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The Buddhist group allegedly targeted in a foreign interference plot by the Chinese Communist Party promotes fringe beliefs, including that former prime minister Kevin Rudd was a Chinese man in a past life.
A Chinese woman who is also an Australian permanent resident appeared in the ACT Magistrates’ Court on Monday, charged with reckless foreign interference over allegations she had covertly gathered information on Guan Yin Citta, a Buddhist association.
The association’s Canberra premises, located in a nondescript office building near the Australian National University, were closed due to water damage on Tuesday, but pamphlets distributed by the group outside revealed some of its beliefs.
The materials state that its late Australia-based leader, Master Jun Hong Lu, was an earthly manifestation of Guan Yin Bodhisattva, a Buddhist icon of compassion. Lu died in 2021.
“By performing ‘totem reading’ based upon someone’s year of birth, gender and Chinese zodiac sign, he reveals their past, present and future, and points out what truly causes the ups and downs in our daily lives,” its book, Little Houses, claims.
Religious groups are subject to tight limitations in China, where the ruling communist party restricts alternative sources of moral authority. The state has persecuted other fringe religious groups, including Falun Gong.
Guan Yin Citta Buddhist association leader, Master Jun Hong Lu. Lu died in 2021.Credit: richardjunhonglu.org
Bitter Winter, an online magazine on religious liberty in China, has reported that Chinese state media commonly describe Guan Yin Citta as a “heterodox organisation”, effectively making it a banned organisation.
In another book from the group, Introduction to the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door, Lu writes that he once wanted to find out why Rudd was such a fluent Mandarin speaker and, for fun, consulted the former prime minister’s totem.
“In the end, do you know what Kevin Rudd’s past life was? He was Chinese,” Lu wrote.
Rudd was a popular figure in China, where he was known as Lu Kewen, during his prime ministership.
The Guan Yin Citta website also features testimonials claiming that reciting Buddhist verses on Lu’s instruction has led to medical miracles and employment opportunities.
“I released 2000 fishes, diligently recited Buddhist sutras prescribed by Master Lu, and vowed to adopt a vegetarian diet for more than 20 days a month,” writes one follower. “A month later, I went for another physical exam, and I was told that the test results were normal. What a miracle!”
John Fitzgerald, an emeritus professor at Melbourne’s Swinburne University who specialises in Chinese civil society and Australia’s Asian diasporas, said the Chinese Communist Party outlawed any religious organisation not under its influence.
“Anything outside of Communist Party control is regarded as illegal and possibly a threat to national security, which is to say a threat to the complete control of the Communist Party over every organisation in China,” he said.
He said the party leadership wanted to ensure the average Chinese person stayed aligned with the party’s goals and perspectives.
Fitzgerald said Lu was a popular radio announcer and Buddhist leader in the Sydney community at the time he founded Guan Yin Citta. The group gained popularity in China and around the world, leading to the detention and interrogation of members of the outlawed group in China.
Associate professor in China studies at the University of Technology Sydney Feng Chongyi said China had a history of pursuing dissident groups overseas.
“The usual targets of attack are the dissident groups, including overseas Chinese democracy movements, liberal intellectuals like me, [who] comment on Chinese dictatorship or advocate for human rights,” Feng said. “Also some religious groups – Falun Gong in particular – as well as minority nationalities. All those groups are usual suspects under attack.”
Feng, who has himself been detained by Chinese authorities and more recently had a bounty for his arrest issued by Hong Kong police, said Australians should be wary of the lengths to which China would go to quash dissent.
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The Australian Federal Police said on Monday that China’s Public Security Bureau allegedly tasked a woman to spy on Guan Yin Citta to support the intelligence objectives of the Chinese government.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Stephen Nutt said police had launched an operation in March after receiving intelligence from ASIO, which was ongoing, and that more people could be charged.
The investigation did not include dealings with the Chinese embassy, but Nutt declined to give further details, including information that could lead to the identification of the woman, because the court had issued a suppression order. The charge of reckless foreign interference carries a maximum prison term of 15 years.
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