China is reportedly building covert informant networks inside Australia's top universities, prompting Australia to strengthen its counter-intelligence capabilities.
Fairfax Media reports that Chinese intelligence officials say they are building networks to monitor the ethnic Chinese community to protect Beijing's core interests.
Much of the monitoring work takes place in higher education institutions, it reports.
This includes Sydney University and Melbourne University, where more than 90,000 students from mainland China are potentially exposed to ideas and activities not readily available at home.
