When meddling becomes interference

The son of immigrants from Iran, he had risen to become a Senator for the Labor Party in New South Wales. In other ways, he is emblematic of an increasing worry Down Under: the pernicious trend of influential Australians being lured by the lucre thrown at them by interests with links to alien governments.Accused by opponents of taking money from a Chinese businessman to pay his legal bills (going over to his house and advising him to leave the phone inside while they stepped out for a chat), as well trying to bend Labor’s position on the South China Sea, his career has been ended.
This month, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told parliament that foreign intelligence services were involved in covert influence and interference on an “unprecedented” scale. He listed the political system, commercial interests and expatriate communities as areas targeted by these agencies as he proposed legislation that bans foreign political donations and will force lobbyists to reveal their overseas clients. 
Those sentiments are being echoed elsewhere; from New Zealand to the United States. The latter nation is fixated on the spectacle of a special prosecutor tightening the noose on people close to President Donald Trump who are thought to have fallen under the influence of Russia, a circle that could include Trump.
No country is immune from such tactics, and the greater its weight in the geostrategic sphere, the higher the chances that its politics and policies will be targeted. A recent meeting of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance of Canada, the US, Britain, New Zealand and Australia raised specific concerns over Chinese actions. An analysis by Melbourne Law School’s Dollars and Democracy Database found that, between 2000 and 2016, about 80 per cent of foreign political donations to Australia’s parties came from China. Meanwhile, Russia appears to rely heavily on information warfare to expand its influence. By some counts, 126 million Americans were exposed to Russian propaganda posts on Facebook meant to influence the 2016 election. Ukraine has long complained of being targeted by Moscow’s “hybrid” warfare, which includes disinformation.
Singapore, as a leader in Southeast Asia, is not immune. Foreign powers could see rich possibilities in exploiting fine cracks in the city-state’s diverse ethnic makeup. 
National politics is only for nationals. Money and, even more dangerously, ethnicity must not be allowed as vehicles for one nation to influence the affairs of another. But it also is incumbent on politicians, bureaucrats, academics, and yes, journalists – anyone in a position of influence – to be especially watchful that they are not unwittingly coopted to do an external power’s bidding.