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A Chinese academic visiting Australia on a research trip had his accommodation raided by Asio and the Australian federal police, and was offered $2,000 in cash by a man purporting to be from “the federal government” for information on his networks and contacts in China. The academic, an associate professor at a major Chinese research university, is an expert on Sino-Australian relations and was visiting Australia between July and August. His surveillance comes as Australia seeks to restore its relations with China, with a confirmed prime ministerial visit to Beijing later this year. The visiting academic, whom Guardian Australia is choosing not to name for legal and security reasons, abandoned several key meetings with Australian researchers and left the country early after being surveilled across the country. On 20 August, the Chinese professor had his accommodation in Perth raided by Asio and AFP officers. His mobile phone and laptop computer were seized and have not been returned to him. Asio told the academic it was conducting “warranted activity” and invited him to a “security assessment interview” in Sydney three days later. The invitation was “to provide you with an opportunity to respond to security concerns that have been identified by Asio in the course of assessing your suitability to hold an Australia visitor visa”. He was told Asio was assessing “whether it is consistent with the requirements of security for you to hold an Australian visitor visa”. “Your attendance at the security assessment interview is voluntary, however, if you do not participate, we may rely solely on information already available to us to inform our assessment.” The professor declined to attend the interview. Sources have told Guardian Australia that several days earlier, a man approached the professor at a Brisbane cafe and introduced himself as being from the “federal government”. When pressed as to which agency, the man is reported to have responded that, for the professor’s safety, it was better not to know in detail. The man reportedly told the professor his agency was interested in “information and senior people” known to the professor, and that they were confident he possessed “information and networks” significant to the agency’s interests. The man offered the Chinese professor $2,000 in cash, wrapped in a paper package. The professor refused the money. The Australian man invited the visiting professor to a subsequent meeting, which he declined.