 million apartment in the World Tower block in Liverpool Street in the CBD in 2005.

The couple’s application to demolish the house and replace it with a new $4.95 million home is being reviewed by Woollahra Council, which is seeking heritage advice.

Chinese buyers currently in the market have told agents they are seeking FIRB approval to spend up to $40 million on a harbourfront house in the eastern suburbs……. (more details from The Sydney Morning Herald)

Australia Companies Rio, BHP, Fortescue Hit by China Computer Hackers, ABC Reports

By Jesse Riseborough, The Bloomberg, Apr.19, 2010-

April 19 (Bloomberg) — Rio Tinto Group faced cyber attacks from China at about the time of the arrest of four executives in the country, while BHP Billiton Ltd. and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. have also been hit, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

Hackers attacked Rio’s computer network last year, ABC said on its ‘Four Corners’ program, citing former employees and an Australian government official it didn’t identify. Rio took its Singapore office offline for almost three days to boost security while its Perth office was also affected, the program said.

Rio Tinto spokeswoman Christina Mills declined to comment.

BHP was targeted by hackers during a takeover bid for Rio, ABC reported, citing an unidentified former BHP executive. Ruban Yogarajah, a spokesman for BHP in London, wouldn’t comment.

Fortescue upgraded security after hackers sought to access its systems in Perth and the Pilbara in Australia, ABC said, citing mining executives it didn’t name. The company doesn’t comment on security, spokesman Cameron Morse said.

– Bloomberg.com