Experts, journalists approached by fake academics in suspected China op

However, recent inquiries in Singapore established that at least two of the people who contacted several Indians – Julia Chia, a “senior programme manager” with National University of Singapore (NUS) and Jian Qiang Wong, a “researcher” at Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) – do not exist.

Though Indian journalists and researchers have been approached by others claiming to work for different universities and organisations, Chia and Wong were involved in a majority of approaches that were traced by HT. They approached journalists and researchers based in New Delhi and Mumbai, claiming to have read their articles and offering to cooperate on new projects.

Wong, who usually used the direct messaging feature of LinkedIn, recently messaged a Mumbai-based journalist: “So I wanna build a cooperation relation with you. Are you interested? Would you like to write something for me?”

Chia, who claimed to be working on a weekly journal for NUS named “Policy Perception”, which features columns on economy, politics, security and technology, sought guest writers who could focus on “hot events happening in the Asia-Pacific region”, promising that “your independent analysis will be only for internal and limited reference”.

The journal, Chia wrote in her emails, will use articles that “will not be published or to be found elsewhere” and the basic payment for an essay of 1,500 to 1,800 words would be $400, with a bonus thrown in for “excellent” write-ups.

The first author of this article was one of the journalists who was approached.

Authorities in Singapore have taken the matter seriously as the people making the approaches claimed to be from NUS and SIIA, which both have ties to the government of the city state.

“These accounts are fake. These individuals do not work for NUS or Singapore think-tanks. The Singapore-India people-to-people ties are strong enough for such scams to be quickly exposed,” Singapore high commissioner Simon Wong told HT after learning of the matter.

There was no response to a request for comment from Simon Tay, chairman of SIIA who also teaches international law at NUS.

Indian security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the method used by people such as Chia and Wong pointed to similar influence operations conducted by China in countries such as Australia, Canada, and the US.

“These people are looking for the kind of writing which is often induced by the Chinese State to create a narrative in its favour. They target people who have an understanding of strategic affairs or those who they think can publish or push views which favour China’s interests,” one security official said.

“It is the use of soft power and it is a standard modus operandi used by Chinese officials all over the world. I wouldn’t be surprised if China has sent these messages asking someone to write on strategic issues on the basis of payments,” he added.

Another official said security agencies witnessed a marked uptick in efforts by China to glean information on India through various means since the start of the military standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in May 2020. “They will try harder in India because unlike other countries where they have tried such influence operations, there isn’t a sizeable Chinese-origin population in India,” this official said.

Wong’s contacts on LinkedIn included researchers from leading Delhi-based think tanks focusing on security and military issues and retired army and navy officials, including officers of the rank of major general and vice admiral, and those who have handled issues such as defence acquisition and offsets. While such connections on a platform like LinkedIn may not mean much, people familiar with the matter said it was clear Wong had focused on people who had access to sensitive information.

Most of the journalists and researchers who were approached became suspicious as emails sent to them after preliminary contacts didn’t come from the official email IDs of NUS, SIIA or the other organisations that the people approaching them had claimed to work for. One Indian journalist working for a foreign publication who spoke to the person making the approach received an email from a Yahoo ID though the person claimed to work for US-based consultancy International Development Corporation (IDC).

A researcher with a top New Delhi-based think, who focuses on the Indo-Pacific and was approached on Facebook and WhatsApp, was informed by the person making the approach that he worked for China Center for South Asian Studies at Sichuan University.

Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute of Conflict Management, said he was not surprised by the developments as they fit in with the global pattern for China’s influence operations to force Beijing’s point of view.

“China has been cultivating local influencers wherever it can. If they had greater freedom as in some of our neighbouring countries, China would have opened up friendship institutes that openly lobby for China’s position in areas of their interest. China’s strategy documents state that their private organisations and NGOs have to back the CPC’s objectives anywhere in the world,” Sahni said.