Alex W. Joske (Chinese: 周安瀾; pinyin: Zhōu Ānlán) is a Chinese-Australian author, sinologist, open-source intelligence researcher, and risk consultant who investigates the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), particularly its influence operations. Previously a researcher with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and NBC News[1][2][3][4] His first major work influenced legislation in the United States Congress to ban Chinese military (PLA) officials from sensitive U.S. government laboratories.[5][6] He was publicly banned from entering China by the Chinese government in 2020 due to his work.[7] In 2022, he released his first book, Spies and Lies, about the clandestine operations of the Ministry of State Security and United Front Work Department.
Alex Joske | |||||||||
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周安瀾 | |||||||||
 Joske on Voice of America in October 2022 | |||||||||
| Born | Alex W. Joske c. 1996 | ||||||||
| Nationality | Australian | ||||||||
| Education | Australian National University (B.A.) National Taiwan Normal University | ||||||||
| Years active | 2018–present | ||||||||
| Employer(s) | McGrathNicol, Australian Strategic Policy Institute | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 周安瀾 | ||||||||
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| Website | Twitter account | ||||||||
Early life and career
editAlex Joske grew up in Beijing as a teenager, and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.[8] He attended the Australian National University, graduating in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese language. In September 2016, Joske and fellow student, cyber-dissident and Chinese expat Wu Lebao, attended an ANU gala organized by Chinese students. After being reportedly cornered and trailed to a bathroom by organizers from the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, Lebao and Joske published a 2017 exposé in Woroni about the association and their experiences with its members at the gala.[9] Later in his university studies, he spent a year at National Taiwan Normal University studying Chinese.[5] After graduation he spent a year working at Charles Sturt University as a researcher for Clive Hamilton for his book, Silent Invasion: China's Influence in Australia. Both Joske and Hamilton were later banned from China in the same press release from Chinese state-run news.[7]
In 2018, Joske joined the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) as its youngest ever researcher, working on China-related analysis for the next four years.[10] At ASPI, he wrote prolifically on the CCP's united front work, the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and the Ministry of State Security (MSS).[11] His first ASPI report "Picking flowers, making honey", on the PLA's use of research collaboration with foreign universities to advance its technology transfer efforts and weapons research, catalyzed legislation in the United States Congress to ban Chinese military researchers from U.S. government-funded laboratories.[5][6][12]
In September 2020, Joske was banned from entering China. The Global Times, an ultranationalist CCP mouthpiece, announced his ban – alongside that of Clive Hamilton – without explanation.[7][13][14] In a public response, Joske described the ban as "the latest attempt by the Chinese Communist Party to… …punish those who shine a light on its activities", noting that the accuracy of his research had never been challenged by the Chinese government.[15]
In May 2022, he joined Australian corporate risk advisory firm, McGrathNicol, as a senior risk advisor.[16]
In October 2022, Joske released his first book, Spies and Lies, detailing Chinese espionage practices, particularly Chinese intelligence activity abroad. The book attracted attention for its exploration of the MSS' successful cooption of Australian prime minister Bob Hawke to rehabilitate China's image following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.[17][18] The book was reviewed in Foreign Affairs and The Economist.[19][20]
In 2024, Joske testified as an expert witness in the trial of Shujun Wang regarding linkages between the MSS and the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office.[21]
Selected works
edit- Joske, Alex; Stoff, Jeffrey (2020). "The United Front and Technology Transfer". China's Quest for Foreign Technology. Routledge. pp. 258–274. doi:10.4324/9781003035084-20. ISBN 978-1-003-03508-4. OCLC 1153338764.
- Joske, Alex (2022). Spies and Lies: How China's Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World. Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 9781743797990. OCLC 1347020692.
- Joske, Alex (2023). "State security departments: The birth of China's nationwide state security system" (PDF). Deserepi: Studies in Chinese Communist Party External Work.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Joske, Alex (December 4, 2022). "The quiet transformation of China's greatest global weapon". NBC News. Archived from the original on 2023-01-21. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
- ^ Rogin, Josh (June 10, 2020). "It's time to end China's 'United Front' operations inside the United States". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2022-10-12. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
- ^ "Pacific Century: Spies And Lies: China Subverts The World | Michael Auslin". Hoover Institution. Archived from the original on 2023-01-21. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
- ^ Joske, Alex (2018-02-06). "Beijing Is Silencing Chinese-Australians". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2023-01-21. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
- ^ a b c "Alex Joske". Australian Army Research Centre. December 16, 2019. Archived from the original on January 21, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ a b Cotton, Tom (May 14, 2019). "Cotton, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Bar Chinese Military Scientists From American Labs". United States Senate. Archived from the original on 2023-01-21. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
- ^ a b c Ford, Mazoe; Yang, Samuel; Walsh, Michael (2020-09-23). "China bans two Australian academics from entering country in apparent tit-for-tat". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2023-01-21. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
- ^ Dorfman, Zach (November 21, 2022). "Alex Joske on China's Influence Operations Abroad". The Brush Pass. Archived from the original on 2023-01-21. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
- ^ "The Truth About the Chinese Students and Scholars Association". Woroni. 2017-10-12. Archived from the original on 2019-09-21. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
- ^ "Spies and Lies by Alex Joske". HardieGrant. Archived from the original on 2023-01-21. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
- ^ Joske, Alex (June 9, 2020). "The Party Speaks for You". Australian Strategic Policy Institute. ISSN 2209-9689. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ Barboza, David (January 2, 2023). "Alex Joske on How China's Ministry of State Security Operates". The Wire China. Archived from the original on 2023-01-21. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
- ^ Ransley, Ellen (September 25, 2020). "China bans Australian scholars from entering the country". news.com.au. Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ Davidson, Helen (September 24, 2020). "Australian academics Clive Hamilton and Alex Joske banned from entering China". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2022-11-16. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
- ^ Alex Joske [@alexjoske] (September 24, 2020). "Statement on @globaltimesnews report that I have been banned from entering China. I won't be doing interviews on this" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
Chinese state media reports that I have been banned from entering China are the latest in a series of attempts by the Chinese Communist Party to punish those who shine a light on its activities. I am proud of my research on the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to interfere in politics and transfer technology from around the world. The accuracy of my research on these topics has never been seriously challenged by the Chinese government. I will continue to study these globally important issues. While I grew up in China and would love to return in better times, I decided years ago that the Chinese government's actions have made the personal risk from traveling to China too high. I have not held or applied for a Chinese visa in years.
- ^ Sky News [@skynewsaust] (October 23, 2022). "McGrathNicol senior risk advisor Alex Joske says Chinese President Xi Jinping has "no real strategy" to engage with Taiwan and has only left himself a military option" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "How China spies 'signed up Bob Hawke'". The Australian. October 1, 2022. Archived from the original on January 21, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ Basford Canales, Sarah (October 4, 2022). "Bob Hawke was 'unwittingly' signed up by Chinese spies. It could happen again". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 2023-01-21. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
- ^ Nathan, Andrew J. (2022-11-01). "Book Review: "Spies and Lies" by Alex Joske and "America Second" by Isaac Stone Fish". Foreign Affairs. ISSN 0015-7120. Archived from the original on 2023-01-21. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
- ^ Joshi, Shashank (December 21, 2022). "What to read to understand intelligence and espionage". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 2023-01-22. Retrieved 2023-01-22.
- ^ Tang, Jane; McKelvey, Tara (August 13, 2024). "Five things the Shujun Wang trial revealed about Chinese espionage". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved August 13, 2024.