An Australian Jewish leader has warned of further issues is social cohesion is not dealt with.
The correspondence appeared to have been sent from Macau.
In Melbourne, letters received by some households offered around $200,000 (US $125,000) for information on pro-democracy lawyer Kevin Yam.
But when it came to targeting fellow lawyer Ted Hui, the flyer’s author used a stealthy technique that could only have been devised by knowledge of Australia’s current social issues.
A flyer sent to a mosque in South Australia falsely claimed Hui was supporting Jews and Israelis with legal help.
Social tensions have been running high in Australia since the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks in Israel and the subsequent Israel-Hamas war.
Hui said he had never expressed a public opinion on the Middle Eastern conflict.
In itself, social cohesion—or the lack of it—has become a major talking point in the lead-up to the federal election amid reports of soaring rates of anti-Semitism.
Australian Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory is calling on the government to act to prevent foreign powers from using it for their own purposes.
“It appears as if malicious foreign actors are attempting to take advantage of the recent decline in social cohesion in Australia to stir up tensions,” he told The Epoch Times.
“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is a negative force in the Middle East conflict and frequently expresses views that are sympathetic to terrorist groups like Hamas, so it would not be a major surprise if the CCP or someone connected to them was behind these flyers.
“Many people who support democracy in Hong Kong are also likely to support a democratic country like Israel, although in this case, the targeted individual says he has not expressed a public position on the conflict.”
Gregory said he was concerned that anti-Semitism in Australia was being weaponised to target an Australian citizen like Hui.
“If the Albanese Government fails to address social cohesion issues in Australia, we can expect more foreign interference and bad actors taking advantage of the situation,” he said.
Hui previously told The Epoch Times that the incident shows the CCP is watching Australia closely.
“It was quite intimidating knowing that there have been discussions and extreme views on anti-Semitism going on, and someone in China is seeing that as something that can cause me trouble,” he said.
Following the incident, Foreign Minister Penny Wong condemned the harassment of Australian citizens by foreign powers.
“We expect our democracy and our citizens to be able to operate free from such interference, that kind of pressure or threats,” she said.
Yam also thanked Wong and Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Patterson for speaking out against the letters.
The Islamic Society of South Australia was contacted for comment.
